New Homes for Pakistan Flood Victims
171 new homes have been built in Nowshera, Pakistan for families affected by the worst floods in living memory. Large swathes of land were rendered uninhabitable leaving millions of people homeless.
KORT responded to this devastation by teaming up with two other highly respected UK charities namely, Midland Doctor’s Association (MDA) and Derby Khidmah Group (DKG). The aim was to mobilise all necessary resources to raise maximum funds within a very short timescale. Given the nature and magnitude of the disaster many lives were at risk as families with vulnerable children and elderly were living in temporary shelters. There were some families who had no roof over their heads and may not have survived the harsh weather conditions.
In light of this scenario, time was of the essence and housing a priority. Thus a joint live appeal on Radio Ramadhan, Derby raised over 100k. It was agreed to build houses for the most vulnerable families and KORT was entrusted to coordinate and manage the building programme. First and foremost, Mohammed Akhtar, KORT Chairman, personally set about identifying familiesThe selection criteria for priority housing was orphans, widows, disabled and the elderly. Each ‘family’ in this category was interviewed to determine if they fitted the criteria and to ascertain whether they would require a single or two bedroom house. The responsibility also entailed negotiation and purchase of materials, securing appropriately skilled local labour and arranging transport etc.
Realising this project has been a momentous task not envisaged at the outset. However, KORT through Mohammad Akhtar admirably managed all aspects of the building programme. There were countless number of tiring trips to Nowshera, sometimes four in a week. Journeys frequently commenced 5.30 am from Mirpur and returned at midnight.
However, with help and efforts of all concerned KORT is proud to announce that the whole project was completed within three months (Nov 2010-Feb 2011). In total 171 new homes have been built in five different villages; Nowshera Kalaan, Ghari Momin, Camp Karoon , Camp Karoon Phase II and Zakhi Qabarstaan. Each house made of brick comes standard with metal doors, windows, concrete floor, completely plastered and mains electricity supply.
KORT is the only Charity working in Nowshera to have completed a housing project for the flood victims. The ‘handing over’ ceremony held in Islamabad on 14 March was conducted by Mohammad Akhtar and attended by over 400 people including dignitaries and the media. The keys were handed over by the honourable Sahbzada Haq Khateeb Hussain Ali Badshah Sarkar of Bolawara Sharif, Kotli Sattian.
We are very grateful to the Honourable Sahbzada Haq Khateeb Hussain Ali for gracing us with his presence and conducting the handing over ceremony. We would also like to thank everyone who assisted in this venture including MDA, DKG, Pakistan media partners and especially the very generous people of Derby.
Housing Project Update
The first 42 homes in Nowshera Kalaan will be completed by the 5th Dec inshallah. The roofs are going up on them 2nd, 3rd and 4th Dec.
The second village where there are 31 homes will be completed Inshallah by the 15th Dec.
There are two more villages that we will do work in and I’m optimistic that by end of Dec we will have at least 100 homes ready, but there will be more than 100 homes to build as we have saved a lot of bricks in the first village as we made them reuse their old bricks they had which were in excellent condition.
Akhtar, KORT
AJK PM Opens KORT's 2nd Annual Sports Festival
Following the success of the 1st KORT Annual Sports Festival in 2010, we have delivered an even bigger event this year.
Guest of Honour, Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir, Sardar Atique Ahmed Khan officially declared open KORT’s 2nd annual schools sports festival held on Saturday 22nd January 2011 at Mirpur Cricket Stadium. In the presence of approximately 12000 spectators and competitors, the PM Sardar Atique Ahmed Khan in his keynote speech praised KORT, for its work with orphan children. He stated ‘taking care of orphan children is a most noble cause and immensely rewarding as exemplified by our beloved Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) who was himself an orphan’.
He spoke eloquently of the need for the continuation of this valuable piece of work, and said that everyone involved in this venture including participating schools, competitors and spectators were very much appreciative. This initiative provided children with a competitive and healthy environment for developing teamwork and making friends. Furthermore the PM Sardar Atique Ahmed Khan talked about the importance of creating new opportunities within a supportive and caring environment to nurture the aspirations of each individual to realise their full potential.
Seven local schools and KORT took part in a range of field and track events. The children played in a friendly but competitive spirit. Prize money of one lakh rupees awaited the winning team. KORT children surpassed all expectations by performing consistently across the 22 athletic events. After a fantastic and ofter nail biting finishes KORT secured an overall first position to claim the winning prize.
Participating Schools:
Ehsan’s Academy, The City School, Roots School System, Ultimate Academia, Central Model School, Fauji Foundation, Kashmir Cambridge and KORT.
We wish to thank the PM Sardar Atique Ahmed Khan for giving up his most valuable time to officially open our 2nd Annual Sports Festival and also gratefully acknowledge his unwavering and continued support.
We would also like to thank all the volunteers, supporters and those too numerous to mention individually who helped make this event a most memorable and thrilling experience for everyone.
Qurbani Update
Asalaam’alaikum brothers and sisters, I hope and pray that you’re all well.
It was the first time I’ve done qurbani’s this big, just like the other projects that are on our shoulders.
I knew that it was going to be a mission, but like always, once i commit then i don’t turn back.
At first i thought it was going to be impossible as i went to Nowshera and other places and found that each cow was above 60 thousand rupees, then i realised that to achieve our goal we would have to work extremely hard to get good buy. So, we went to Sarghoda and Sarai and other cities to buy the cattle, and it worked out better than expected.
We travelled to Sarghoda to buy the cows. From there, we had to transport them in a truck from Sarghoda to Nowshera, accompanied by a volunteers and ensuring that everyone who was helping were comfortable throughout their long tedious journey. Then the transportation of the cattle from Sarai to Jaarikas, followed by their carriage from Jarrikas to Nowshera took a good two days and involved 32 cattle, 3 trucks and as you can imagine some very committed and hardworking volunteers.
Altogether a staggering 50 cows were gathered for the Qurbani - which is simply extraordinary masha’Allah!
We arranged a place in Nowshera where we were to keep these cows till the qurbani. A total of seven people were employed for 10 days to look after the cattle in Nowshera who all did a very good job.
As it was cold, we arranged for big tents for the cattle until one day before Eid, after which i went myself and shifted all the cows to the villages where we were to do qurbani’s - a total of six villages.
Butchers were hired for a solid two days as we did qurbani’s in 4 villages one day and 2 villages the next day. The cut meat was then packaged and distributed amongst the all the people in need of these villages.
Thanks to the minibus we hired, we managed to take about 15 volunteers to assist me to overlook everything. There were three to four of our people in each village from start to finish for managing the qurbani – where we also hired cameramen to record everything too.
It was a huge experience - and of course - just like at the completion of any project such as this, it was immensly rewarding
Masha’Allah I had a good team of dedicated volunteers, who were fully devoted, who helped me immensely throughout this immense campaign – which thanks to your donations - you also were all part of.
Alhamdollilah everything worked out just as i thought it would. There are always little obstacles along the way, but overall it was most certainly worth it.
After the great success of this project we endeavour further projects like these - and hope that your help and support continues - allowing us all to play a part in such rewarding and charitable work.
Akhtar, KORT
