Alleviating the Plight of the Poor in Pakistan
By Rafiq Ebrahim
Glendale Heights, IL
While the government is paying minimum heed to the plight of the poor in Pakistan, there are some conscientious individuals and organizations who have a soft corner for these poverty-stricken people who mostly live in slums without the barest necessities for survival.
What we know: Well-meaningindividuals like Imran Khan, who runs a fully-functional cancer hospital and labs that offer free treatment to the poor, have plans for building more such clinics. Imran has also opened a technical college in Mianwali for the impoverished youth. Shahzad Roy is looking after the education of the children who are unable to bear the cost of education. Through his organization Zindagi Trust, he builds schools and renovates government schools which are in poor condition. Then there are individuals like RamzaanChhipa, BilquisEdhi, AamirLiaquat to name a few, who help the masses through their ambulance services, shelters for the destitute women, orphanages. They provide groceries and other necessities to needy families.
What we do not know: Besides these well-known people, there are others who make a difference in the lives of the hard-hit people. We are not aware of most of them. I came to know one of them recently: she is an elderly woman by the name of Nassim Saeed Ahmad, originally from Central Africa, who has lived in Rwanda, Burundi and Canada, is married to a Pakistani businessman, and is now settled in Pakistan. She, with the help of her cousins Nadir and Hassina Jaffer and some donors from abroa, has been refurbishing wells in the interior of Sindh, mostly in the thirsty desert area of Thar.
“With the help of Pakistanis living here and abroad, I have been able to refurbish 1,180 thousand wells so far in Thar and install countless hand pumps in the interior of Sindh,” says Nassim.
Thar covers a large portion of the province, where many wells need to be functional. The constant lack of rain creates difficulties for the farmers and livestock.Nassim works privately, contacts donors, coordinates with contractors who meet villagers owning dysfunctional wells; and then the repair begins. Her search team looks for ‘dead or broken’ wells, consults the elders of the village to know which ones have water suitable for consumption and which ones have contaminated water. After this exercise, assessment of the cost of repairs is made. Photographs of the broken wells are taken and sent to prospective donors. “This formula works,” says Nassim. Besides wells, countless ponds are also constructed to provide water for the livestock. “Giving water to humans is great, but to animals who are bezabanit is even greater. It is quite a sight to see the animals rush to the ponds to quench their thirst,” puts in Nassim.
After a well becomes functional, photographs showing dedication plaques, the well in use, villagers taking water, animals given water and the happy faces of the women are taken and sent to the donor. The donor is also invited to visit the site whenever possible.
“I am fortunate to have the opportunity to serve humanity, and hope that Allah grants me life to carry on with my work, of course, with the help of donors,” says Nassim.
There are many such individuals in Pakistan of whom we are not aware. They quietly carry on with their help to the needy in various ways. Hats off to such people. The light is not completely extinguished for the poor and needy as long as these individuals and countless other philanthropists are present among them.
(RafiqEbrahim is a freelance writer and novelist and can be reached at rafiq.ebrahim@gmail.com)
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