Re: Project Pakistan : How can we help rebuild Pakistan ?
Not worth it. Considering we don't have someone with a personal wealth of over 500 million US dollars. I will explain. In Darfur we have a budget of 4 million dollars to do small scale projects like building schools, clinics and water sources among other things like women centres, youth centres offices for the native administration and stuff. And that 4 million doesn't even begin to dent the problems.
Pakistan is much better yes. But the money alone needed is huge for areas like Balocistan and the Northern Areas or interior sindh. Also who is going to do the work? Even if you contribute money, you need someone on the ground to do the work etc. So on the individual scale you can not do anything worthwhile when it comes to small scale development projects.
If you still want to help start off by reading Three Cups of Tea. Its a book about an American who started build schools in Balistan in the early 1990s; that book will give you an example of how difficult it is.
I would highly suggest you send your zakat to Charities in Pakistan. Personally I donate to the Edhi Foundation and to the people who work around the house for my parents.
There are some good charities in Pakistan that do good work. I have generally stopped supporting International NGOs due to political differences on how they work.
Re: Project Pakistan : How can we help rebuild Pakistan ?
CM , I don't agree that one can't do anything !
**Donating zakat to charities and washing your hands off thinking that someone else will do the needful is just the easy way out. And so far what results have you seen. Have those Charities implemented or used those funds where they promised to be used ? **
Do we have any verification of where that money goes and into whose pockets ? No !
One of the requirements of zakat as far as I recall , is that it is your responsibility to ensure where and for whom that money is used .
My point is not to start on a large scale and with a billion dollar funding but to start closer to home in smaller more concise and effective ways individually so we can measure the effects and the impacts of our efforts.
I'd rather sponsor an orphan myself and at least know i'm putting her/him through school , providing basic amenties like housing , clothing and comforts to him.her than donate a lump sum to a charity and not know if it even made an ounce of difference in a person's life !
Re: Project Pakistan : How can we help rebuild Pakistan ?
Shyne nice!!!!
Once you know system closely there are many ways you can bring about a change.
There are few things I always wanted to do.
1-Pump in little capital in boxing gyms, so at least every gym have a decent punching bag. Believe it or not 99.99% don't have punching bags. Boys punch in the air. And irony is Pakistan make best punching bag in the world.
2-I want to run my own consulting company where we can make small security solution for Govt/ppl. Once money start coming in we can put more money in research/innovation.
Then all those small project we can decentralize. We can make collage universities part of it.
3-A plan to use most misused human resource in Pakistan. I want to bring computers to madrases.. and have talibs research on the topics which are not considered very beneficial/lucrative by uni grads.
Like hmmmm math/advance electronics/physics etc etc.
CM of course when it comes to improving education system even $500 Millions are just not enough. You also mentioned donating to charities, sure charities are doing great work in Pakistan. Now lets look at this from different perspective.
What is your take on children who are NOT orphans and don't go to school because their parents simply can't afford it? Our main problem is POVERTY, the families are struggling to bring bread to the table for their children & idea of sending their children to school for them is nothing but a luxurious dream. Some charities are running schools for orphans, but there is no financial support for deserving children. We are facing the same problem when it comes to young adults. There are schools and institutions to provide them polytechnic education but they can't afford it.
In situation like these, individuals who have resources come into picture. Basic education in Pakistan is not expensive (I am not talking about English medium money making private schools here), it costs less than RS5000 per student per anum for basic schooling and under RS10000/student for polytechnic education (Also the fee for Government run PROFESSIONAL institutes is well under RS10000). If one well off individual sponsors 5 students in his local area annually then he can change future of 5 families.
Our problem is that we think about bringing change on a grand level and we do not consider that the minor contributions which we can make may bring grand changes in long run.
Re: Project Pakistan : How can we help rebuild Pakistan ?
we need to get the lil kids off the street n teach them some skills so if they need to they can make a living without having to beg, n we can teach the ladies especially in ruaral areas, u knw stuff like stitching or perhaps just making something tht they can sell
i thought of a great idea n now its gone :(
Re: Project Pakistan : How can we help rebuild Pakistan ?
Sheyn what you are asking to do is set up an NGO basically. There two ways one can "help". Donate a couple of hundred million to an NGO or go down and set up one yourself and do the work on the ground. It is not easy work and requires a dedicated staff to bring any concrete change.
As for NGOs I have absolute faith in the Edhi foundation for the work they do and the money will be well spent.
You want to sponsor an orphan go to the Islamic Relief website. They do that work in Pakistan. On something like 300 dollars a year. Food, clothing, education etc.
Starting somewhere is easy. Trying to make a dent in our national problem is another thing all together. Start off small either donate money or start your own NGO. Those are the only ways to help out that have a guaranteed impact.
CM of course when it comes to improving education system even $500 Millions are just not enough. You also mentioned donating to charities, sure charities are doing great work in Pakistan. Now lets look at this from different perspective.
What is your take on children who are NOT orphans and don't go to school because their parents simply can't afford it? Our main problem is POVERTY, the families are struggling to bring bread to the table for their children & idea of sending their children to school for them is nothing but a luxurious dream. Some charities are running schools for orphans, but there is no financial support for deserving children. We are facing the same problem when it comes to young adults. There are schools and institutions to provide them polytechnic education but they can't afford it.
In situation like these, individuals who have resources come into picture. Basic education in Pakistan is not expensive (I am not talking about English medium money making private schools here), it costs less than RS5000 per student per anum for basic schooling and under RS10000/student for polytechnic education (Also the fee for Government run PROFESSIONAL institutes is well under RS10000). If one well off individual sponsors 5 students in his local area annually then he can change future of 5 families.
Our problem is that we think about bringing change on a grand level and we do not consider that the minor contributions which we can make may bring grand changes in long run.
Great idea and it fills a much needed gap. But how does one get the money there? Make sure its used for the purposes it is intended for etc. There are a lot of problems in Pakistan mainly in the social sectors where the government has failed miserably. I am by no means saying one should not donate, they should. However expectations should be realistic.
That is why I have said either support an existing charity or set up one to do the work necesary.
Sheyn what you are asking to do is set up an NGO basically. There two ways one can "help". Donate a couple of hundred million to an NGO or go down and set up one yourself and do the work on the ground. It is not easy work and requires a dedicated staff to bring any concrete change.
As for NGOs I have absolute faith in the Edhi foundation for the work they do and the money will be well spent.
You want to sponsor an orphan go to the Islamic Relief website. They do that work in Pakistan. On something like 300 dollars a year. Food, clothing, education etc.
Starting somewhere is easy. Trying to make a dent in our national problem is another thing all together. Start off small either donate money or start your own NGO. Those are the only ways to help out that have a guaranteed impact.
I understand its what an NGO would do and that is my intention to go down and set that up to target the poor or displaced families , initially starting with families from Swat , inshallah.
I do agree its not easy and needs commitment but everything starts with a vision and requires hardwork.
I'm sure Edhi foundation must be doing their best but my point here is rather than us sitting back and hoping they will take care of it when we donate the sum is the easy way out.
Why can't we as individuals make a little effort and do something. Just one person each of us helps amounts to a lot when u do the maths.
Again , yes its an idealitic/unrealistic view and will not be easy but what makes me wonder is why if we are gonig to give away any amount of money anyway whether its zakat or just charity can we not spend a little effort on making sure it makes a difference to an individual .
I understand its what an NGO would do and that is my intention to go down and set that up to target the poor or displaced families , initially starting with families from Swat , inshallah.
I do agree its not easy and needs commitment but everything starts with a vision and requires hardwork.
I'm sure Edhi foundation must be doing their best but my point here is rather than us sitting back and hoping they will take care of it when we donate the sum is the easy way out.
Why can't we as individuals make a little effort and do something. Just one person each of us helps amounts to a lot when u do the maths.
Again , yes its an idealitic/unrealistic view and will not be easy but what makes me wonder is why if we are gonig to give away any amount of money anyway whether its zakat or just charity can we not spend a little effort on making sure it makes a difference to an individual .
Its not unrealistic but it is a lot of work and requires a lot of people on the ground. If you have those people on the ground, then you are set. But you will need a logistic officer who knows the region well and knows the people who sell the items so you aren't ripped off. You need a good finance officer and a good set of funds available.
I would highly suggest you read Three Cups of Tea. Its a pretty good book about how an American set up an NGO in the Balistan area of Pakistan with little to no support. It also covers some of the issues you will have if and when you set it up.
Also in Pakistan a lot of the Zakat and Charity are not donated to faceless charities. They are provided to the hired help around the house. Many pay for meals of workers in the cities. Its rather common for workers to be provided food free of cost a daily basis in all the major cities because some family pays for the meals.
Yes a lot needs to be done in Pakistan. I do not disagree But there is a great deal already being done for the local communities and those who are disenfranchised. Pakistani society has a very strong vein of charity in the country.
Great idea and it fills a much needed gap. But how does one get the money there? Make sure its used for the purposes it is intended for etc. There are a lot of problems in Pakistan mainly in the social sectors where the government has failed miserably. I am by no means saying one should not donate, they should. However expectations should be realistic.
That is why I have said either support an existing charity or set up one to do the work necessary.
Getting money there is not a problem, most of us have close relatives in Pakistan and they can pass money to deserving families. The real issue is convincing parents that they should educate their children for a better future. As for setting up the charity, of course that is the best way forward but there are too many legislations and government departments involved. Corrupt officers in these departments may put off many, distributing money to people you know or have contact with is much easier and there no corrupt officers drooling for their share.
Excellent topic- Its high time that we Pakistanis realize that it is us who has to bring about a change. With little efforts, we can bring about miraculous changes. It is upto us, how we make and shape our country.
Me and some friends were thinking about the terrorists acts esp the condemnable attack on IIUI. During the past month we kept hearing from our teachers about the threatening calls our unis administration had been receiving and how they had to keep a tight security check. Fortunately, our uni was not targetted. We, as friends were deciding to track any threatening call made to uni and hunt down whoever is responsible for the calls/ threats/ acts.
I know it is easier said then done and it involves high degree of danger but then we as citizens are equally responsible for keeping our city and country safe. I would request all Pakistanis to help their country through this turmoil. A small step taken can prove to be a milestone in the years to come