RAWALPINDI:Anjuman Faizul Islam (AFI) is home to more than 1000 orphan children, out of which a majority belonged to downtrodden areas of Baluchistan, KPK, Gilgit Baltistan, Sindh, AJK and different cities of Punjab.
President of AFI, Professor Dr Riaz Ahmed said this while talking to a group of journalists who visited the orphanage on Wednesday.
He told the reporters that AFI was founded by the Father of the Nation Quaid e Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah in 1943, was the biggest shelter for the orphans who not only have boarding facilities but also have educational, skill development, health care, healthy meal, the teaching of Islamic education and all other facilities sans any government support.
“This orphanage was established on the behest of Quaid e Azam in 1943 to accommodate Muslim children who lost their parents in Bengal riots and were retrieved from there and lodged at that time in a rented house (Rs. 7 per month rent) in Committee Chowk Rawalpindi”, he added.
Dr Riaz said AFI has six centres, including a head office at Faizabad, Trunk Bazar Raja Bazar, New Campus GT Road Mandra, Pakkah Ghoh, Dobairan Kalan and Kalrian in Kalar Syedan.
He said residential blocks of AFI were called “APNA GHAR”, and all campuses have their mosques, libraries, dining halls, hospitals, dispensaries, playgrounds and other necessary facilities.
The annual budget of AFI was more than 210 million met with the donations of philanthropists.
Dr Riaz Ahmed said government-run orphanages in the country could barely accommodate less than 35 thousand orphans in their 35 shelter homes, while privately run shelter homes also running short the space and facilities to accommodate not more than 5 to 7 per cent out of a total 4.6 million population of orphan children in our dear homeland.
“This segment of our society, due to unavailability of proper parental support or guidance and various other socio-economic factors remain one of the most vulnerable with the deprivation of health, education and other fundamental child rights”, he mentioned.
He told reporters that all campuses of AFI were equipped to provide not only school and technical education, boarding and healthcare facilities but also access libraries, computer labs, indoor, outdoor games, and various other co-curricular activities facilities.
AFI was also promoting and maintaining national harmony as the orphan children belonging to all provinces reside and seek education with a mind of Islamic brotherhood, he added.
Prof. Dr Riaz Ahmed further said AFI played an influential role in national reconstruction, which needed the government and philanthropist attentions to accommodate more orphans.