‘New SOS village in Tharparkar to be first orphan-care centre in region’

At a lively, colourful event held at NAPA, former Sindh caretaker chief minister Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar hailed the initiative to establish an SOS Children’s Village in Premnagar, Islamkot, as it will be the first-ever centre in the Tharparkar arid region for the care, education and upbringing of both natural and social orphans, from both Muslim and Hindu communities, which are approximately the two main communities residing in the district.

He especially extolled the services of women who serve as “mothers” of deprived children and help nurture them as brothers and sisters in the unique SOS way of loving care for children. Justice (retd) Baqar appreciated the presence in the gathering of children and women from Tharparkar who had specially travelled from remote villages to mark the launch of the construction work.

He referred to the talent and spontaneous energy of the children from the SOS Children’s Village in Karachi who presented three short, entertaining musical segments celebrating Pakistan and its people.

Baqar said that as evident in how alumni of existing SOS Children’s Villages in Karachi, Jamshoro and Khairpur became educated, self-reliant citizens, so too in Tharparkar as well, disadvantaged children would soon surely be able to achieve significant self-empowerment through the love, security and guidance provided by SOS.

The event was attended by prominent citizens of Karachi, and by donors to SOS from Islamabad, Karachi and elsewhere and by children, teachers, staff, youth and Volunteer-Members of SOS units in Sindh.

SOS Villages in Jamshoro and Khairpur show how a distinctive and innovative approach is being used to create the structures in eco-friendly, culture-friendly ways.

Dr Ramesh Vankwani, former MNA, chairman of the Sital Das Premnagar Trust, which has donated eleven acres of land near Islamkot for the construction of the new SOS village, narrated how the Premnagar multi-sectoral welfare project spread over 110 acres is modelled on Rashidabad near Tando Allah Yar will help advance social development in the area.

Former senator Javed Jabbar, chairman, SOS Children’s Villages of Sindh, thanked Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar for his compassionate leadership which enabled the Government of Sindh to provide a substantive Grant-in-Aid of Rs.433 million to meet a large part of the cost of the project. He said that Tharparkar represented a model for the whole country of communal peace and harmony.

He was confident that the new village will stimulate the region’s progress to improve its very low rank in the 170 districts of Pakistan in terms of human development.

Yacoob Zamindar, Chairman Emeritus, SOS Sindh, recalled how the Vankwani family’s visits to SOS Villages in Jamshoro and Karachi inspired them to request the cooperation of SOS to help introduce the same network to Tharparkar and wished the project timely completion.