Two A-Level students set up ‘Wall of Help’ to serve Karachi's poor for free

Two A-Level students have set up the wall to serve the poor and needy

KARACHI: Philanthropy seems to know no bounds when it comes to the people of Karachi. After the 'Wall of Kindness' set up at Sea View, two Advanced Level students have taken up an initiative to serve the city's poor for free.

The wall outside Gate 3 of Saint Patrick's High School presented a different look on Tuesday, with hooks drilled next to the words 'Wall of Help' and 'Deewar-e-Zaroorat'.



The initiative was taken up by the students after watching a video of a similar initiative undertaken in Peshawar and later in Defence Housing Authority (DHA), Karachi. The green and brown 'Wall of Help' came to life on Saturday.



Preet Roshan and Imdad Ali were in shock when they came out of the gate at 11am to see the wall completely empty. "There were about five pairs of clothes on each hook and some shoes when we saw it at 8am," said Roshan, who looked at the space, which now contained only a pair of men's boots. It took Roshan and Ali a couple of hours to create the wall on Saturday and hang the clothes. "Our target is needy people," said Roshan. "As only three items had gone from the wall till Monday morning, we had to get the word across so I asked my driver in the morning to spread the word. Maybe that's why it's all gone."

"We took [the] school's permission and the dean was really helpful," said Ali. "We even used the school's electrician to help us fix the hooks in."

The two students first started by spreading the word in school regarding donations. But it wasn't long until others started to help. "We just started this on Saturday and, today, we saw someone had hung a big plastic bag full of clothes," said Ali, adding that they had no idea who it was. They said that the clothes had to be removed from the bag for security reasons, adding that their job every morning is to fix the wall. "We don't want any contact with the person who is donating it and the person who is taking it," he said.



Roshan said that they plan to extend the project. They plan on putting shelves for shoes, books and other things, not only outside their school, but in other parts of the city as well, he explained.



Abdul Samad, the dean of the 'A' Levels section, was all praise for his students and their cause. "When we first heard the idea, we thought it was good but our prime concern was if this facility is going to be misused and, secondly, security," he said. According to Jude Lobo, a math teacher at the school, the freshmen were planning to add on it. "There's a lot of food that is left over from the canteen that doesn't get transferred to the next day," he said. "As the school gets over at 1pm or 2pm, they plan to buy it at a very cheap rate and put it out as well."

Published in The Express Tribune, February 17^th,  2016.