KARACHI: The Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) held the stone-laying ceremony of an educational facility in the impoverished hamlet of Goth Noor Muhammad, located on the outskirts of Karachi, on Tuesday.
The ceremony was performed by PPAF Chairman Hussain Dawood and the fund’s outgoing CEO/MD Kamal Hyat, in-coming CEO/MD Qazi Azmat Isa, and PPAF Board of Directors members Zubyr Soomro, Dr Nuzhat Ahmad, Dr Rajab Ali Memon and Asif Qadir were also present on the occasion. The ceremony of the educational facility was a part of the model village development of Goth Noor Muhammad by the PPAF and Shell Pakistan, which have joined hands to develop the village at a cost of Rs 35 million in two years.
Located approximately 25-km away from Karachi near the solid waste dumping site, Goth Noor Muhammad is a small hamlet comprising about 100 households.
Having no access to potable water and other basic necessities of life, the men, women and children of the goth are living in unhygienic conditions and make a living by sifting the Karachi’s garbage. Most of the children are illiterate as they can neither afford nor travel to attend a school in the nearby village. The locality lacks health and educational facilities while its dwellings comprise bamboo and date palm branches covered with discarded and worn out clothes.
