Around 80 female volunteers offering volunteer services to the needy from the platform of Girls Guide Association were maltreated by trainers during a weeklong training. This incident has led to an inquiry against the trainer and the staff of the facility.
Pakistan Girls Guide Association Punjab had arranged a weeklong training for teachers of the public sector who had volunteers themselves for acquiring training for extending a helping to the needy whenever it is required. The camp started on June 3 and is set to conclude on today (Saturday).
Samina Majeed, a volunteer teacher, who had arrived at the Girls Guide Training Camp at Ghora Gali, Murree, told the Pakistan Today that the 80 government teachers who had expressed their willingness to obtain training for helping the needy were insulted by the 70-year-old trainer Camp Commander Salma Sagheer. Sagheer is a retired teacher from Bahawalpur who had been appointed as camp commander and she conducted the training for the volunteers.
“Ms Sagheer kept me and 79 other volunteers like prisoners at the camp. We were asked to sleep on naked floor, were not provided proper food and even denied drinking water and taking bath,” she said and added that when protested, the lower staff at the camp had harassed them.
Gulnaz, another volunteer, said that initially the girls guide management had sought Rs 1,000 per person for the mess. However, she added, upon arrival, the volunteers were asked to deposit another Rs 1,000.
“Even when we deposited Rs 2,000 for mess, we were not provided lunch while only bread was provided for breakfast,” she maintained, adding that since all the women had come a long way from Rahim Yar Khan, they had no other choice but to live in the camp.
When contacted for comments, Salma Sagheer admitted that the guides were asked to sleep at floor as there was no proper facility at the camp.
“I have been holding this camp for past fifty years. Initially, we used to live in camps but now there are four rooms for the guides,” she said, adding that the participants should not expect for complete facilities during training.
She also admitted that there was water shortage due to lack of rain this year.
“I have provided them chicken and rice yesterday. Even those at Islamabad Camp are not provided beds. Those complaining against improper food should tell me whether they take chicken at their homes? I have allowed them time for shopping but in future I would not allow such activities,” she added.
She also summoned some teachers who supported the claims of the camp commander. Nasreen Naz claimed that the allegations leveled against the commander were baseless.
Just to prove her loyalty to the camp commander, Nasreen Naz went to the extent that she ended up contradicted her camp commander and said that the participants used to take a bath daily before training. On the contrary, the camp commander had said that due to lack of rains, there was scarcity of water.