Islamabad: It was indeed a treat to watch young volunteers painting the walls of Islamabad Model School, F 6/1 located near Farooqia Market, with beautiful and colourful designs depicting the beauty of Pakistan.
Despite scorching heat, these youngsters sacrificed their weekend to convert the otherwise colourless market area into one of the ‘must see’ place in the capital city. They don’t plan to stop after painting the walls. “In the first phase, we plan to paint the walls and initiate cleanliness drive in the market areas. We will place 6 to 8 garbage bins at different points in the market for waste management. In the next phase, we plan to convert the empty spaces into small parks and turn the market into vertical garden,” said Abdullah Muhammad, an architect by profession who was supervising the whole activity.
Abdullah said that the whole activity is done by the Islamabad administration with the support from Graana.com. He said that after F6 sector, the same activity will be conducted in G6 sector. “It is the responsibility of everyone to add to the beauty of our city. That is the biggest motivation for all of us,” he said. There are 16 volunteers from National College of Arts (NCA) Rawalpindi and National University of Science and Technology (NUST) participating in the activity. To encourage the students, Assistant Commissioner Islamabad Omer Randhawa also visited the market. The young volunteers looked very energetic and committed to the cause. “Someone has to take the responsibility to change things and to create awareness. We believe that arts a very effective medium to convey the message of change,” said Saniya Farooq, a student busy in painting the wall. Another volunteer Zunaira Malik from NCA said that cleanliness is the only option. “There are so many cases of dengue this year and one of the main reasons for this outbreak is the litter around us. We are doing our part to give a new look to this area. The rest is up to the people,” she said.