Delve deep into the origins, visions, and facilities of our educational, healthcare, and vocational initiatives in Murree and Cholistan.
Inspiration: Introduced to the mountain village of Numb Bhera Mall by our tailor, Master Rafiq, we discovered an amazing community of ancestral tailors whose livelihoods were severely restricted due to limited market access, lack of industrial equipment, and under-utilized workforce potential. To empower these families, we established a 6,000 sq ft state-of-the-art Vocational Center and adjacent family home to oversee operations.
Vision: To create a sustainable business ecosystem for the youth of District Murree, providing certified training in dressmaking and Information Technology (IT) in a well-equipped, non-profit training center accredited by NAVTTC.
Inspiration: Smaller Cholistan is an extremely remote desert area where families previously had to travel up to 50–100 km on motorbikes under scorching temperatures of 44°C for basic medical emergencies. Tragically, delayed help led to preventable limbs loss and deaths (such as a 7-year old girl whose finger was chopped, a mother in labor rushed on a motorcycle, and a cardiac arrest casualty). Inspired to act, the Trustees Mutationed 4 kanals of farmland to build a permanent savior in the desert.
Introduction: Supported heavily by seed donations from family, friends, and the Pakistan Army, the clinic was completed in February 2024. Today, Rohi Markaz Sehat and its ambulance serve a settled and farming population of over 6,000 underprivileged residents.
Vision & Operations: In consultation with the Punjab Health Department and WHO, we run daily clinics treating 60-70 patients. Facilities include a medical inspection room, dispensing pharmacy counter, 4-bed observation ward, labor room, scrub room, and staff quarters. A permanent medical officer (ex-Army OT Assistant) is hired, and we are working to secure LHVs and MBBS doctors.
Inspiration: Setting up a farm in Cholistan in 2018 exposed us to the absolute neglect of local kids' education. We started an informal class for 15 children of our farmhands, hiring an FA-passed spouse of a worker as the first teacher. Her salary was pledged from our 90-year old mother's subsistence pension. The school expanded rapidly.
The "O for Ox" Anecdote: During an evaluation by Deputy Education Officer Naseer Sial, a 4-year old student was asked to name a word starting with 'O'. The boy confidently answered: "O for Ox, Ox meaning 'byel'" and pointed directly to a bull in our cattle shed. Deeply moved, the officials embraced him and donated to our school.
Elementary School Construction: Over 200 children are currently enrolled. We have donated and mutated 4 kanals of our farmland to the Punjab Education Department to construct a permanent 4,300 sq ft Elementary School. Punjab Education Department's Bahawalpur office will provide staff, equipment, and SNE maintenance budget once completed.
