Schools support group aids flood victims

The Citizens Foundation, which gets about a tenth of its funding from the UAE, moves to divert its efforts in Pakistan to disaster relief.

The Citizens Foundation (TCF), which supports a network of 660 schools in Pakistan, normally raises much of its annual funds during Ramadan, but this year things are different. The aid agency's budget has been battered by the floods that are ravaging parts of Pakistan, and some of its schools have been damaged or closed by the disaster.

The TCF operates in Dubai's Humanitarian City, along with other non-governmental charities and aid agencies. Around 10 per cent of its funding comes from donors in the UAE, according to Shahab Haider, the legal representative of TCF. The school project is still a priority but its staff and supporters in Pakistan plan to provide 20 million meals over 30 days to flood victims. Its immediate goal is to provide food packages, water purifying packs and basic medicines. The funding from the UAE will be combined with donors from Europe and the US.

TCF, which was set up in 1995, aims to create ration packs in Pakistan and distribute them through TCF staff and other agencies. The human impact of the recent floods has exceeded that of Pakistan's 2005 earthquake. The TCF sprang into action then and set up the first field hospital and helped provide 5,000 homes for those displaced by the earthquake. The UN has set a donation target of US$460 million (Dh1.7 billion) to aid the nearly 20 million people who have been affected nationwide by the floods. At least 1,500 have died in what the UN has described as the worst natural disaster in Pakistan's history.

The floods have left about six million people homeless from the mountains in the north to the southern plains. The floods are expected to begin draining into the Arabian Sea in the coming days. Much of the TCF donation money has been diverted to direct flood relief. "Of course a lot of our funding is done during Ramadan and it has dropped, but we rely on regular donors throughout the year. It peaks during Ramadan, but is also a year-long campaign for us," said Mr Haider.

Nevertheless, the group continues to push its education drive. "A number of schools are affected and closed down because of the flooding. The schools outside of the flooded areas are open," he said. He was unable to put a figure on the number of schools closed. Students are still enrolling in the ones not affected by the flooding. Sarah Sheeraz Siddiqui, business development manager at TCF, said that before the floods a number of Dubai-based volunteers went to Pakistan to work on the group's main objective of opening schools.

"We always have a lot of interest from people willing to spend their time volunteering," she said. About 92,000 students, with boys and girls split evenly, attend the 660 schools. All 4,800 teachers are female. "It is a real incentive for parents to send their daughters to school. It gives them more confidence in the school and they know who is looking after their children," said Mr Haider. Added Ms Siddiqui: "In total, 70 per cent of our students go on to third level education. A lot of our new teachers were educated in our schools too and are now starting out with us."

The students are means-tested by the school when they enrol. "The parents must pay but most of it is subsidised by the charity," said Mr Haider. The parents pay 15 per cent of their income, no matter how small it may be, as a school. "The schools have such a good reputation, there is a high demand to get in. Still, the majority of it is funded from our donors," said Mr Haider. The first phase of TCF students are in the process of finishing university, and it is not unusual for the charity to see some of its students study medicine or law.

Its schools rival the private schools not only in size, science labs and subjects on offer but also in national competitions. "Some of our pupils have won competitions in art and other subjects," said Mr Haider. @Email:[e-mail]