PESHAWAR: A non-governmental organisation, Horizon, on Friday arranged a function for children as part of the Independence Day celebrations.
The programme was hosted at the Haq Baba Auditorium of the Ibadat Hospital, which was also attended by the parents of the children, senior psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and others.
It was a rare event as there was no chief guest on the occasion. The children were provided with an opportunity to display talent, speak up and express their love for Pakistan the way they liked. The preventive measures for protection against coronavirus were observed while organising the programme.
The function started with the rendition of the national anthem by the children who were wearing dresses dominated by white and green colours. They sang national songs as well.
It was followed by speeches. The kids spoke on different topics. They recalled the struggle waged by their elders that culminated in winning freedom from the British on August 14, 1947.
Among the speakers were Mahnoor Gul, Yumna, Afnan, Mehek Ali Mufti, Ali Ammad, Mehdi, Areeba Arbab, Aliza, Hoorain, Hania, Elsa, Yaseen and Hassan Ahmad.
They said independence was a great blessing and it should be acknowledged and protected at all costs.
The young speakers enlisted some problems as well noticed by them but called for resolving them because these were not uncommon in any country.
Among the three main young speakers, Hassan talked about what Pakistan had achieved in the last 74 years; Mahnoor Gul spoke of the role of leadership and the gaps which needed to be filled out and Areeba Arbab identified the needs for the information technology in KP and presented her social media platform.
The function was also attended by expatriate children from Germany and Canada who were accompanied by parents.
A Pakistani child settled in Germany, Yumna, made her speech in the German language. She expressed her love for Pakistan and her sentiments were translated into Urdu by her father which won her acclaim from the audience.
Zarqa Sehar, a clinical psychologist, moderated the programme. Dr Syed Jawad Ahmed Shah encouraged the participants in expressing their emotions.
Earlier, welcoming the guests, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and consultant psychiatrist at Horizon, Dr Ahsan Mufti, said the organization arranged the function for children as kids were under stress these days due to coronavirus pandemic, off-and-on closure of schools and disturbance of their studies coupled with other restrictions.
“This function is expected to serve as a good therapy for kids and provide them with happiness during the Independence Day celebrations,” said Dr Ali Ahasn Mufti who has a special interest in child psychiatry and is the information secretary of Pakistan Psychiatric Society
He introduced the main objective of the progarmme and said it was meant to encourage and promote children and youth to enable them to exhibit their talent before the people.
Dr Ali Ahsan Mufti said it was the second such programme for children arranged by the Horizon. He promised to organize essay and declamation contests in future to offer more healthy activities to children.
In his brief concluding speech, a noted mental health expert, Professor Dr Khalid Mufti, said this programme was arranged in breaking with the conventional practice as there was no chief guest on the occasion.
“All of you are VIPs [very important persons] for us as children are our future. This function was meant to encourage kids to exhibit their talent and express their emotions. I am so happy the strategy has worked well,” said the elated senior psychiatrist who has been working in the mental health sector for the last over 40 years.
A cake-cutting ceremony was held at the end. Colonel (r) Ahmad Zia Babar, an executive member of the Horizon was present there.
