21st March 2013
Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat Ul Ebad Khan unveiled the ceremonial plaque to formally inaugurate the new SOS Children Village at Jamshoro, built on the campus of the University of Sindh between 2007 and 2012 by SOS Villages of Sindh.The villages comprised 15 homes to accommodate 10 boys and girls in each home with a “mother” who looks after the “family” of children who become brothers and sisters for each other in keeping with the unique concept of SOS whose motto is to provide “A loving home for every child”.
Addressing the gathering, the governor expressed appreciation for the valuable public service being rendered by the SOS network of child-care institutions across Pakistan. He called upon the SOS leadership to expand their work throughout Sindh and appreciated the fact that the construction of a new SOS Village has already begun in Khairpur with the support of the (recent) provincial government to meet the needs of upper Sindh.
Ebad said that while the humanitarian and educational services of SOS for over 2000 disadvantaged children were most commendable, in the particular context of prevailing conditions in which extremist elements were misusing and misguiding youth and children to become suicide bombers, SOS was also rendering a vital national service by channeling the minds and bodies of deprived children into constructive, peaceful and productive directions.He announced a grant of Rs10 million for SOS Villages and a special grant of Rupees one million for the children who presented two short tableaux on the occasion and the children who were also
present at the event.Souriyya Anwar, President of SOS Villages of Pakistan, thanked the governor for his support. She said that there were three vital elements that give SOS its special strength: its volunteer-leaders and members; its generous donors and its dedicated staff. She referred to the global scale of SOS work and to how she was able to introduce the SOS concept to Pakistan in 1975 and help extend it to now include over 12 villages and 50 projects.
