Fun-day: ‘Games important for children’s development’

Toys distributed among 1,000 children

LAHORE:

Toys and games play an important role in children’s development and help create wonderful memories, Minister for Youth Affairs and Education Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan said on Sunday.

He was addressing an event organised by Zoha Foundation to distribute toys among 1,000 children at Gulshan-i-Ravi Park. The event took place in PP-149, which is Khan’s constituency. He also presented wheelchairs to 10 disabled children. Crutches were also distributed among children who needed them. Their parents were given gift hampers. Khan said that Zoha Foundation held charity drives to raise money for such events. “The organisation did not get funding from any foreign source,” he said.

Discussing the theme of the event Share Toy, Share Joy, Khan said having toys to play with was as important during childhood as schooling.



On the occasion, the foundation had organised a day of fun-filled activities for children, with rides, a puppet show, a singing competition and a stand-up comedy performance by the Funny World Theatre.

The purpose of the event was to engage the community, especially low-income people, and entertain children.

Asim Siddique, the host of the performance and comedian with Funny World Theatre said: “We are here today to entertain the women, who work hard during the week to take care of their families. I hope, the children have been studying hard as well,” he said.

Khan said that books would be distributed among children on May 6 at a similar event at the same venue.

Farhat Mashhood, the founding president of the foundation, said it was their second distribution of toys among the children. “The first such event was organised in November 2011. The organisation is striving to provide for children in need, especially for their education and business finance. The idea of such events is to create a conducive environment for the children to become good citizens,” she said.

Most of the children said they had great fun. Seven-year-old Aerya said that he had enjoyed taking the stage to sing his favourite song. He said that he had liked the toy car he had gotten and would make sure his younger brother did not break it. Three-year-old Sana holding the little doll house she had received said that she liked the toy.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 20^th, 2015.