Updates on all Moqah Foundation activities in the field can be found on our facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/moqahfoundation/
Standing together to fight Corona
March has always been the busiest time of the school year. End of academic session, final exams and result: a time both students and teachers look forward to. Teachers are excited to begin everything new, setting up both short-term and long-term goals. While all this arrangements were on, the first cases of Covid-19 were reported in Bhara Kahu, and the area was completely sealed with no one allowed to exit or enter.
The lockdown halted all economic activities rendering the daily-wage earners jobless in the area. Most children in our schools and their families have been affected. Simultaneously some staff members reported that their husbands/brothers/fathers had lost their jobs. These teachers are required to support basic household expenses and rent.
With similar situation in Sheikhupura, with the help of teachers who are mostly local residents, we identified households in urgent need of support and created lists with all the necessary information, selecting 300 most deserving families who have had too little or nothing to eat since the lockdown. Our community-based volunteer team, on April 5 late night, managed to distribute food ration bags among the families in both Bhara Kahu and Sheikhupura. Since then, we have been raising funds to help out the families on monthly basis. We send over hand washing soaps with basic hygiene instructions too. Some of our generous donors donated through Global Giving
The government has announced that they will not allow the schools to open until the end of the pandemic. Since the lockdown, our teachers prepare weekly homework packets for the students: these along with notebooks and stationary are delivered to the students. We will continue to do this till the reopening of the schools. We understand that life during pandemic is difficult for parents and children alike, confined to overcrowded, small houses in vulnerable communities, limiting their ability by containment and physical social distancing among other issues. To avoid lasting damages, such as forced child labor to bolster family income and early or forced girl marriages, we are scaling up support for children and their families.
Please consider donating to avoid lasting damage to these children and their families.
The recording of the Zoom event can be viewed at Video section
Moqah Foundation collaborating with Girl Rising, working to change the way societies value and invest in girls
Fund raising event
Sunday Times hosted a fund raising event “Fashion for education” at the Royal Palm Golf and Country Club to raise money for Moqah Foundation Schools. The event exhibited different products donated by top designers of the country at discounted prices, from high end clothing to cosmetics, carpets and rugs, paintings and furniture items. The sold out event raised millions to run the schools in BharaKahu and Kot Abdul Malik.
Sunday Times fundraiser receives massive response
By: Haider Ali
LAHORE: Sunday Times, the country’s leading fashion weekly, on Saturday hosted an event titled ‘Fashion for Education 2016’ at the Royal Palm Golf and Country Club with an aim to raise funds for establishment of new schools in Pakistan.
The event exhibited different products donated by top designers of the country, at discounted rates, from high-end designer clothing to cosmetics, interior items, beauty products, art and more. A live sketching stall by NCA students was also set up on the occasion, much to the appreciation of visitors.
The event aimed to raise funds for esteemed charity Marshall Direct Fund, and their efforts to build and run schools in impoverished areas of Pakistan.
After a sold out event attended by scores of shoppers, Fashion For Education 2016 raised millions and was deemed a huge success.
Omar Ahmad who has been an avid runner organized a marathon to raise funds for the Moqah schools. In his words, ‘As a child growing up in Pakistan, I witnessed the stark inequality that is prevalent in developing countries across the world. While I got to go to school, watch cartoons, dress up for Halloween, indulge in sugary treats (much to my parents’ chagrin, I am sure) and enjoy the perks of a normal childhood, I saw children — no different than me — living in slums, wearing tattered clothing, begging for food and having no opportunity for an education and a better life. MF has set up schools in rural Pakistan to help end this cycle of poverty by providing free education for vulnerable youth — with an emphasis on girls’ education. Additionally, MF operates vocational training centers for women in impoverished communities to help them start successful businesses, generate income and become financially independent.”
