Air of nervous anticipation,
bright clothes adorned by children, spirit of philanthropy and smiles on faces;
such were the scenes of the Grand Iftar organized by HOPE, the biggest health
NGO of Pakistan. Since its inception
HOPE
has made it a tradition to assist the underprivileged in the blessed month of
Ramadan. HOPE, which operates
5 formal schools
and numerous
informal schools, over the years has made sure that those deprived students
of school don’t feel debarred and ignored in the festivities during Ramadan and
Eid.
Grand Iftaar at Zia colony by
HOPE on Thursday served as
an example of bringing those deprived students in the glow of revelries during
Ramadan and Eid.
This Grand Iftar, which HOPE has
been organizing over the past five years, had about 1200 students from formal
and informal schools in Zia Colony, Sachal Goth, Manzoor colony,
Mujahid
colony, Bhittaiabad, Abdullah Shah Ghazi, Bilal Colony, Ghaggar,
Bhains Colony, Pepri.
The event, sponsored by Standard
Chartered Bank, was attended by many important personals like Mr. Mohsin
Nathani - President of SCB, Mr. Farhan Ahmed - head of corporate affairs SCB, Mr.
Saad Amanullah - CEO of Gillete, Mr. Umair dawoodji – Manager External
Relations P&G and Ms. Anisa Kamal – member of Helpers of HOPE, who were all
present to witness the smiles and joy of those needy students of formal and
informal schools during the iftar and dinner and view the enthusiasm and
eagerness of the students as they ecstatically received Eid gifts from the
chairperson of HOPE – Dr. Mubina Agboatwalla and other guests. Moreover, Mr.
Mushtaq Agboatwalla distributed Rs. 500 among 100 students as an Eidi.
There were around 100 volunteers
of SCB, 200 Staff members of HOPE. The dinner proved to be the epitome of the
whole evening, as the children feasted themselves with the Pakistani trademark
food, Biryani. One could clearly see the fulfillment in their eyes. Even not
wanting to, the evening had to come to an end and eventually it did. But what
it left was the sense of complacency for the HOPE workers, and a dream for a
better tomorrow for the less-privileged children.
