Something Special for the Children of Bahrain, Swat

Posted by Fauzia Minallah



This is what the children of Bahrain remember, a raging river. Many are traumatised and even the sound of tap water scares them. They have to be told that the river is kind to humans, it is the source of life itself. It is us adults who stopped listening to the rivers, to the trees. We need more buildings, we need more roads and we have taken away spaces that belong to the rivers and destroyed forests that keep the mountains strong. Because of us the adults, children had to see so much destruction.
This is what children of Bahrain witnessed:

So we wanted to help the children of Bahrain, especially those who fled with their families from the flood ravaged valleys of Kalam and Mankial. The relief goods we sent to our trusted friend from Bahrain, Zubair Torwali for distribution, had to be carried by labourers we paid. they carried the relief goods from Chikri, over broken paths and damaged bridges.

Idara Barai Taraqi at Moohn School, became our distribution point.

Zubair Torwali, Executive Director of IBT distributing the relief goods.

Juice packets a gift from Tahira Abdullah 's uncle were distributed among children.

CHildren who wished for books got the picture book 'Sadako's Prayer' in Urdu.

Grandma also got a juice packet.

Zubair Torwali distributed the juice packets in the relief camp for the flood affectees.

Fifty children recieved a gift pack each consisting of a sketch book, 6 coloured pencils, a shaprner , lead pencil and an eraser from Funkor Childart Center and a juice packet from Tahira Abdullah's beloved Chacha .

Zubair read them the story of Sadako and Amai the magical bird.

They were happy and thanked all of our dear friends who supported us.
On September, 6th we sent 489 Eid presents for children. Ahmad Faraz our volunteer accompanied the gifts.

They were delivered to Moohn School from where they were distributed, as soon as we get photos we will share them with you all.
Photos by Ahmad Faraz and Zubair Torwali

Each gift consists of an Eid dress and story book'Sadako ki dua',1 quarter litre Milk and a pack of 6 biscuits.
Rs, 200,000 were distributed through Zobair Torwali's Idara Baraye Taleem-o-taraqi among widows and other flood affectees and 150,000 rupees through Ziauddin's Global Peace Council in Swat were distributed.

My Visit to Bahrain
By Ahmed faraz

On 7th September, which was 27th Ramazan I took a Suzuki full of relief goods from Islamabad to Bahrain, Swat , which over 300 km away. I reached Chikri in eight and a half hours. It was the last point, beyond which there were no roads due to the floods. There Zubair Torwali received us. We got twelve labourers for carrying the goods and we reached Bahrain, in two and a half hours. The distance was twenty five km from Chikri to Bahrain. Each labourer was paid rupees 400 to 500 for each trip. We had to climb up and down steep mountain paths. I noticed that people’s expressions were very sad and depressed. They have gone back to the stone-age. There was no electricity, roads or proper telecommunication. Children and ladies were fetching water from wells in pots and pans. They did not expect electricity to return for at least ten years. Many places and villages were washed away with the flood. Every person was struggling in harsh conditions, but they did not lose hope. The remaining fields of fruits and vegetables were ready for selling but they had no access to the market, and this was a big loss for them .When I reached Bahrain I was very tired. It was Aftari time , and after breaking my fast I went to bed with out talking to anyone .When I was leaving Bahrain it was a sad moment for me , because I could not solve their problems. I left them helpless, but I saw their difficulties and I am raising their slogan. Please help them. These people are extremely needy.

Our dear friends and donors are : Maham Ali's friends and family( Saman Tariq,Fawzia Naqvi, Faisal Bari, Ali Saggu, Rejaa Dar and Nashwa Shakeel, Zimmedar Shehri ( Islamabad) Nahid Pervez, Imran Agha, Jamila Shabnum)

Tahira Abdullah's friends and family,from UK: Muhammad Bilal, Shahnaz Hashmi,from UK: Bushra Farooqui & her colleagues & friends: Aslam Aziz, Danish Aziz, Samra Sheikh, Natasha Khan. Shaheen & Tariq Liaqat Ali and their friends from Bahrain, Durdana Saiyed, Amjad Ali Khan, Haroon Sheikh, Tehmina Qureshi,from Canada: Saba Jamaluddin,
from USA: Sabira & Navaid Qureshi, Dr. Sabiha Iqbal,from Karachi: Talha Siddiqui, Rabia Garib & colleagues at TQP, Nafis Aslam Khan, Shahzad Mahbub,from Lahore: Qudsia Saeedullah Khan, Nighat Saeed, Muhammad Khalid, Abu Bakr, M/S Shezan International, from Rawalpindi: Sikander Ellahi,from Islamabad/Wah: Tahira Abdullah, Naheed Aziz, Najma Mahmoodullah, Asim Khan, Sarah Mahmood and her mother, Kiran Aamir Qavi & Nadia Mir; Dr. Sultan Hashmi; Sabiha Syed Muhammad; Nabeel Hameed)

Ghazala and Fauzia Minallah's friends and family:Amna Paracha, Attaullah Shah, Rangez Shah, Gina and her friend Zainab, Marium Burki, Zahid Saeed and Fareeda Saeed, Fakhar Zia, Nabeela Ahmad, Sara Mahmood, Nargis Ahmad, Mohsin and Madiha Qazi, Nuzhat Ahmad, Zarina Jamal, Mrs Umar Afridi and friends.
Humaira Masihuddin and her friends and family ( Kulsum Khan, Fatimah Quadri,Tahira Syed, Mr. S.M.Qureshi, Saifullah Quadri, Mujtaba Quadri, Uzma Jamal, Dr Nisar Haq, Moina and Ehsan Haqqani )
Ali Faateh, Asad and Amna Shah,Aunty Huma, Samira Kakar-Khan her friends and family,Fauzia Asad Haider, Shahida Shah, Salma Babar, Ayesha, Dr.Shirin Ansari,, Mrs. Niazi and Mona Niazi, Zeba Mateen, Shehla Jamshaid, Mrs Salim ( Mother of Farrukh Salim), Ali Bilgrami , Mona and Akbar , Dr.Catalina Alliende, Zainab Kamal.

Falaknaz's Friends and Family:Sofia and Ali Khan, Tahir and Tabu, Zara Ali. Jean Elise Lewthwaite, Teachers of Murree Convent, Safya Aftab, Rweeda Himayat, Shahnawaz Khan.

Our dear friends from abroad, Waltraud Torrosian, Hugo Williams and his friends,(Jacky Wolf, Clarissa Leopold, Rebecca Zehr and their many friends), Sara Rezoagoli, Mr.Bernhard Wild, Isabelle Bouan, Maria Bader ( her friends and family) and Lynda Martin of Skyscrape foundation.

Funkor is grateful to Asian Network of Trust for providing us the story book ' Sadako's Prayer", Mahnoor and Mushfih, Maham Ali and her friends, Babarjan, Namrah Mahmood and Sharafuddin Alizada of Beaconhouse Community Services, Maria Bader her friends and family, Isabelle Bouan, Lynda Martin, Waltraud Torrosian, Bernhard Wild and Attaur Rehman Baig for helping us make this Eid a bit special for the flood affected children.