Documentary Script for PPAF Milk Project by Amer Rizwan copyrigts @ Amer Rizwan
Poverty is a condition characterized by deprivation of basic human needs including food, drinking water, health, shelter and education. It compels the less gifted members of a society to lead substandard, and in some cases subhuman life and has thereby debilitating effects on people's lives. Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) is the lead institution for poverty-focused interventions in Pakistan. It strives to bring about a more harmonious and cohesive social order based on the time-honored principles of human dignity and equality of opportunity. PPAF endeavours to achieve its target goals through wholesaling funds and civil society organizations for provision of financial and non-financial services at the grassroots throughout the country.
All PPAF developmental initiatives are conceived and conceptualized within a community-led, demand-driven framework. Set up as a fully autonomous private sector institution under section 42 of the Companies Act of 1982, PPAF enjoys facilitation and support from the Government of Pakistan, the World Bank and international donors.
PPAF is cognizant of the fact that children are the future of any nation and working for their health, welfare and well-being is one of the cornerstones of any national strategy. Milk being the most nutritious food staple must be accessible to children at affordable price. In children, in particular, the quantum of milk in-take is directly proportional to their proper mental and physical growth, and strong muscles. However most of the people living in the developing South, including Pakistan, are unable to take the sufficient in-take of this very essential ingredient of human food. The resulting malnutrition takes a toll on the performance and output of the children in Pakistan and elsewhere.
Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), being mindful of the situation, envisioned a novel idea of linking the school dropouts among the children to the phenomenon of malnutrition in Pakistan. It has already launched, in collaboration with Tetra Pak, National Rural Support Programme (NRSP) and other Partner Organizations, a project to develop and implement a school milk program. The primary focus of the program is to make available milk to school children in rural and peri-urban areas of the country either free-of-cost or at subsidized rates.
As a precursor to the full-scale program, PPAF launched a Rs. 22 million pilot project of School Milk Program under which schoolchildren were provided milk on daily basis in 50 schools in District Rahim Yar Khan. The basic objective is to feed milk to primary schoolchildren in Union Council Rasoolpur, Sadiqabad, District Rahim Yar Khan having a total enrolment of over 5,000 students. The six-month pilot project was launched in the first week of 2010 by PPAF in collaboration with National Rural Support Programme (NRSP). School Milk Program aims at encouraging the school going children and helps in raising their health and education standards.
Sheikh Zayed Medical College Rahim Yar Khan has been mobilized to manage a baseline study from the community health unit. With proper parental consent, the subject students were subjected to a medical examination courtesy Agha Khan hospital that included blood test, weight, height, BMI and physical and eye examination. The sample schools were one of the least equipped in terms of buildings, furniture, teachers and teaching aides. They were the ones which had little or none facilities at all. Ranging from the very structure of the school buildings to the worn furniture and inadequacy of the school staff, almost everything spoke volumes as to the low attendance and high dropouts in these schools. On the top of it, the students were rather physically weak suffering from skin and other diseases owing to the lack of calcium in their diet, and malnutrition which had an invariable bearing on their mental output. All these factors came together to paint a very grim picture of the situation. To begin with, PPAF joined hands with its other partner organizations, including NRSP to provide younger, more ambitious and energetic teachers to these schools. The new teachers worked very assiduously along with the regular teaching staff. All these organizations also made concerted efforts to repair and renovate the school buildings in order to make them an attractive place for the students to visit. Their collective effort did wonders.
Funds for the school milk program have been provided by PPAF from its own resources. Partner Organizations are required to ensure greater participation and motivation on the part of the targeted communities. This also includes the correct handling of milk cartons and the registration of all necessary data and information associated with the program. Besides, PPAF encourages its partner organizations to incorporate a community monitoring component into this methodology.
As part of this methodology, a pre-testing of the various flavours of milk to be distributed was carried out as part of community sensitization. 220 ml of flavoured milk in Tetra Brik Ascetic packaging was being distributed every school day in the targeted area. The particular flavour of the milk to be taken was left to the individual student.
Jamaldin Wali Sugar Mills is one of the local partners in the noble venture, not only by donating its warehouse space for the programme, but also by providing its vehicles for the carriage of milk to the target schools. The dairy supplier i.e. Tetra Pack managed the supply on a two-monthly basis to the warehouse, and school distribution was managed by the National Rural Support Programme (NRSP) courtesy the transportation facilities made available by Jamaldin Wali Sugar Mills.
To ensure transparency and efficacy of the project, a proper record of the whole exercise both at the warehouse as well as at the school level was properly maintained by the monitoring staff.
Schools and partner organizations were responsible for the care and handling, oversight, registration and distribution of cartons, consumption of the milk and the collection & recycling of empty milk packs. PPAF ensured that each targeted school appoints a ‘School Focal Person’ who was to oversee the effective implementation of the Milk programme at the respective school’s end. Besides, Joint Monitoring Committees comprising of representatives of PPAF, partner organizations, Corporate Sector and beneficiary schools, were established to oversee the effective implementation of the project.
The activity was repeated at the end of the pilot project with the sample of the same students to determine the impact of the activity and the results show a stunning success. The successful implementation of the project ensued various health and nutrition-related benefits for the school children, nay for the entire society. Not only the students performed well thanks to their improved health, but also the attendance rates increased tremendously; dropouts were brought to zero. Owing to the commitment of the PPAF and the partner organizations and the motivation inspired in them by the new teachers, even students from the neighbouring schools started migrating to the sample schools situated in the Union Council Rasoolpur. IQ level of students witnessed an observable improvement.
Establishment of Counseling Committees comprising of the members from the community and those from the partner organizations was yet another great leap forward. Whereas PPAF and Partner Organizations provided the necessary supply and funding necessary for carrying out the project, the Local Counseling Committee made demands to that effect. On the whole both community and the service providers had to go hand in hand to make the project a great success. During the sessions of the community, the local people would apprise the partner organizations about their requirements and inputs about the effects of the project. Setting up of these counseling committees would go a long way, not only in effecting a sense of ownership among the community members, but also enabling PPAF and its partner organizations to implement the project more scientifically and effectively.
A noble drive indeed – but to ensure the sustainability of the program and effect a greater responsibility and accountability among the parents, they are to be convinced to make a token contribution for the purchase of milk for their children down the road.
The planned full scale milk programme is a gigantic task ahead for PPAF. However, it is determined to be equal to the task. It had planned to work restlessly for generating financial support from world charities, corporate sector and the government. Tetra Pak would continue providing special assistance in the implementation of this project. The execution of this program will go a long way in making Pakistani nation, healthier, wealthier and stronger, giving it resilience to face the challenges unleashed by the modern age with a new resolve and greater strength.
copyrigts @ Amer Rizwan
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights & HIV
Script. coprights reserved @ amerrizwan
HIV and AIDS … the mere mention of the disease gets mixed reactions from literate and illiterate alike. Deep rooted social attitudes and stereotyping has made discussing AIDS, a taboo in Pakistan. Women, whether they are living in urban or rural areas, face one similar problem and that is of discussing their sexual health problems with their spouse or in-laws. Discussing family planning and safe sex is, most often, met with horrified glares. After getting married, women, whether they belong to any social strata, are expected to give birth to children one after another, with the physical pain that a woman has to endure while giving birth being ignored.
Only 21% of the women are educated in Pakistan and interestingly most of the programs that have been launched keeping in mind the sexual health problems of women have been successful in persuading them to use contraceptives but still the use of it is rare. The reason is simple that Pakistan is basically a patriarchal society where most of the decisions are taken by men. And due to their own lack of knowledge and dogmatic views on the subject, they don’t allow their women to use contraceptives.
Church World Service- Pakistan/Afghanistan, embarked as implementing partner for this challenging project under the DSW EuroLeverage Project. CWS-P/A is organizing HIV sessions in different parts of Pakistan to raise awareness among women regarding sexual and reproductive health rights.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD’s) including HIV is an increasing problem in Pakistan as there is a lack of sexual health information among adults. Women in Pakistan are vulnerable to HIV/AIDS because, married or not, they are often not in a position to easily negotiate the use of contraceptives to their mates or partners. And most importantly most of them live in poor economic conditions with no health care centers in sight.
Health experts estimate that there are over 85,000 HIV- positive people in Pakistan and about 50% of them are in the province of Sindh. According to UNAIDS almost 40% of new HIV cases occur among women. Accurate number on the women infected with HIV in Pakistan is not available.
[A story of a woman working in Mansehra as RHR trainer] [I will email you story by tomorrow]
Rural women are the badly affected, as they are unable to confide their problems to anyone leave alone discussing their sexual issues. The problems pertaining to sexual and reproductive health of a rural woman are not as easy to comprehend as it is filled with complexities which needs to be understood by keeping in mind their role and status in their families.
It won’t come as a surprise that only 45% of our population has limited access to health care centers and majority of them have to go through severe health complications due to lack of proper information on health related issues, which results in death of innocent people most of the times.
Quacks are most often the easiest, and by far the cheapest help, people belonging to the lower class can think of when the situation for them gets unbearable. Most of the quacks can be found sitting at road sides and those that have progressed or have made big money out of fooling people have opened their clinics to legalize this illegal trade.
Women belonging to the lower socio-economic class have no access to obstetric and health care information and on top of that they are married at an early age which adds to the problem rather than solving it.
The most innovative quality of this project has been the Church World Service-Pakistan/Afghanistan staff’s way of conducting the HIV sessions and the active participation of women form different walks of life.
To counter such implications many organizations are working day and night to provide relief to the poor and uninformed are alike but Church World Service- Pakistan/ Afghanistan’s aims to provide knowledge to a mass audience regarding their reproductive health issues, with measures to prevent them from HIV/AIDS and most importantly to make people, especially men, sensitive in discussing the health and sexual issues with their spouse is distinctive, innovative and result oriented.
[CLOSING]
[END]
HIV and AIDS … the mere mention of the disease gets mixed reactions from literate and illiterate alike. Deep rooted social attitudes and stereotyping has made discussing AIDS, a taboo in Pakistan. Women, whether they are living in urban or rural areas, face one similar problem and that is of discussing their sexual health problems with their spouse or in-laws. Discussing family planning and safe sex is, most often, met with horrified glares. After getting married, women, whether they belong to any social strata, are expected to give birth to children one after another, with the physical pain that a woman has to endure while giving birth being ignored.
Only 21% of the women are educated in Pakistan and interestingly most of the programs that have been launched keeping in mind the sexual health problems of women have been successful in persuading them to use contraceptives but still the use of it is rare. The reason is simple that Pakistan is basically a patriarchal society where most of the decisions are taken by men. And due to their own lack of knowledge and dogmatic views on the subject, they don’t allow their women to use contraceptives.
Church World Service- Pakistan/Afghanistan, embarked as implementing partner for this challenging project under the DSW EuroLeverage Project. CWS-P/A is organizing HIV sessions in different parts of Pakistan to raise awareness among women regarding sexual and reproductive health rights.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD’s) including HIV is an increasing problem in Pakistan as there is a lack of sexual health information among adults. Women in Pakistan are vulnerable to HIV/AIDS because, married or not, they are often not in a position to easily negotiate the use of contraceptives to their mates or partners. And most importantly most of them live in poor economic conditions with no health care centers in sight.
Health experts estimate that there are over 85,000 HIV- positive people in Pakistan and about 50% of them are in the province of Sindh. According to UNAIDS almost 40% of new HIV cases occur among women. Accurate number on the women infected with HIV in Pakistan is not available.
[A story of a woman working in Mansehra as RHR trainer] [I will email you story by tomorrow]
Rural women are the badly affected, as they are unable to confide their problems to anyone leave alone discussing their sexual issues. The problems pertaining to sexual and reproductive health of a rural woman are not as easy to comprehend as it is filled with complexities which needs to be understood by keeping in mind their role and status in their families.
It won’t come as a surprise that only 45% of our population has limited access to health care centers and majority of them have to go through severe health complications due to lack of proper information on health related issues, which results in death of innocent people most of the times.
Quacks are most often the easiest, and by far the cheapest help, people belonging to the lower class can think of when the situation for them gets unbearable. Most of the quacks can be found sitting at road sides and those that have progressed or have made big money out of fooling people have opened their clinics to legalize this illegal trade.
Women belonging to the lower socio-economic class have no access to obstetric and health care information and on top of that they are married at an early age which adds to the problem rather than solving it.
The most innovative quality of this project has been the Church World Service-Pakistan/Afghanistan staff’s way of conducting the HIV sessions and the active participation of women form different walks of life.
To counter such implications many organizations are working day and night to provide relief to the poor and uninformed are alike but Church World Service- Pakistan/ Afghanistan’s aims to provide knowledge to a mass audience regarding their reproductive health issues, with measures to prevent them from HIV/AIDS and most importantly to make people, especially men, sensitive in discussing the health and sexual issues with their spouse is distinctive, innovative and result oriented.
[CLOSING]
[END]
Monday, November 9, 2009
Group Photo in the Foreign Office Lobby
A Group Picture with foreign office officers and media-persons in the capacity of Assistant Director (Research) in the PP Wing of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Islamabad. Pakistan.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
LEST WE FORGET
All these fellow participants belonging to different countries successfully completed a course comprising modules on ‘Human Rights’ in Foreign Service Academy Islamabad Pakistan conducted by Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Geneva. (Switzerland) –February-March, 2005.
Kahuta Convocation Picture
During the days of my lectureship at Goverenment Degree College Kahuta. Rawalpindi. The picture was taken at a Convocation.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Linking Script "Chinese Cultural Show" Venue President House. Islamabad. Pakistan
LINKING SCRIPT FOR THE LIVE SHOW ON THE EVE OF CHINA’S TROUPE’S PERFORMANCE AT THE PRESIDENT HOUSE ISLAMABAD. PAKISTAN (October 2009)
By
AMER RIZWAN (Copyrights reserved @ Amer Rizwan)
Honourable Chief Guest His Excellency the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, respectable foreign dignitaries and noble ladies and gentlemen; I warmly welcome you to this august gala gathering.
The irresistible spirit of love and sympathy that signify Pakistan-China friendship is proverbially mightier and loftier than the colossal mountains that separate the two nations. This friendship is based on complete trust, mutual understanding and shared aspirations for peace and progress.
Keeping with this bond of sincerity and good-neighbourliness, the two peoples are observing the “China Cultural Week” as a part of high-profile events to mark and celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. This cultural show by the Chinese artists and acrobats is one of the essential components of this grand fête.
Pakistan greatly cherishes its unique and multidimensional friendship with People’s Republic of China which spans a vast spectrum of political, strategic, defence, economic and trade, culture and people-to-people contacts. The Government of Pakistan People’s Party has a special sense of attachment to this bond of all-weather and time-tested friendship. The founding chairman of Pakistan People’s Party has been the pioneer of this exemplary friendship. Chairman Mao Zedong and Zhou En Lai together with Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto laid the foundation of this camaraderie which was further consolidated during the two stints of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. In recognition to this time-tested and durable engagement, Benazir Bhutto visited China on Feb. 11-14 on her first official trip abroad. The principal architect of this association, Late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had the vision to build a strategic relationship with China at a time when the latter was isolated. Later this great leader in his various capacities tended these relations to their new strategic heights. Even before formally cultivating any warm relationship with the People’s Republic of China, this political genius differed with many western countries by not voting against China’s membership in the UN in 1960.
“Islam is our faith; Democracy is our policy; Socialism is our economy; all power to the people” was his motto. There was a great deal of identity and commonality of purpose in the ideals and goals of the founder of Pakistan People’s Party and those of the Communist Party China.
Although their approach to realizing these ideals differed a good deal yet the spirit and commitment to their realization was the same. Despite different social systems, ideologies and political beliefs, both countries have gone beyond these differences and continued their all-weather cooperation in all fields by practicing Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. History has proven that China-Pakistan friendship conforms to the strategic interests of the two countries, represents the common aspirations of the two peoples and contributes to regional and world peace. In continuation with this great tradition, the latest visit to China by His Excellency President Zardari would go a long way in further consolidating these ties.
Pakistan and China would continue common endeavours for building a new future for its people and for promotion of international peace, stability and prosperity; peace and stability that is one of the basic sine qua non for the growth of art, architecture, culture and music.
Let me acknowledge here that Chinese civilization has contributed enormously to the global culture through its ingenuity, richness and diversity.
I would now invite my fellow guest compere to hold on the charge of the show and to call upon the Chinese team to mesmerize this very attentive and appreciative audience. Let me whet your eagerness by sharing with you that the performances would include Chinese acrobats, folk tune, songs and a magic show.
Please hold your excitement to have a magnificent melody princess with you…..I would now call upon the modern music maestro Hadiqa Kiyani to enthrall the audience with her pleasing voice.
Invitation to the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
By
AMER RIZWAN (Copyrights reserved @ Amer Rizwan)
Honourable Chief Guest His Excellency the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, respectable foreign dignitaries and noble ladies and gentlemen; I warmly welcome you to this august gala gathering.
The irresistible spirit of love and sympathy that signify Pakistan-China friendship is proverbially mightier and loftier than the colossal mountains that separate the two nations. This friendship is based on complete trust, mutual understanding and shared aspirations for peace and progress.
Keeping with this bond of sincerity and good-neighbourliness, the two peoples are observing the “China Cultural Week” as a part of high-profile events to mark and celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. This cultural show by the Chinese artists and acrobats is one of the essential components of this grand fête.
Pakistan greatly cherishes its unique and multidimensional friendship with People’s Republic of China which spans a vast spectrum of political, strategic, defence, economic and trade, culture and people-to-people contacts. The Government of Pakistan People’s Party has a special sense of attachment to this bond of all-weather and time-tested friendship. The founding chairman of Pakistan People’s Party has been the pioneer of this exemplary friendship. Chairman Mao Zedong and Zhou En Lai together with Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto laid the foundation of this camaraderie which was further consolidated during the two stints of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. In recognition to this time-tested and durable engagement, Benazir Bhutto visited China on Feb. 11-14 on her first official trip abroad. The principal architect of this association, Late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had the vision to build a strategic relationship with China at a time when the latter was isolated. Later this great leader in his various capacities tended these relations to their new strategic heights. Even before formally cultivating any warm relationship with the People’s Republic of China, this political genius differed with many western countries by not voting against China’s membership in the UN in 1960.
“Islam is our faith; Democracy is our policy; Socialism is our economy; all power to the people” was his motto. There was a great deal of identity and commonality of purpose in the ideals and goals of the founder of Pakistan People’s Party and those of the Communist Party China.
Although their approach to realizing these ideals differed a good deal yet the spirit and commitment to their realization was the same. Despite different social systems, ideologies and political beliefs, both countries have gone beyond these differences and continued their all-weather cooperation in all fields by practicing Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. History has proven that China-Pakistan friendship conforms to the strategic interests of the two countries, represents the common aspirations of the two peoples and contributes to regional and world peace. In continuation with this great tradition, the latest visit to China by His Excellency President Zardari would go a long way in further consolidating these ties.
Pakistan and China would continue common endeavours for building a new future for its people and for promotion of international peace, stability and prosperity; peace and stability that is one of the basic sine qua non for the growth of art, architecture, culture and music.
Let me acknowledge here that Chinese civilization has contributed enormously to the global culture through its ingenuity, richness and diversity.
I would now invite my fellow guest compere to hold on the charge of the show and to call upon the Chinese team to mesmerize this very attentive and appreciative audience. Let me whet your eagerness by sharing with you that the performances would include Chinese acrobats, folk tune, songs and a magic show.
Please hold your excitement to have a magnificent melody princess with you…..I would now call upon the modern music maestro Hadiqa Kiyani to enthrall the audience with her pleasing voice.
Invitation to the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
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