With an aim to make sustainable and productive social interventions in one of the poorest districts of Pakistan, the Thar Foundation (TF) and Shahid Afridi Foundation (SAF) has formally entered into an agreement to work together in the areas of health, education and drinking water. In this connection, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of TF Shamsuddin A Shaikh and Advisor to SAF, Zeeshan Afzal at a ceremony held here on Monday. The MoU was co-signed by Engro President, Ghias Khan and SAF chief Shahid Afridi.
Both the organizations will work together in establishing and running schools, hospitals and build safe drinking water infrastructures in targeted areas of Tharparkar district in Sindh province. They have also agreed that all the social uplift schemes will be run through professional organizations of the health and education sectors.
According to the collaboration agreed between two entities in the health sector, TF has planned to construct a 100 bed, state-of-the-art hospital in Islamkot to be managed by the Indus Hospital. SAF will sponsor the construction of Mother and Child Block, which shall be named as 'Shahid Afridi Foundation Block'.
In the drinking water sector, TF has planned to construct up to 50 Solar RO Plants that include pre-treatment and mineralization units along with operation and maintenance cost, whereas SAF will sponsor the construction of as many RO Plants as possible. In the education sector, TF will build 8 schools one each in Taulka of district Tharparkar and shall be run through The Citizen Foundation (TCF), whereas SAF has shown an intent and willingness to consider sponsoring one of the TCF schools.
Speaking on the occasion, CEO TF Shamsuddin Shaikh said that TF has been established and founded by Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) for the betterment of the people of Tharparkar through graduated and sustainable interventions in the fields of education, healthcare, livelihood, infrastructure, social preservation and disaster management.
Shahid Afridi was of the view that SAF has a mission to enable world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the eradication of poverty, helping the needy and to see Pakistani people prosper, educated and healthy in the upcoming years.-PR