RAMADAN CHARITABLE EVENTS WELL RECEIVED IN LAHORE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 LAHORE 000200 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SCUL PK SUBJECT: RAMADAN CHARITABLE EVENTS WELL RECEIVED IN LAHORE ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: During the holy month of Ramadan Consulate Lahore distributed gift bags containing school supplies, juice, and a snack to over 1,000 children from four madrassahs and three orphanages. We also provided a package of basic food stuffs to 150 underprivileged families. Major Urdu and English language media provided broad coverage of the charitable events. Three of the four madrassahs were new partners for Post this year, a step forward in outreach to the Muslim community. END SUMMARY. RAMADAN SPIRIT OF CHARITY AND GIVING ¶2. (U) The holy month of Ramadan is a month marked by the spirit of sharing and charity for the Muslim community. In the spirit of the season, between August 22 and September 28 Consulate Lahore distributed gift bags to over 1,000 children at madrassahs and orphanages throughout the city. The gifts bags contained school supplies, juice, and a snack. Drawing from President Obama's remarks, the Principal Officer stressed to all the organizations involved that Consulate Lahore and the entire U.S. Mission in Pakistan were "working to ensure that less fortunate Muslims were able to fulfill their charitable obligations not just during Ramadan but throughout the year." CHARITABLE EVENTS WITH FOUR MADRASSAS, THREE FOR THE FIRST TIME ¶3. (U) Post presented gifts to 200 male students of the the Jamia Al Quds Ahle-Hadith. The jamia, or school, takes its name from the Arabic word for Jerusalem, Al Quds. The Ahle-Hadith sect is a conservative sect of Islam, often referred to as Wahabis. Hafiz Abdul Wahhab Ropri runs this all-male madrassah and is an influential Ahle-Hadith leader. The school, for children ages 6-18, offers Quran memorization, instruction on Islamic jurisprudence and the Hadiths, or sayings of Prophet Muhammad. The school does not offer English or Arabic language courses. ¶4. (U) Post distributed gifts to 200 students at the coed shia madrassah, Jamia Baqir ul Aloom. This is a more liberal madrassah that has modern facilities such as computers. Most students attend a secular school in the morning and come to the madrassah for religious education in the afternoon. With the exception of high school-aged girls, who waited in another room to meet the PO and APAO (both women),girls and boys sat in the same room to hear a series of short speeches and receive their gift bags. Their clothing suggested their families were members 
of Pakistan's elusive middle class, well-off enough to pay for their children to attend school but not so well-off to afford a good English-medium school. Children were dressed in party clothes for the event. One girl, about seven years old, dressed as a fairy princess, with wings, a tiara, and a wand. ¶5. (U) Post gave gifts to 200 students of the Jamia Muhammadia Rizvia, an all male madrassah. We supplemented the usual gift bags with about a dozen hand-stitched soccer balls, donated by a local company that makes sporting goods, owned by a Post contact. This madrassah is run by Qari Zawwar Bahadur, a Brailvi/Ahle Sunnat religious-political leader, active in interfaith dialogue. Students at this madrassah, with ages between eight and twenty-two years old, learn to correctly recite the Quran. Qari Zawwar seemed slightly embarrassed to admit that the students did not learn the meaning of the words they recited. The madrassah did not have the resources to teach Arabic, or to teach Quranic interpretation in Urdu. It did, however, offer students room, board, and school uniforms free of charge. This is a significant incentive for poor families to send their sons despite the limited applicability of the education they receive to earning a livelihood. Once students graduated, their families might/might send them to another school to learn to read, write, and interpret the Quran. Qari Zawwar stressed to us that Brailvis were opposed to violence, and that Jamia Muhammadia Rizvia is wholly funded by domestic benefactors. ¶6. (U) Post presented gifts to 50 students at the all-male madrassah Jamia Rizvia. This madrassah is run by a noted Brailvi/Ahle Sunnat leader, Mufti Ghulam Sarwar Qadri. He served as Minister for Religious Affairs in the Government of Pervez Musharraf. Students, aged 8-18, learn to read and recite the Quran in Urdu and do not learn English as a language. Qadri showed us a library with Arabic-language books on Islam. He mentioned that they hoped to remodel the school and add classes LAHORE 00000200 002 OF 003 for girls. The boys and young men were well-behaved and did not hesitate to interact with us after the distribution, laughing and posing for a group picture. ORPHANS PRESENTED GIFTS ¶7. (U) Post paid a visit and gave gifts to 200 children at the SOS Children's Village. SOS Children's Village is a private social welfare organization that provides orphans and abandoned children a home. Children come to SOS as young as three months old and remain there through tenth grade, when they are able to lead independent lives. Director Almas Butt showed us facilities that include 19 housing quarters for boys and girls, a library with Urdu and English literature and three computers, and the neighboring school that supports the orphanage. Children welcomed the visit to their houses, showing pictures of their "families," as they call their housemates. Between 10-12 children and a house mother live in each house. Older children are responsible for cooking, cleaning and helping to look after the younger children. To receive gifts, children lined up in perfect rows, each one saying "thank you" and shaking hands. The older students were fluent in English and were happy to share their experience with us. ¶8. (U) Post distributed gifts to 223 boys at the Darul Shafqat (The House of Affection) orphanage and to 170 girls at the Darul Aman (House of Sanctuary) orphanage. The two orphanages are run by Anjuman Hamayat-i-Islam, and NGO with a substantial endowment. They run schools, colleges, technical schools and a law college where the orphans study with mainstream students. The boys' orphanage's drum and bugle corps, in uniform, played to welcome us. Two alumni of the orphanage, one a former member of the national assembly and the other a former judge, participated in the distribution and were keen to have media coverage. They stressed that they took a holistic approach to setting their charges on successful life paths, from their education through their marriages. Girls, in particular, would be vulnerable to abuse if they graduated from school and did not have assistance in finding suitable husbands. FOOD STUFFS DISTRIBUTED IN NEEDY NEIGHBORHOOD ¶9. (U) Post distributed bags of basic food items to 150 families in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Lahore. Seeds of Peace alumni selected an NGO-run school for primary through secondary students in a poor neighborhood, which includes a small Christian community. The families of the school's students received packets of flour, vermicelli (a noodle used in a traditional dessert served during Ramadan and Eid),sugar and oil. The Seeds of Peace participants, students at expensive private English-medium schools, worked with a will but were clearly outside their normal environment. As we handed over bags of supplies to women whose hands were roughened by domestic work, the bejeweled mother of one of the Seeds of Peace alumni mopped her son's brow with an embroidered handkerchief. Note: The Seeds of Peace program brings together students from countries in the Middle East and Asia for a summer camp in the United States. Its curriculum focuses on building relationships and promoting peace. TRASH FROM HAPPY MEALS HELPS FUND SCHOOL ¶10. (U) The final event of the holy month was an Eid lunch for 100 students at a local McDonalds restaurant. The children were from the Abroo Educational Welfare Organization (EWO),which provides free education and lunch to children of domestic workers. The families of students enrolled at Abroo EWO have incomes of 2,000 to 5,000 Pakistani rupees (about USD 24 - 60) per month. The organization is funded by private donations and through fees received for collecting trash. We saw this in action after the meal, when the children gathered their Happy Meal boxes. This was our first event with Abroo EWO, and it almost did not happen. The head of the organization initially resisted our offer. Because the students' families would never be able to take them to McDonalds again, introducing them to an extravagance like a USD 1.50 Happy Meal would be cruel. In the end, she agreed that every child should be able to enjoy a special treat at Eid. Students were intimidated by their surroundings on arrival, but a McDonalds employee broke the chill. The "party coordinator" led the children in songs, dances, and musical chairs. A magician and his assistant put on a (low-rent but nonetheless) mesmerizing show, to squeals of LAHORE 00000200 003 OF 003 delight. Every child was a first-time visitor to McDonalds. When we asked what they liked best, the top three answers (in no particular order) were, "chips" (french fries),"the magic show," and "everything." ¶11. (U) During the month of Ramadan Post also hosted nearly 500 political, economic, commercial, logistical, academic and media contacts to 21 iftaris (snacks to breakfast at sunset) and dinners. These events, nearly all held at the Principal Officer's residence, were useful to thank and acknowledge our contacts. They also served to introduce a newly-arrived PO to as many people as possible, at a time when many Lahorites' work day was compressed to a few hours a day due to fasting. WIDESPREAD, AND POSITIVE,MEDIA COVERAGE ¶12. (U) The month of charitable events was widely covered by English and Urdu newspapers. English press included "Daily Times" (circulation 15,000) and "The Nation" (circulation 25,000). Articles appeared in several smaller Urdu dailies including "Ausaf," "Assas," and "Jurrat." Most articles included a color photograph as well as text reporting on the events. TV coverage including major channels Aaj TV, Geo, Samaa, and Dunya TV. A "Frontier Post" story noted that, the faces of the boys of the Darul Shafqat orphanage "beamed with joy" while talking with the Principal Officer. Geo Television ran a positive three-minute feature on the McDonalds event. The reporter who covered the story said his editors were particularly taken with images of the Principal Officer "dining with the children of servants." ¶13. (U) For more information or to see photos, the point of contact is PAO Jamie Dragon, dragonja@state.gov, or visit Consulate Lahore's website, http://lahore.usconsulate.gov. CONROY