The services of NGOs in Pakistan do not need any introduction, these organizations are striving for change in society through services in all walks of life. One such NGO, ‘I Help – Touching Souls’, is offering its services through the civil platform.
MM News arranged a special session with the spirit of this NGO, Anam Laghari.
MM News: When did you come up with the idea of social services in the presence of countless NGOs?
Anam Laghari: We started our journey of social services in 2012. I was quite sensitive from the beginning and passionate about helping people and at the age of 19, so I started practicing the service of humanity during college life.
MM News: How did you start the NGO and what were the difficulties?
Anam Laghari: The series started with the help of the school, college, and home workers, and then it reached the distribution of rations. It is hard work, you have to endure various hardships but it feels like a spiritual peace.
MM News: What steps have you taken regarding education?
Anam Laghari: One of our projects ‘Street to School’ is still going on, in this program, we are providing education to working children. Millions of children in our society work hard to support their families, we provide education to these children by exempting them from punctuality.
MM News: Are you satisfied with the work of the NGO or do you intend to expand the scope?
Anam Laghari: We have been working for only a few years and now we have very limited resources so we are working on a small scale but our aim is to expand our scope of work and provide more services.
MM News: What are the sources of financial support for the organization?
Anam Laghari: We started the work with our own resources but now some friends in the country are helping us in this good work and we hope that soon we will get help from abroad and our services will be even better.
MM News: Are you running all the affairs alone or the whole team?
Anam Laghari: By the grace of Allah, more than a hundred volunteers are working with us at the moment. Now in Ramadan, we have done various things together with the volunteers, including Iftar and distribution of rations.
I would also like to say here that our youth have a great passion for social services and if you guide them, society can change a lot.
MM News: How many children are there in your school, are the teachers also volunteers?
Anam Laghari: At present, there are about 50 children studying in our school and there are separate arrangements for girls and boys while teachers are also paid for teaching.
MM News: How did you start the NGO and what were the difficulties?
Anam Laghari: The series started with the help of the school, college, and home workers, and then it reached the distribution of rations. It is hard work, you have to endure various hardships but it feels like a spiritual peace.
MM News: What steps have you taken regarding education?
Anam Laghari: One of our projects ‘Street to School’ is still going on, in this program, we are providing education to working children. Millions of children in our society work hard to support their families, we provide education to these children by exempting them from punctuality.
MM News: Are you satisfied with the work of the NGO or do you intend to expand the scope?
Anam Laghari: We have been working for only a few years and now we have very limited resources so we are working on a small scale but our aim is to expand our scope of work and provide more services.
MM News: What are the sources of financial support for the organization?
Anam Laghari: We started the work with our own resources but now some friends in the country are helping us in this good work and we hope that soon we will get help from abroad and our services will be even better.
MM News: Are you running all the affairs alone or the whole team?
Anam Leghari: By the grace of Allah, more than a hundred volunteers are working with us at the moment. Now in Ramadan, we have done various things together with the volunteers, including Iftar and distribution of rations.
I would also like to say here that our youth have a great passion for social services and if you guide them, society can change a lot.
MM News: How many children are there in your school, are the teachers also volunteers?
Anam Laghari: At present, there are about 50 children studying in our school and there are separate arrangements for girls and boys while teachers are also paid for teaching.
We may pay teachers less, but we pay because we have a responsibility. The purpose of paying salaries is to make these teachers work hard.
MM News: How do you help families with the help of others?
Anam Laghari: My father is a landowner, we have no brother and we six sisters came into the world with the desire of a son, being the eldest of my six sisters, I wish I could be my father’s arm and support him.
MM News: What do you plan to do for yourself besides social services?
Anam Laghari: I had set up a restaurant with my sister some time ago but we were lucky that due to coronavirus lockdown we went into deficit so we closed it but now that the situation has improved again so I intend to start a restaurant or something else.
