Orphans and abandoned children pay tribute to APS martyrs

Rawalpindi

It was a sizable gathering of around 200 children, orphans or those abandoned by their families because of poverty, who got together at the Social Welfare Complex of the Government of the Punjab here at Shamsabad as part of the activities arranged to observe the Universal Children Day.

It was a touching gesture when these boys and girls, drawn from different orphanages and child welfare centres including Kashana, Darul Aman, Model Children Home, Gehwara and Mera Apna Ghar (MAG), took to the stage holding candles and sang, probably the most sung song, 'Bara Dushman Bana Phirta hay' to remember and pay their respects to the martyrs of Army Public School (APS) Peshawar.

The event was organised by the non-governmental organisation (NGO), Aiming Change for Tomorrow (ACT) International at the Social Welfare Complex at Shamsabad to extend support, spread love and show solidarity with the marginalised and deprived children.

It was a rare opportunity for these children without parents and homes to have a peek at the colourful side of life even if that too was under controlled environments.

They tried to make the best of the opportunity as they enjoyed a magic show, presented skits on the stage, and became part of the fun gala, ran and roamed the play area, participated in the 'talent hunt' opportunity, indulged in face painting and expressed their own creativity and thoughts by using colours in the painting show.

However, the best part these children seemed to have enjoyed was when they were presented gifts which brought the most beautiful smiles on their faces and the brightest twinkles in their eyes.

Each time a boy or a girl was handed over his or her gift, the twinkle in their eyes and the smiles on their faces outshine everything around. One of the residents of Kashana, 14-year-old Ayesha Khan, said that she had been living here for the last 10 years after death of her father. "I have never seen such an activity here since I'm here," said Ayesha.

The toys and sports gear included bicycles, sports and music instruments, toys, books, colours and school bags.

Member Provincial Assembly of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Raja Hanif, was the guest of honour at the function and distributed prizes among the participants.

Speaking briefly on the occasion he said that such activities provide an opportunity to this kind of vulnerable children to enjoy the lighter side of life as it serves like a magic spell, no matter how brief that may be.

"It also provides an opportunity where the public officials could be sensitized about the rights of children," he added.

The Assistant Commissioner Cantonment, Ms Sataish Sheryar, was the chief guest at the function. She was impressed and was keen that more such events should be arranged for these children on frequent basis. She also issued directions to the concerned departments to extend their help and support in this regard.

She was of the opinion that the NGOs and the government departments working for child rights need to bolster coordination and take such initiatives with enhanced frequency which may bring light and colour in the lives of these children and minimise their deprivations.

The Chief Executive Officer of ACT International, Mubashar Nabi, was of the view that that there should be a change in attitude towards children in the perspective of their rights and protection. He said that the government should strengthen and implement the initiatives already taken aimed at promoting behavioural change in the society.

Ms Yasmeen Naz, In-charge Kashana, was excited and didn't chewed her words when she said: "I just dreamt that such a colourful activity could ever be arranged for these marginalised children."

"I am extremely happy and I appreciate all the hard work done by Ms Asiya Perveen Mughal, the Programme Implementation Manager and Ms Zahra Batool, the Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator from the ACT International who made all this happen here," Yasmeen Naz said.

The event was attended by various government officials, local influential, public representatives, officials of United Nations and the community.