Community Awareness
Symposium Evokes Spontaneous Response
By Zia Khan
 |
Abubakr
Vakil |
Zia
Khan |
Iqbal
Ibrahim |
Dr.
Quratulain Bakteari |
“Human resource
development is a process of love, care, and humility and
unlimited belief in the creative potential of ordinary and
average people,” says Dr. Quratulain Bakhteari, Founding
Director of Institute for Development Studies and Practices,
IDSP-Pakistan. Dr. Bakhteari has been nominated for the
award of the coveted Nobel Peace Prize for 2005 from Pakistan.
She has spent over 30 years in community development related
programs and humanitarian causes including the recent earthquake
in the northern parts of Pakistan. She was one of the guests
of honor at an intellectual community awareness symposium
held on December 16, 2005 at the Shahnawaz Restaurant in
Norwalk, California.
The dinner and symposium were hosted by prominent community
members from Los Angeles including Zia Khan, Iqbal Ibrahim,
Abubakr Vakil, Afreen and Mohsin Mehmood.
 |
L
to R: Dr. Nasim Malik, Abubakr Vakil, Zeshan Khan,
Dr. Ahsan Mubarak and Iqbal Ibrahim |
Zia
Khan and Dr. Ahsan Mubarak |
Zia
and Tina Khan with Dr. Quratulain Bakteari |
Dr. Ahsan Mubarak (Sitara-e-Imtiaz)
a prominent nuclear seismic scientist was the other guest
of honor who made a presentation on the recent earthquake
and the seismic activity in Pakistan. His colorful charts
came as a surprise to many of us who were not aware of the
volatile situation and the activity beneath the surface
of the earth. He responded to many questions from the audience
and highlighted the need for greater awareness, building
codes, and better preparedness for any future seismic events.
After the dinner the program began with tilawat-e-Kalam-e-Pak
by Mr. Iqbal Ibrahim and its translation. He pointed to
the human aspect of community building and remarked “Allah
loves those who love their fellow
human beings.”
 |
Mr.
and Mrs. Sarfarz Khan with Dr.
Quratulain Bakteari |
Dr.
Quratulain Baktear, a guest and Irfan Murtaza |
Dr.
Quratulain Bakteari with Mr. and Mrs. Samin Faruqui |
Mr. Abubakr Vakil a
prominent community icon and supporter of Pakistani community
affairs and humanitarian causes, spoke of the important
work that Dr. Bakhteari and her institute were performing
to better the lives of the under-developed communities of
Pakistan. He emphasized the need for recognizing the work
of silent workers such as Dr. Bakhteari and Dr. Mubarakmand.
Mr. Syed Hasan,a Los Angeles Pakistani community leader,
stressed the need for supporting the work being done by
the IDSP.
There was pin drop silence during the presentations. Dr.
Quratulain Bakhteari showed a video on the activities of
IDSP workers and some slides on the help and reconstruction
support being provided to the earthquake victims in the
8000ft high mountain region of Batal and its surroundings.
 |
 |
 |
 |
Dr.
Quratulain Bakteari with family |
Dr.
Quratulain Bakteari with a guest |
A
section of the audience |
L
to R: Zia Khan, Dr. Ahsan Mubarak, Dr Quratulain Bakteari
and Iqbal Ibrahim |
The mission statement
of IDSP speaks for itself: “To create and develop
human resources that will change the power structure by
demystifying the development process and establish sustainable
partnership with communities.” IDSP is an NGO based
in Quetta, Pakistan, and provides learning opportunities
to the youth, especially the community workers who attend
a two-year course at the institute and later implement innovative
programs on education policy and planning, gender mainstreaming,
participatory poverty assessment, girl child nutrition program,
and numerous advisory services to leading government and
development related programs in Pakistan.
In response to a question as to how someone could support
the work being done by her organization, she pointed out
that individual support from people and organizations is
the primary source of its strength.
IDSP’s future goals include building a university
which would meet the challenges of the community building
in the 21st century and would give Pakistan a continuous
corps of educated and trained community workers who can
go back and help in alleviating sufferings, solving problems,
and contributing in community rebuilding and the educational
process. Giving out proper education is at the core of Dr.
Bakhteari’s program and all agreed with her. People
showed great interest in her work and asked how they could
help and participate in the noble cause. To begin with more
information can be found on the website www.idsp.org.pk
In addition the e-mail to Dr. Bakhteari can be sent on idsp@idsp.org.pk
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