Carrying the mission forward

Islamabad

Earlier this year, the Karim Khan Afridi Wefare Foundation (KKAWF) staged a play in the PNCA titled ‘19: A Shattered Dream.’ The play was performed for an audience of 2,000 people over a span of three days, out of which 1,600 were students from 28 schools. At the end of the play the students were asked to write an essay on what they gained from the experience and prizewinners were to be nominated as ambassadors for the foundation.

The process of short listing 1,600 write-ups was handled by Director Fulbright, Rita Akhtar, who requested her adviser, Sameea Butt, to do the needful, keeping in mind the following criteria: open-mindedness; initiative; leadership potential and interest in the subject.

A simple but emotionally charged ceremony was held at the Islamabad Club to recognise the boys and girls who acted in the play and appoint the ambassadors. It was attended by the students, their parents and supporters; the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, ambassador of Argentina, Rodolfo Martin Saravia and head of UNIDOC, Cesar Guedes. Taking care of the details were volunteers Lubna Hayauddin, Wajiha Flew and Faisal Latif, while Sharmeen Ali was the MC for the evening.

After the national anthem had been played by Hizbar Hayauddin on the trumpet, Chairperson Cristina Afridi thanked the gathering on behalf of the foundation for the support they have shown to it since its inception, adding it had been a rewarding journey for them. “The driving force has always been concern and love for others and the desire to see a change, as we can no longer afford to shut our eyes and hope and pray that someone else will take care of the problems surrounding us,” she said. “We decided to collectively strive to protect our kids against drugs. Through awareness, the environment, sports and civic sense, we hope to develop a physical, emotional and mental balance in our youth which will make them successful and useful members of society. We have reached a milestone in our endeavour -- it is a moment of celebration. However, we cannot afford to be complacent. Besides the youth we will involve their parents in an initiative titled, ‘Mothers against Drugs’ (MAD) to develop and implement new, innovative and unorthodox approaches towards tackling this menace. We hope that the help we provide will assist them in understanding the multi-faceted issues related to drug abuse; the ramifications of which transcend personal anguish and erode core social and family values.”

The Dean commended the foundation for the initiative it had taken ‘to save our children’ and assured his support, while the UNODC rep gave horrific figures of drugs; their use in Pakistan and assured of the organisations cooperation. He concluded with a few words about the ‘Unplugged’ programme, details of which were given by Lubna Hayauddin. ‘Unplugged’ is an EU drug awareness interactive training programme that targets ten to fourteen years old children and enables them to remove themselves from problematic or tempting situations. It uses a comprehensive social influence approach, realizing that an individual learns best from the environment and through observation of individuals who he interacts with.

The object of the 12 week programme is to promote discussion, so children can better deal with issues. It follows the principle of strengthening positive influences so that they are not susceptible to addiction e.g. bolstering emotional health, social skills, and family relationships; will be held during school hours and include group work, discussions, presentations, role-playing, and games; with a focus switching between information, inter and intra-personal skills.

Following are the Ambassadors of KKAWF from different schools: Hamna Aamir (Headstart), Hoorain Shahzad (Imperial), Mariam Khan (City), Moosa Nasir (Beaconhouse), Jahan Ali Hameed (Westminster), Abdul Haseeb Khan (Islamabad College of Arts and Sciences), Rimsha Rai (Pak-Turk International), Rumeena Imran (Supernova), Mahnoor Maqsood (Islamabad Grammar School and College), Talha Rehman Abid (Bahria College), and Haleema Bibi (Mashal). Two others who were made ambassadors and awarded certificates were Fatima Sultan, Coordinator and Mushfiq Murshed, for authoring the play ‘19 A Shattered Dream.’ While all the students deserve appreciation for their thought provoking essays, special kudos to Haleema of the Mashal School in Barri Imam!