Hope Distributed Ration Bags During Ramadan

A large chunk of the Pakistani population is deprived of the basic necessities of life, from which one of the most important is food. Only a starving person knows what it is like to sleep hungry. While distributing food it was observed people were fighting for food. When asked, some of the people told they used to eat food once a day because they were unable to get enough food due to financial difficulties.

HOPE-A Health NGO in Pakistan distributes rations among the poor every year throughout Ramadan. The teams were sent to distribute the ration bags among the needy households at various HOPE centers including hospitals and schools, where vans filled with food items and ration bags were sent to different slum areas of Karachi, rural areas of Sindh, Muzaffargarh and Azad Jammu and Kashmir for distribution among needy households. The food items and ration bags were distributed at the door steps of needy families to avoid hurting their feelings. More than 1500 ration bags were distributed among the needy families residing there.

The children and patients were delighted to receive the ration as they belong to the low-income class who cannot even afford to buy basic groceries and enjoy their Ramadan and Eid. Seeing the contentment on the faces of these people was extremely gratifying and it affirmed our belief that all the efforts, the hassle, the obstacles are worth going through just to see a smile on the faces of these destitute people who can’t afford to enjoy the festivities of Ramadan and Eid to their fullest.

The ration bags comprising of various items such as milk powder, flour, cooking oil, sugar, pulses, rice, tea bags and dates were distributed among the elderly individuals of impoverished communities. HOPE-An NGO in Pakistan is particularly thankful to HOPE USA, Human Concern International, Mr. Mohsin Nathani, Dr. Jamil and other philanthropists who helped HOPE in its efforts to provide support in the form of ration supply to the poverty stricken families.

Dr. Mubina Agboatwalla-A Child Specialist in Karachi assures that HOPE will continue facilitating people in distress, especially women by providing them assistance in terms of food, health and education. She believes the participation of women in an uplift of a home is only possible if they are empowered and given the due respect.

Dr. Mubina Agboatwalla Visited Hope Hospital In Sujawal

Sujawal is about 150 kilometers away from Karachi. It is a small village with hardly any proper houses. Resources are fewer as compared to the size of the population. Sujawal is an absolute poverty stricken area where there aren't many healthcare or education facilities. HOPE Hospital Sujawal provides free treatment and medicines to the patients who can’t afford. This hospital is another milestone achieved in Sindh by HOPE-A Health NGO in Pakistan. It has been providing quality healthcare services for mothers and children since 9 years. The hospital has a fully functional operation theatre for surgeries, caesarian sections, normal deliveries, incubators etc.

Under the supervision of Dr. Mubina Agboatwalla-A Child Specialist in Karachi, HOPE has established a general hospital in Sujawal. The hospital is run by the help of CDP (Community Development Program). It started working as a Basic Health Unit which later turned into a Secondary Care Unit. All emergency cases of Sujawal district are rerouted to HOPE's Hospital where patients are taken great care of.

Dr. Mubina Agboatwalla with her team members visited HOPE hospital located in Sujawal. She specially visited the hospitals to monitor their performance. The hospital staff welcomed Chairperson HOPE warm heartedly. It was a pleasant surprise for them. She paid a visit to the patients who were admitted in the hospitals and inquired about their health. Other patients in OPD who were excited to see her in person wanted to meet her and share their stories with her that how HOPE Hospital Sujawal has been a beacon of light since its inception. They told her that they were grateful to her and HOPE-An NGO in Pakistan who provided them this health facility. According to them it is the only health facility in the area which is providing them quality healthcare.

She was glad to see the patients were benefiting from the hospital. She even gave further instructions to hospital administrator on how to improve its working. She said she wanted to see the hospital giving health care to more patients so that nobody in Sujawal suffers without treatment for ailments. She believes it is the right of every person whether rich or poor, to get proper health care when he/she falls ill.

HOPE GRAND IFTAR POWERED BY STANDARD CHARTERED BANK

In the last Ashra of Ramadan, HOPE in collaboration with Standard Chartered Bank, arranged a magnanimous iftar event for the children of all the HOPE schools and vocational centers located in Karachi and interior Sindh. The event was not just a luxurious iftar dinner; it was the epitome of affection and care shown by the teams of HOPE-An Educational NGO in Pakistan and Standard Chartered Bank for these destitute children.

After the days’ long preparations, the venue was ready to welcome the students coming from various HOPE schools, formal and informal included, and vocational centers located in Zia Colony, Bilal Colony, Bhitaiiabad, Sachal Goth, Bhens Colony, Rerhi Goth, Ghaggar, Gadap and Thatta. There were about 1500 students from these schools who attended the event, accompanied by the faculty members. They were seated in long rows. Considering the soaring temperature, pedestal fans were placed adequately to keep the students and guests cool.

More than a hundred volunteers from HOPE as well as the employees of Standard Chartered Bank, came along to this event. They also helped in serving food to the students. The volunteers mingled up with the children and spent quality time with them. They made groups with the students and started friendly chatter. They had story telling sessions, participated in games and asked them general knowledge questions, to sing some verses and patriotic songs. All the children were given goody bags containing adorable stationary items.

The gathering got excited with the arrival of Chairperson HOPE, Dr. Mubina Agboatwalla-A Child Specialist in Karachi. With her dynamic hospitable personality, she took a personal interest in making sure everybody was seated and served properly. Soon with the call for Maghrib, everybody broke fast with dates and savored the delicious food including samosas, puff pastries, kebabs, spring rolls, brownies, bananas, and variety of sherbets.  The food was more than enough for everyone. Mr. Shahzad Dada, CEO Standard Chartered Bank Pakistan, praised the efforts of HOPE-An NGO in Pakistan for changing lives of hundreds of less fortunate children by providing education and arranging such a grand iftar event for them.

After Maghrib prayers, Chairperson HOPE distributed Eid clothes among the children who queued up jubilantly to receive theirs. Their joy was reflected from their eyes upon receiving pretty Eid clothes which they could not afford otherwise. The event ended with dinner in which scrumptious chicken biryani was served to the excited students. Then the children lined up again to board their respective buses to go back to their respective schools and onwards to their homes, thus bringing a very eventful and happy evening to an end.

Annual Function Held At Hope School Thatta- An Evening Full Of Fun And Excitement

Among other formal schools established by HOPE-An Educational NGO in Pakistan, one of its schools is located in Thatta. The people living in this area are socially deprived and cannot afford to send their children to school. Some of them, especially girls are stuck at home and others end up working in fields or other places to earn and to carry the burden of their family expenses. Following the establishment of HOPE School Thatta, almost all of the children resided in the impoverished communities headed to our door in the hope of getting quality education. The students constantly prove their potential by their outstanding academic performances throughout the year. HOPE arranged annual function to celebrate their success which encourages them to increase their potentials.

We all know “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”- Even this emphasizes the value of extracurricular activities. These days, we can see children excelling in different areas like dance, singing, drama, role play etc. The annual function made them explore their area of interest and enhance their skills further.

Different programs were held in which students presented skits which revolved around the importance of education. An act was also played to appreciate the efforts of HOPE staff from Thatta and Karachi. In addition, the students presented to the audience with many dance performances on fun themes and patriotic songs. Sulaiman Agboatwalla, who has been the center of attention during the event with his appearance on stage, also played patriotic songs on tune of piano. Along with skits and dance performances, Chairperson HOPE and other HOPE staff presented trophies to students who excelled in their studies during the academic year.

Chairperson HOPE, Dr Mubina Agboatwalla-A Child Specialist in Karachi also awarded cash prizes to students whose performance was outstanding in extra-curricular activities. In her address to the audience she expressed her contentment upon seeing the success of HOPE School in Thatta overcoming every obstacle. The school administration presented traditional Ajrak as a token of thanks for bringing their dream to reality.

HOPE-An NGO in Pakistan, tries to dismantle deep roots of illiteracy which accounts for around half of the problems our country is facing today. The underprivileged masses have unfairly succumbed to poverty which doesn’t allow them to get accustomed to education. Thus, HOPE plans to establish a network of schools in every nook and corner of Pakistan which provide free and quality education, and helps students build an armor of confidence which allows them to hang onto their dreams and pursue them. 

WE PLEDGE TO KEEP THE ENVIRONMENT AND OUR BEACH CLEAN!- HOPE & STANDARD CHARTERED COLLABORATION

HOPE- an NGO in Pakistan is a professionally managed philanthropic institute working since 1997 to eradicate illiteracy and support women and children in every way possible. In order to do so it has set up vocational centers and several Hospitals, and Schools in different cities and parts of Pakistan. HOPE with its long time trustee Standard Chartered Bank has carried out innumerable activities benefiting children associated with HOPE. This time around, with the monsoon season just round the corner it was only befitting that Standard Chartered organized a planting trees and beach clean-up activity for the students of HOPE School Zia colony.

Beach-clean-ups are considered to be very important because throwing trash into beaches, and the oceans can be better known as pollution. When trash gets into the oceans, animals can easily mistake that trash for a certain food source. Keeping the importance of beach-clean-ups Standard Chartered conducted a beach cleaning activity on Friday the 21^st of June ’19. The activity was conducted at Turtle Beach, Karachi. Representatives of WWF and Standard chartered welcomed 30 students of HOPE school Zia colony to assist them in this cause.

A very interesting fact that students learned was that in the breeding season when the turtles come ashore to lay eggs they see rappers lying around and mistake them for jellyfish. As soon as they digest these plastic rappers, they get stuck in their throat causing them to choke and ultimately die.

Hence, the beach cleaning activity was conducted, because saving animals is what WWF works for and standard chartered was kind enough to arrange it.

After an hour of collecting garbage and planting trees in the scorching heat, students were then given ice-lollies and refreshments. All in all this activity left a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment that they too can do their little part in keeping their motherland clean.

Dr. Mubina Agboatwalla- a child specialist in Karachi is doing her very best in amplifying such activities by welcoming all such organizations which are working towards keeping the environment clean. HOPE- an educational NGO in Pakistan continues to burgeon as the years pass and through the power of quality education enlightens the youth’s minds who are to become the future of tomorrow.