Sunday proved to be a fun-filled retreat for Master Ayub’s students. About 60 underprivileged students sat under an open sky on straw mats and painted their hearts out on plain white t-shirts. The paintings ranged from themes like the Pakistani flag to flowers and rainbows as each child painted for a cause.
Boston University (BU) had asked its alumni this year to come up with projects that would help bring social change. Kiran Arif, a BU alumnus, proposed to help raise funds to build a school for the underprivileged children of the slums that are currently studying in an open ground in the F-6 sector of Islamabad. After the university agreed to finance the project, Arif formed an NGO titled “Revolutionists” to take it forward. She said that this was the first event of its kind and the NGO planned to reach out to other cities as well. Clad in pink BU t-shirts and other clothes touting change, some 30 young volunteers came forward to help assist with the activity and seemed delighted to be contributing to the cause.
Zeeshan Tahir, a volunteer said, “It gives these children an opportunity. Some children are holding a paintbrush for the first time in their lives.” Arif elaborated that the t-shirts will become part of a charity exhibit to be arranged within the next two weeks in the capital adding that the aim was to sell the t-shirts for Rs 1,000 each. She hopes to raise about Rs 100,000 from the venture that will be donated to Ayub’s school. Express Tribune
