Ladies of Chinese embassy visit Behbud

Islamabad

The wife of the ambassador of China, Diana Bao is one of the most active ladies of the diplomatic corps and therefore it was no surprise when she agreed to visit the headquarters of the Behbud Association in Rawalpindi.

The visit came about on Saturday morning and she and other ladies of the embassy arrived promptly at 11 am, much to the excitement of those women who work there and create the beautiful embroidered items that Behbud is well known for.

The guests were welcomed by VP Behbud, Abida Malik and other volunteers - a ‘meet and greet’ session that lasted a while as everyone wanted to meet the popular chief guest - and a formal introduction to the association’s activities was made followed by a short documentary that highlighted the work being done there, not only on the income generating side but the health; education and technical training ones as well. After this the visitors made a detailed round of the complex to see the facilities being offered, with the chief guest asking questions, which showed she had a real interest in what goes on here for the welfare of the less fortunate.

Any visit to Behbud would not be complete without shopping and the visiting ladies had a great time going through all the items that are available for sale – dresses; shirts; trousers; scarves; household linen and children’s clothes. It was nice to see the ladies taking such a keen interest in the embroidery; trying on dresses and getting the opinion of their friends before making the decision to buy – not to say anything about taking pictures and selfies to see how well the item in question looked.  In the end all of them walked away with some item of their choice – and even the two gents accompanying them bought something!

Before departing, Diana Bao said she had been in Pakistan nearly four years and she thought that Behbud was one of the most well run organizations she had visited. “I am truly impressed,” she said and went on to say that is with efforts such as this poverty could be eventually eliminated. She also gave the example of China having brought thousands of families above the poverty line in the past forty years by working at the grass roots level to do so. She concluded by thanking the volunteers for a ‘wonderful morning’ and saying  that maybe in future they could collaborate not only to promote the association but to exchange their knowledge of skills in embroidery, with Chinese experts coming to teach the women their methods and vice versa.

The concept of Behbud Association was born in the wake of the war of 1965, when the nation was faced with many problems. The foundation however was laid in 1967 by Ahkter Riazuddin with the help of a few volunteers. From humble beginnings it has developed into national organization of high standing in the past nearly 50 years being non-profit and non-political in nature. It has become a name synonymous with the uplift of the social and economic condition of our underprivileged classes, especially women and children. And it owes its success largely to all the volunteers that work with great zeal and determination.