SOS Village organises eventful day

Lahore

Around 140 orphaned children living at SOS Village on Ferozepur Road had an eventful day on Sunday and took part in healthy co-curricular activities.

They participated in a salad-making competition and enjoyed a sumptuous fish party along with the guests from different walks of life. The guests had come there to encourage the children and convey the message that they cared for them. The one-day event was organised in collaboration with noted chefs, SOS management and donors.

The salad competition was held among the children living in 18 different houses set up at the SOS Village. Every house, set up in a separate block, has a particular number of children and a 'mother' who treats them like her own kids. The role of 'mother' is played by someone divorced or once shelter-less who tries their best not to let the children miss their real parents.

Ms Almas Butt, director, SOS Village, Lahore, told The News that the fish that was served to the children and the guests was cooked by the children themselves. However, she said, it was ensured that someone would be present there to supervise the children. She said the children were trained by the team of Makhdoom’s Kitchen with the aim of giving them cooking skills and self-confidence that would help them in future.

Makhdoom Sheikh, the chief organiser of the event, shared with The News that there were donors who had provided vegetables and fish for cooking but none of them projected themselves at any forum. “We highly appreciate their spirit and hope that more and more people will come forward to join this noble cause,” he added.

Makhdoom said that as part of their cooking programme, they had distributed scores of cooking sets costing Rs 8,000 each among the girls living in different SOS villages in the country. The sets would be useful for them once they got married, he added. He hoped that many of the boys and girls benefiting from the cooking programme would obtain an employable skill and may become chefs in future or run their own food business.

Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) Director General Kamran Lashari, the chief guest of the event, gave away prizes to the position holders of the competition.  

SOS Children’s Villages Pakistan, established in 1975, is the largest private child social welfare organisation in the country. To date, 52 projects have been established nationwide, of which 23 are exclusively for orphans. SOS Pakistan is completely autonomous and affiliated with SOS Kinderdorf International, based in Austria, which operates over 2,500 projects in 134 countries, and is the largest orphan care organisation in the world.

The primary objective of SOS Children’s Villages Pakistan is to provide orphaned children with a situation which is close as possible to a normal home. SOS Children’s Villages provide the orphaned and abandoned children with a family, a home and care.