Florida’s Pakistanis agree to ‘adopt’ Swat town

[LahoreEstate]

Florida’s Pakistanis agree to ‘adopt’ Swat town

Staff Report

PESHAWAR: The Tampa-based Pakistani community in Florida is considering ‘adopting’ a town in the battle-torn Swat valley to rehabilitate residents fleeing the fighting there. One of the leaders of the Tampa-based group, Dr Munir Khan, floated the proposal at a fund-raiser jointly organised by the Human Development Foundation (HDF), the Khyber Medical College Welfare Society, the Edhi Foundation and the Islamic Relief Fund on Sunday.

A total of $30,000 were raised at the fund-raiser. HDF’s Dr Shehnaz Khan appealed to the participants to donate generously for the internally displaced persons (IDPs). Dr Munir said, “The Tampa-based community should help in rebuilding that town over the next 5 years or so.” He said the people of Tampa would interact with residents of the selected town and help them rebuild schools, hospitals and also finance the poorest families. It was also decided that a committee, consisting of local philanthropists, would start the project.

Dr Saleem Afridi, Dr Rooh Afza Afridi, Dr Wali Khan, Dr Saqib Khan, Dr Humayun Mian, Dr Javed Hafeez, Dr Faisal Khan, Dr Amir Nawaz, Dr Shaukat Chaudhry, Dr Masood Ansari and Hikman Rehman were also present on the occasion.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg7_34