Ramadan Iftar Box Program

By Shireen Gul

‘Misery exists even when it is invisible to us.’ In order to negate this dilemma, the team of Project Muskurahat has worked tirelessly to mitigate the plight of the deprived ones, no matter how easy and smooth everyone thinks there lives go.

We, the team of Project Muskurahat, carried the same mission during the month of Ramadan when we declared our prime task for the Holy Month on 1^st Ramadan : to prepare nutritious Iftaris for the as many impecunious people as we could. As soon as our agenda spread through Facebook and other forms of media, we started to receive an overwhelming response in the form of huge amounts of donations. The field work was distributed into four batches, and each of these lots contained different eatables, so that the destitute people also have a chance to taste the eatables that we, the privileged ones find pleasure in consuming.

We distributed our first batch among the poor people on 26^th July. Each box contained a date, a packet of juice, a samosa, a pastry and a mini pizza. This day, we made sure that 30 of the most necessitous people did not go to bed hungry that day.

The second batch was sent out on 2^nd August, and was distributed among 40 needy families. Each of the packets consisted of a date, pakoras, two samosas, ½ litres mango/orange juice and a ½ kg bag of sugar, which were given out because Eid was approaching.

As part of the third batch, which was sent out on 4^th August, packets of Biryani were to 30 indigent people, which brought smiles upon their faces.

The Ramadan Iftar Box project came to an end when ‘Eid packages’ were dispensed to 130 poor people to make their Eid celebrations special. Each package contained a pack of Vermicelli, Tang and 1 Kg sugar.

Throughout this project, certain businesses stood up as a support for us: they sponsored the gifts which were given out to the winners of the lucky draw which was conducted as an incentive for the donors. These businesses include GURUTEE, Bakers Cottage, AJURUK, Iris Design, Stylista! , Movies for Buddies, Fatima Accessorize, FIONAS PHOTOGRAPHY and Tarz.

The list of the winners of the lucky draw and their gifts is as follows:

• ·          Rabia Khawar(2 shirts- GURUTEE, Ralli( a bed pull over)- Ajuruk, ring- Stylista !)
•          Momina Amir (2 shirts- GURUTEE)
•          Wajiha Naveed ( 2 shirts- GURUTEE),
•           Rameesha Khan ( 2 shirts- GURUTEE),
•           Fatima Asghar (1 shirt- GURUTEE, 2DVDs- MOVIES FOR BUDDIES)
•           Kulsoom Malik (1 shirt- GURUTEE)
•           Maryam Adeeb (2boxes of 6 cupcakes- Bakers Cottage)
•                   Mrs. Gohar (2boxes of 6 cupcakes- Bakers Cottage, gold plated earrings- Iris Design)

We are highly thankful to our donors and sponsors who made it possible for us to accomplish this noble mission of helping out more than 130 poverty-stricken families.

International Peace Day

                                  The World Needs Peace Not War

                                                        BY GULRUKH RAEES

                                     

                                         "Peace begins with a smile."

                                                                                     Mother Teresa

World Peace Day is observed annually on 21^st September. It is dedicated to world peace, and specifically to the absence of war and violence. The day was first celebrated in 1982, and since then it has been kept by many nations, political groups, military groups, and peoples. 

The United Nations Peace bell is rung in UN headquarters in New York City to inaugurate the day. The bell is cast with coins and these coins are donated from all the continents except Africa. This is considered as a gift from United Nations Associations of Japan. It is taken as a reminder of the human cost of war. There is an inscription on it that reads “Long Live Absolute World Peace.”

 In 2013, for the first time, the Day was dedicated by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to peace education. A global campaign by the name of Armed with the Arts was announced in May 2013 to increase public awareness and promote the culture of peace. The purpose of this campaign is to inculcate in young minds through peace education the importance of world peace and the negative impact war and violence can have on the world at large. Peace Crane Project is the name given to it and Gorey Community School in Co. Wexford, Ireland, has been chosen to be School of Peace for 2013.

 International Peace Day was also celebrated in Pakistan as in other parts of the world. The Global System of Integrated Studies (GSIS), in collaboration with Basic Human Rights, an international NGO, organized a function on International Peace Day. The ceremony took place simultaneously in Bradford (UK) at the Bradford Grammar School and GSIS, Islamabad. Two minutes silence was observed at GSIS and Bradford School simultaneously for the prevalence of peace in the world.

International Charity Day

Fight Poverty, Give Charity!

BY GULRUKH RAEES

Poverty exists everywhere. It’s the harsh reality of every country of the world regardless of their economic, social and cultural situation but the condition is alarming in developing countries. To alleviate poverty and humanitarian crisis in its true sense giving charity is the only possible solution.

In recognition of the role of charity in promoting equity and relieving the masses of the world from the shackles of extreme poverty and human suffering, the General Assembly of United Nations in its resolution designated the 5th of September, the ‎anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa, as the International Day of Charity.‎ To commemorate the day in an  appropriate  manner, on this International Day of Charity United Nations invites all the member states , regional and international organizations, non-governmental organizations, civil society, philanthropists and individuals. Many such activities were organized to promote charity through public awareness and finding ways to make Universal education possible in order to fight poverty.

A Pakistani organization Muslim Aid has organized an event to promote charity and expressed its commitment to encourage and motivate for charitable work for the benefit of all those who are suffering due to this menace.

Children -- The greatest asset of a country

By Warda Malik

We are to build NOT perish a child’s future.

We all have fears. It takes paramount courage to overcome those fears and make it to school with the desire to be educated. This desire, this will, this commitment and this perseverance is what we owe to our parents and, most importantly, to our country. Surprisingly, there is an alarming number of children who drop out after primary level and absolutely refuse to take another step towards any place called ‘school’. After all, what are the factors which are able to hamper their way to this milestone on the way to their dreams?

Indeed, the very first factor is violence and the brutal ways of teaching naïve children. In the city of Lahore, Pakistan a young child Bilal Javed, 10 years of age, refused to even peek through the gates after five years of schooling. The reason being the barbarous ways with which his science teacher punished him although he was quite intellectual in Mathematics and other subjects. Now the boy spends his precious time by helping his father out with cleaning. More than 35,000 children in Pakistan dropout of school only due to corporal punishment.

Another reason for the dropout rate after primary level is that somewhere we have supportive parents, on the other hand, there are parents who condemn their children to continue with schooling after primary level. Probably due to extreme poverty and illiteracy; they consider it more beneficial for everyone that the children ought to be part of the labor force and earn reasonable wages from this age.  As a result, a child’s future is wickedly destroyed and thrown away with not much hope left for his prosperity and that little string of hope also continues to fade away.

Last but not the least, gender inequality refuses to perish. The female gender suffers terrible injustice at the hands of education. In the rural areas they are not looked upon as innovative beings with the capability to strive for the betterment. In most stereotyped rural areas they are a ‘burden’ from the day they are born and the better it is to ease the burden by getting them married off. The parents who face the challenge of sending their daughters to schools in these areas are not looked upon as conservative and their reputation suffers as a result. In this scenario, what does it take for a girl to be educated? She deserves this right as much any other son does. The inevitable consequence is for most girls to give up the battle at the hands of their prosecutors.

These factors call upon for a revolutionary change in the education system and for increasing awareness in rural areas in particular.  If these dropout rates cannot be completely erased then they can surely be decreased. It is for the privileged to take up a bold stand for our fellow beings who are being denied of their right. It is a great pity when we look at a child selling balloons from our car window and wonder maybe he could have been the next Stephen Hawking.