Dr.Aisha Zafar Chairperson SWDRC 2009.

Appna's Social Welfare and Disaster Relief Committee has played a very active role since the time of the earthquake in 2005. In the previous years, the committee has been involved with natural calamities like earthquakes and floods, but this year we had to face a disaster relating to humans...the internally displaced people.

The beginning of the year was rather slow and we were involved in raising funds for a project the committee has supported in the past also...Street Children of Karachi. This project is to help children from low income families to develop skills where they can earn and support their families. The project was led by Drs Talha Siddiqi and Durakshan Tanveer and a total of 8,500 dollars were raised.

Around this time, the issue of IDP's came up and the committee worked very closely with a subcommittee created by Khyber and included Drs Naeem Khan, Mohammed Taqi, Arshad Rehan and Fauzia Wali Khan. We worked with the Khyber Students Social Welfare Society and the Vice Chancellor and Principal of Khyber, Dr Hafeez Ullah coordinated our efforst on ground. More than 200,000 dollars were raised which were used to staff clinics for the camps. In the coming month, three ambulances which are ATLS equipped will be given to Khyber. We also gave funds to Edhi, Red Crescent and the Mardan Clinic to help the IDP. Dr Tariq Cheema, Executie Director of Appna, specially went to Pakistan for coordinating these efforts and gave a detailed report to the committee.

During the summer meeting in San Francisco, the committee met Dr Bari Khan from Indus Hospital in Karachi. He has managed this hospital extremely well and requested help with free screening mammography for the female population in that area. An Appna member, Dr Ijaz Ali, donated a mammogram which will be used for this purpose. It would be much appreciated if other members can help us find mammograms or other medical equipment at their hospital which can be donated. The committee will arrange for storeage and shipping of this equipment.

Another committee member, Dr Shahab Arfeen, visited the Children's Cancer Hospital in Karachi and they needed equipment to be used for administering chemo to the patients. We were able to raise 7,200 dollars for that equipment needed and hope that other Appna members will sponsor patients from this hospital for their treatment.

An anonymous Appna member, continues to give 100,000 dollars every year since 2006 to OBAT...the organization that help stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh.

Around October, we were notified that several children had died in Faisalabad Children's hospital due to lack of ventilators. Dr Shahid Sheikh, a graduate of Punjab Medical College and also a committee member, played a very active role and he along with the co chair, Dr Nadeem Zafar, raised 70,000 dollars. We just got a matching grant from Islmaic Relief of 50,000 dollars for this project. Appna will be able to provide eight ventilators to this hospital and they will be shipped in the next few weeks. This is a great achievemnt for Appna and we hope in the coming years, similar projects are done with other smaller alumni.

I must thank the several chapters that have supported our various projects. Appki/Kentucky chapter was the first chapter to raise 14,000 dollars for the IDP in the first 24 hours. Cincinnatti chapter has donated 30,000 dollars for an ambulance for the IDP in the Swat area. Appne/Boston chapter has raised 60,000 dolars to help the IDP and the orphanage of Khapal Kor in Swat. Virginia chapter also has donated 30,000 dollars for the IDP. More recently, New Jersey chapter has donated a ventilator for the Faislalabad project.

The strength of Appna comes from its members and volunteers. Apart from the members I have mentioned in the report, I was blessed to work with a very dedicated team of members like Drs Shahid Yusuf , Mansoor Alam, Rubina Inayat, Maqbool Arshad, Naveed Chowhan, Saima Zafar and Amer Akmal.

Above all, its you....the very generous members of Appna who the committee would like to thank for your ongoing support of our projects.

Aisha Zafar.
Chair SWDRC