Rawalpindi : Association of Business Professional and Agricultural Women (ABP&AW) has always been on the forefront in celebrating national days and inculcating patriotic values in entrepreneur women and in general.
The meeting was held on Saturday morning at Garrison Officers Mess and was dedicated to the Independence Day celebrations. The gathering was attended by enthusiastic experts who enlightened the ladies with 'What can we do to make Pakistan a better place to live in'.
Dr. Munawwar Sher Khan was the chief guest on the occasion. Sardar Kamal Khan a philanthropist and Mukhtar Ali Malik were also invited as guests. Tahmeena Malik President ABP&AW Islamabad Rawalpindi Chapter, while welcoming the guests highlighted the achievements of the association and how the funds and donations are collected through self help and charity basis. Tahmeena Malik said that as John F. Kennedy’s inspired children and said that “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country”, we should also inspire to live our dream and make the best for our country. Instead of blaming it on the country's system, we should see how we can bring about a change in the country individually and collectively. She said that why have we become so insensitive about the atrocities and injustices around us , we never raise our voice. We should keep on trying whether people like it or not , but people should raise their voice, change would come along eventually. We should not lose hope, this is our country and we have to rectify it by becoming agents of change in it.
Tahmeena talked about the child abuse of Rizwana and highlighted the Bahawalpur students abuse and reiterated that one should raise their voice whether somebody likes it or not. She said that for 45 years she has been a teacher and taught children but now she wants to embark upon a journey to educate children free of cost and that too underprivileged ones. For that she has started 'Kitab Dost' initiative which is a mobile library that allows children to listen and read books. She was asking for donations also if the members or anybody could help in cash or provide the colouring books, stationary, colour pencils and used story books to the cause. She also intends to buy a rickshaw for the children's mobile library.
Dr. Munawar Sher Khan who is a graduate of Kings Edwards Medical College Lahore, and has worked in various capacities with different prestigious institutions like Army, Holy Family Hospital, Pakistan Red Crescent Society, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent. She has been awarded Gold Medal and Certificate of Excellence by President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan enlightened the audience and shared her views how can we best utilize our time to make the best out of our capacity. Whether we are professional lady working from day to night or we are a homemaker. We should inculcate some etiquettes and discipline our children to do whatever is good for the country. Be the agent of change yourself first and then you can change others. Discover which skill of yours can bring a change in the society. Whether it would be a drop in the ocean or a grain of sand, it creates ripples. There are some basic faculties in which we can bring about a change which are our Home, Education, Social media and Environment. We can bring about drastic changes in these categories through our input and improve the quality of our lives and ones around us. There are three ways to tackle a situation or a problem we face, either we can be aggressive, assertive or passive. We should not become passive because it doesn’t make anyone realize their mistake or problem. We should speak up, but how thats the basic thing we should learn. We should have patience and tolerance to tackle a problem.
Most people lose their temper and the situation gets out of control. Basic human Rights and lives of minorities are on stake in our country, we should try our best to accommodate people with different views, or different religion. Later Tahmeena Malik President ABP&AW presented shields to the chief guests. Mukhtar Ali Malik and Sardar Kamal Khan donated 1 lac respectively for the Association.