SOS Children Village holds annual meeting

DHODIAL: Known educationist and chairperson of SOS Children Village, Dhodial, Syeda Khola Mustafa, on Sunday said there was no greater satisfaction than supporting a homeless and neglected child and transforming him/her into a productive member of society.

Addressing annual general meeting of SOS Children Village, Khola Mustafa asked philanthropists to come forward and give the children a fair chance in life by providing them love, dignity and the opportunity to realise their potential.

Mansehra Assistant Commissioner Khurram Rehman, Engr Sultan Khan, Col (Retd) Iqbal Jan, Shahid Qadir, Zohra Hussan, Wing Commodore Ayaz Khan, Mrs Baidar Rasheed, Mrs Farukh Hyat, Ms Musarat Naheed, Qazi Amir Hussain, Ms Aresh Khadeja and other members attended the meeting.

Dhodial Children Village in Mansehra district was the second SOS village established in 1982. The first children village in Pakistan was established at Lahore in 1975.

“The village has ensured that children who come to get love and care of a family will get proper education, all round development and complete trust and encouragement to make them able to build strength of character,” the chairperson claimed.

A total of 196 students including 95 girls have been enrolled in all three chapters, which include 132 in Dhodial village, 53 in youth home Abbottabad and 11 in Family Support Programme in Mangal.

The participants were informed that a new academic block of the school, at a cost of Rs24 million is near to completion, for which an SOS national office has provided major share.

Similarly, 50 per cent work in the reconstruction of SOS Youth Home, Abbottabad has been completed, on which Rs11.64 million would be spent.

Those projects completed in 2017-18 include toilet block of school, renovation of seven houses, face brick work of school building & multipurpose hall and construction of FSP at Mangal.

The management has planned to construct a library, four science laboratories and a high school building at Mangal, with an estimated cost of Rs25 million in future.

It was also stated that the present school has been providing quality education not only to the SOS children but also to the adjoining communities.