Third part Pakistan Update
22/11/2007
In Faisalabad at the beginning of the year, which coincided with Eid-ul-Azha, the children enjoyed a festive celebration followed by a picnic. This was soon followed by a ten day visit by 18 children arrived from the SOS Children’s Village at Dhodial. They enjoyed the interaction with the children and made many friends. Another happy occasion was the annual reunion of the children who have left SOS and came back to visit their SOS families. As in other villages, a summer camp of one month’s duration was organised. Scouting is a popular activity and PIA invited the Scout group to a mango party. PIA also included our boys in their programmes held on Independence Day, Defence Day and on the anniversary of the death of Quaid-e-Azam (Mohammed Ali Jinnah). Groups of children visited the Rawalpindi, Sargodha and Dhodial Villages and were well looked after. In turn children from Rawalpindi came to visit. These exchange visits are a regular feature of our organization and enable the children to make friends and see other places. In September two girls were married and as everywhere, this is a festive celebration. The traditional ceremonies are organized and all expenses met by the Executive Committees and Friends of SOS Children’s Villages of Pakistan. There are 30 young adults in the SOS Youth Home and there are plans to build a new one for those attending college or undergoing skill training. In addition there are plans to extend the SOS Primary School so that it includes a secondary school.
In Sargodha, a great deal of effort has gone into introducing the SOS Children’s Village to the local community and the response has been very positive. A publicity campaign was launched with local sponsorship. As a result, the collection during Ramadan was the highest ever and we are confident that this will continue to increase, as people become aware about the need for support. During the year many groups of school children visited the village. They brought gifts for the children and also cash donations. We are always happy to have other children visit because they will learn about our need for local help. In Sargodha, we have not been able to generate much local support and we hope that this will soon change and that people will sponsor children on a regular basis.
In Multan, Eid-ul-Azha was the first event on the calendar and was celebrated with a barbeque and picnic, which the children thoroughly enjoyed. Eid was followed by the visit of 20 children from the Dhodial Village. They were taken sightseeing to Askari Lake, Multan Fort and Jinnah Park. A singing competition was organized between the two villages and the children participated enthusiastically. When leaving they urged their new friends to visit them in the summer. Pakistan Day was celebrated on March 23rd. The children paid tribute to Quaid-e-Azam and other leaders of the Pakistan movement. In April, a Spring Festival was held in association with the Rotary Club, Midtown Multan. The envelope collection campaign, organised during the month of Ramadan, was very successful as more schools supported us. This year 46 schools contributed and a sizable amount was collected. During the summer some of the older girls visited Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Murree, while a group of boys went to Lahore. Others were taken on local trips. Numerous visitors have visited the Village during the course of the year and many of them arranged for special treats for the children. The children thoroughly enjoy welcoming visitors. The SOS Primary School is functioning very well in a temporary building and already has almost 400 students, of which approximately 300 are from the local community. There is a huge demand for good schools and in a short time the SOS Primary School has made great progress. The construction of the new school has begun and we are grateful to a donor in Dubai and another in London for their assistance in financing this project.
The SOS Children’s Village at Sialkot was completed in the summer of 2005 and was ready, in every respect, to start admitting children. This proved to be most fortuitous when the earthquake suddenly made it necessary to arrange accommodation for orphaned Kashmiri children. In March 2006, the first children arrived in the village and were given a warm welcome. They were overwhelmed to find themselves in such cheerful and comfortable surroundings. In May of this year, ambassadors from ASEAN visited the village. Eid-ul-Fitr, at the end of Ramadan, was an exciting day for the children with committee members and donors present to share their happiness. All the children received new clothes, shoes, sweaters, bangles, hairclips and all the other things which make the celebration a happy one for children.
There are plans to build an SOS Children’s Village at Quetta. Meanwhile we have rented one house and are planning to rent a second in order to provide immediate support to children from impoverished backgrounds. Great emphasis is being laid on their education. They are receiving tuition and will go to an Army Public School which is a remarkable transition from their previous situation to an English medium school. Due to the generous assistance of the EME Centre they are getting a substantial rebate in school fees. At present there is very limited local support, apart from the generosity of the Governor of Baluchistan and Merck Marker. We hope the local community will become familiar with the work of SOS Children and will help us help these needy and deserving children. They are the responsibility of all of us.
The SOS Rural Support Programme in Kasur, near Lahore, has been running for sixteen years and has brought hope into the lives of countless people through its various activities. With the support of the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund and other donor agencies, many initiatives have been taken. The local community were facing great hardship. The causes of this included the lack of a sewage system. Under the physical infrastructure scheme a sewage system has been laid down in 12 villages and will benefit a population of almost 15,000 people. Stand pipes for clean water were also installed. Great stress is being laid on the provision of good education facilities. Five school buildings have been constructed and 66 teachers provided professional training. In addition, 300 children were awarded grants for text books, uniforms and shoes. Ten formal and sixteen non-formal schools have been established and the current enrollment is 732. Health needs are also receiving attention. Two Community Welfare Centres, with laboratories, have been set up where maternity, family planning, immunization and general treatment services are provided. An awareness campaign, reaching over 20,000 people, has been launched to educate the population about the local government system so that they can participate in, and derive benefit from, this programme. A project has been undertaken to develop Kamalpura into a model village and the Tehsil government has allocated Rs.4.2 million for this purpose.
Relevant Countries: Pakistan.