By choice: Volunteers celebrated at event in Shangla

SHANGLA:

An event was organised by an Helping Hand, an NGO, to celebrate the services of volunteers. The occasion was held at Midway Hotel in Besham, Shangla on Sunday

“A study by Unicef reveals there are 40 million orphaned children in Pakistan out of which only 10 million are getting an education,” said Helping Hand incharge Aminullah Swati while speaking to participants. “Therefore, I request volunteers to find orphaned children who are not getting an education in your areas and support them.”

He added after the earthquake of 2005, volunteers in Shangla worked hard to help locals. However, on the other hand in Balochistan, he added people is Balochsitan are suffering as NGOs are not very active there and volunteers in the province are not aware on how to work for their respective communities in times of disaster. Therefore, he requested the government and NGOs to work in Balochistan, especially to improve the state of education.

A volunteer, Saleem Malik, said the fact that they reach everywhere and helped the community without discrimination shows that people in Pakistan are enthusiastic to serve society. Shangla Assistant Education Officer Sayed Qasim Shah was also present on the occasion as the chief guest.

Later, members of Helping Hand
awarded trophies to volunteers and also distributed certificates.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th,  2015.