A place to live: 400 children get a fighting chance at their new home

Pakistan Sweet Homes opens new facility; local philanthropist sponsors 140 children.

ISLAMABAD:

There are about three million destitute, abandoned and homeless orphaned children in Pakistan. On Wednesday, 400 such boys officially got a new place to call home in the form of Pakistan Sweet Homes’ Model Centre at the hostel of H-9 College for Boys.

The Pakistan Baitul Mal (PBM) — which manages Pakistan Sweet Homes — currently looks after around 3,000 orphans in 28 such centres across the country, PBM Managing Director (MD) Zamurd Khan said during the inauguration ceremony of the hostel.

Decorated with balloons and banners, the colourful opening ceremony featured the children showing off their talents as they sang nursery rhymes and naats.

However, the ceremony was criticised by a few audience members. Shahana, a public school teacher, commented that the stage was too low and that the children’s performances were not visible to people in the back rows.

Prominent figures at the event included National Assembly members Usman Ibrahim and Munira Shakir, Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Chairperson Shaheen Khan, and NAVTEC Chairman Adnan Khawaja.

Although the master of ceremonies (MC) urged the audience repeatedly to show appreciation for the performances of the children to boost their self-confidence, most audience members including the prominent figures seated at the podium did not initially applaud the children. Fortunately, by the end of the ceremony, the audience had warmed to the performances.

The children — dressed in colourful cardboard hats with stars, alphabets, spiders, lambs and crescents cut outs — showed great enthusiasm.

Some of the performances that stood out were Mardan-born first grader Shah Faisal’s speech on terrorism. He said that with terrorism claiming the lives of men and women, many children will become orphaned like him, and not having access to education will make them vulnerable to extremist groups.

Nursery student Khurram received the warmest applause from the audience for his speech on the importance of teachers and education.

“The children were scared and very shy when they first came to us, and seeing them getting up in front of such a large audience and performing is testament to how important this initiative is,” said Bushra Tareen, principal of the newly-established school. She said that though the building is still under construction, the children, who have been living here for two months, are feeling at home.

Barrister Abid Waheed has adopted 140 of these children and taken responsibility for funding their housing, education and other basic needs for the next 14 years. He took this step a year back when he realised the dire state these children are in.

“It is not fair for a child to be deprived of a parent’s love, shelter and education. If we do not take care of these children, we can’t blame them when they become a burden on society. It is our duty,” Waheed told The Express Tribune.

The event concluded with four-year-old Mujahid singing a heartfelt song “Mother don’t cry” in Urdu, which touched the audience and encapsulated the despair of these children, who must grow up without the security provided by parents.

But, with this programme, they may just have a fighting chance.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 22^nd, 2012.