Petarian Foundation

The Petarian Foundation was registered on the 15th of December 2003 under the Societies Act of 1860 under the laws of Pakistan. While the general aims and objectives of the Foundation are broad, the main focus of the Foundation is to serve Pakistan through service to Cadet College Petaro and Petarians.

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General Aims and Objectives

The Foundation is a non-profit and non-political organization, set up for the benefit and welfare of Petarians in particular and Pakistanis at large

The Foundations provides welfare services through:

• Relief work
• Scholarships for capable & needy students
• Creation of job opportunities through investments and placement services
• Unemployment bureau to assist the jobless
• Career counseling services
• Free course books for needy students
• Provide jobs to widows and orphans
• Blood banks
• Other service or facility that would benefit Petarians in particular and Pakistanis at large

The Foundation promotes and finances projects in the following areas:

• Public schools, colleges, universities
• R&D facilities & "Chairs" at Universities
• Vocational institutions for all trades
• Health care facilities

Activities

Within this short span of life, the Foundation has already made substantial progress in demonstrating its viability as an NGO geared towards the service of Pakistan, Petaro and Petarians. Activities to date include:

• The First Petarian Convention 2004 under the theme “Petarians for Pakistan” held at Cadet College Petaro on 24-26 Dec 2004. Over 450 Petarians participated. Over Rs. 30 lacs donation collected for improving the standard of education at Cadet College Petaro.
• Scholarships for cadets at CCP: Scholarships are awarded to cadets at Cadet College Petaro based on merit and need. Six scholarships were given to cadets during 2004-2005, ten scholarships during 2005-2006, and fifteen scholarships during 2006-2007.
• Scholarship for ex-cadets: One ex-cadet was given scholarship for a period of 4 years for his studies in medicine at LUMHS, Jamshoro, while a second one has been granted a scholarship for his studies in engineering.
• CCP Teachers Training Program: The first Interactive Workshop was held at Islamabad for all teachers of CCP on 24-31 July 2005, managed by The Konsultants, Lahore. Further training programs shall be organized with the objective to improve the quality of education at CCP with better trained teaching staff.
• CCP Teachers’ English Language Teaching Program: The Petarian Foundation employed the services of Berlitz Language Center at Karachi to bring all the CCP teachers to a mark of excellence in their English language skills. The English language teaching program was started in the summer of 2006 at Petaro with nearly 30 teachers in participation. The summer program was intense while it will continue on weekends for the next 2 years.
• Special Skills Course for CCP Teachers at Aga Khan Training Center, Karachi in summer of 2006.
• Hajj: One CCP employee – Mr. Mohsin Ali Shah who works as a bearer at the Cadets Mess – was sponsored by the Petarian Foundation to go for Hajj during 2006.
• Earthquake Relief Work: Immediate Relief and Medical Camp for Earthquake affected population at Rerah, Bagh, AJK during Oct-Nov 2005. The Petarian Foundation distributed over 1500 tents, 4000 blankets and quilts, food rations, clothes, and other relief goods to the affected population in Bagh district, AJK after conducting field surveys of actual damage and destruction in the mountain villages. An average of 5 doctors remained on duty during the first 4 weeks of emergency (including one lady doctor) to provide primary medical relief. We also operated a field ambulance to transport secondary and tertiary patients with referrals to the larger hospitals in Bagh.
• Healthcare units: Six Basic Health Units / Forward Health Posts were reconstructed by the Foundation in Bagh district, AJK at Rerah, Lohar Bela, Seri Gala, Seri Pehi, Samni and Sarbuland. The Foundation also provided services of 2-3 fulltime doctors for a period of 10 months who also supervised a medical staff of nearly 20 people at these clinics. These clinics were built and run under an agreement with the District Health Officer, Bagh, AJK.
• Sarbuland Village Project: As a part of the rehabilitation of the earthquake affectees, the Petarian Foundation took over the Sarbuland Village project from Brig. Naeem Sadiq during its early phase, and continued its development and management for over a year. The village was built on virgin land with 98 homes in the first phase and 76 homes in the second. Of these, 65 were allotted to widows in the first phase. The village was occupied by over 800 residents in the first phase. The village provided all facilities such as school for 200 children, basic heathcare unit, vocational training center for women, roads, electricity, water and sewage systems, sanitation services, security services, round the clock maintenance, gas cookers, sewing machines, etc. A total staff of nearly 70 people were employed including teachers, doctors, medical staff, electricians, plumbers, laborers, security guards, sanitation staff and administration staff to manage the day to day affairs of the village. Most of these were local people from Bagh. The total donations received and spent on this project (mostly in kind) exceeded US$ 2 million.
• Newsletter: The Petarian Foundation has been reporting its activities through a periodic newsletter.

Board of Directors

The Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors having 5 directors. All Directors serve on a voluntary basis and are not eligible for any remuneration. The current Board is constituted of the following:

• Kazi Zulkader Siddiqui, Chairman
• Shahid Mahmud, General Secretary
• Mahmood Baweja, Treasurer
• Tajammul Husayn, Member
• Qaisar M. Zaman, Member

Secretariat

For day to day management of operations of the Foundation, a Secretariat has been formed with an office at Karachi. Presently Aamir Mumtaz Gopang, serves as the Coordinator in the Secretariat.

In order to run the operations at Bagh, AJK for the earthquake relief and rehabilitation program, Air Cdre. Shahid Hamid Shigri joined the Petarian Foundation as the Chief of Operations. A staff of nearly 70 people reported to him for these operations.

Other Petarians who were employed at our Bagh operations included Dr. Asad Raza Jiskani, and Junaid Bhatti.

In addition to members of the Board, numerous other Petarians and non-Petarians have given their time for voluntary services particularly during the earthquake relief operations. There were over 50 other non-Petarian volunteers at this camp from amongst Abdalians and general Pakistanis who assisted us during the operations.