A Community at Its Best
By Naseem Shekhani, MD
St. Louis, MO
The World Memon Organisation’s
(WMO) Board of Trustees and Board of Management met in Dubai,
UAE on December 23-26, 2006. The meeting was chaired by Mr.
Haji Razak Gandhi of ARY Digital Network. Besides being the
President of WMO, he also hosted the meeting and coordinated
with Mr. M. Rafiq Noorani.
Mr. Gandhi urged the Memon community to realize the importance
of cohesiveness and unity, which he thought was a pressing
need of the time. He also requested the attendees to pay special
attention to the youth of the community; as they are to serve
as the building block for the years ahead.
WMO is an umbrella organization of 1.2 million Memons around
the world. The Memon community is known for its business acumen
and philanthropy. WMO has seven chapters in Pakistan, India,
Far East, Middle East, South Africa, UK and our own USA.
In the initial phase of the meeting the budget of 2005 was
reviewed and passed; the budget for 2006-7 was subsequently
passed. Many issues facing the Memon community were discussed,
but the emphasis was placed on housing projects, micro-economics
and above all, education. In Sri Lanka 100 homes were built
as coop, and the estimated cost of these houses was one million
dollars. 50% of the cost was met by WMO. In India, 135 scholarships
were awarded since the last meeting for higher education:so
far a quarter million dollars have been awarded. Lastly, the
Pakistan Chapter has built or bought 210 houses for needy
families. During last year more than 100 million rupees were
donated for quake victims and volunteers from Karachi and
Sindh went to the northern parts of the country to provide
relief and succor to victims. “We at WMO, are proud
of helping the community, which was located 10,000 feet above
the sea level.” said Mr. Yasin Saya of WMO Central.
A session was dedicated to the Memon Medical Institute, which
is under construction in Karachi, Pakistan. Built near the
airport the institute on completion will be a 330-bedded hospital
furnished with state of the art equipment. The estimated cost
of the hospital is 900 million rupees. Phase one will be completed
by the end of 2007. A German team of experts is advising the
board, stated Dr. Tufail Mohammed. Mr. Diwan, Chairperson
of the board of MMI, and Mr. Ajaz Saya, CEO of MMI, also spoke
on the occasion. They manifestly enjoyed the support of members
of the Memon community present in the meeting.
Mr. Yousuf Tar, President of USA Chapter, stated that there
is a need to organize Memons living in the USA and Canada.
The main goal of the North America Chapter is to provide financial
assistance to WMO and to promote professional education amongst
the younger generation.
The meeting was a great success. The Board of WMO has successfully
identified the long- and short-term goals. The next general
body meeting will be held in Karachi, Pakistan in mid-April
2007.
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