Plea from Dr. Manzoor Memon (Ophthalmologist) from UK
ROADMAP FOR IMPROVING EDUCATION IN SINDHFOR SINDHIS WHO LOVE SINDH AND WANT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.There are 44000 (36000 Primary and 8000 Higher) Government Schools andapproximately175000 appointed teachers. More than 50% of schools eitherexist on paper or function below par. Quality of some teachers issubstandard and some get paid without going to schools!However in some cases minor interventions by the volunteers produced vastimprovement in standards. In a small project in Naushehro Feroze, we foundpaying for one extra teacher was all that required. In one case supply ofschool chalks, blackboard and notebooks got the school going. In a differentproject, a hired bus collected small girls from different villages, tookthem to the school in Naushehro Town Girls' School and returned them totheir homes in the evening thus enabling these girl to continue with theireducation.LET US DO WHAT IS DIFFICULT BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE:1. Find out Government Schools in your village or town or in the vicinitywhich are facing problems. You will easily find such schools. 300 schoolsare closed or partly closed in Naushehro district alone.2. Adopt one School. Appoint a relative, a friend or any locally unemployedgraduate to visit the school and find out what could be done to restart orimprove it. Then take steps to address that problem along the line ofexamples given above. Also get help from the local rich people.3. If you travel to Pakistan, try to visit such schools and partake in theprocess of ongoing help.You can only change the fortunes of Sindh by educating Sindhi children. Weare in the UK and USA because of our education which Sindh gave us. It isour duty to payback. Let us not deny Sindh’s children their basic HumanRight of education.Do you think this makes sense? If yes, then please consider it. It’s Sindh'sLAST CALL.Dr.
Manzoor Memon (Ophthalmologist),
LMC graudate of 1962Essex, UK
A Previous Post
Dear Absmners,
I wish I could begin this posting with the first paragraph from Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. Suffices it to say that unlike Charles Dickens time, things in LMC used to be better when Senior Students used to be seniors...gracious, helpful and generous; and juniors used to be respectful and humble . Those inspiring times in LMC will remain unmatched no matter where one is today.
Dr. Manzoor Memon is an opthalmologist in UK. He is originally from Naushahro Feroze and LMC Graduate of 1961. He has been on this list since its inception. Recently I had a chance to speak to him and at my request agreed to share the information of one of his recent projects in Sindh. Below is a fax from Mrs. Jean Memon which indeed is very inspiring as well as informative.
Mazhar Lakho LMC 77
Belleville, IL, USA
" Stand for something or you will fall for anything."
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Eye-Camps at Naushahro Feroze
In 1995 my husband and I started eye camps in Naushahro Feroze, the birth place of my husband this town had no had no eye treatments whatsoever. The little hospital had no facilities or even drugs for opthalmic use.
Manzoor started by phoning his colleagues in Pakistan and got a good response. Dr Zia was willing to do the operations free of charge and knew enough doctors to assist him. All they needed was money. Manzoor sponsored the camps by paying for the medicines and the intraocular lenses.
Our club Roatry of Roding was looking for a project. Michael Merrit was our president that year and he whole heartedly agreed. The club gave us a very generous donation of 1000 pounds.
Jean and Manzoor Memon
In those early years the camps were held in a school and it was not easy without basic facilities. They desperately needed an operating microscope and with donations from our friends and the club we bought one. Since then our club has donated a further five hundered pounds and on a very nice evening with a talk from Warrick Barton about climbing in Pakistan we received another check for five hundered pounds.
The local authorities in Naushahro gradually came round to build a wing on the hospital with six consulting rooms and an operating theatre for the eye unit. Last year Mohammed Rahim from the Rotary of Redbridge raised 17000 pounds. for the equipment for the new hospital wing and now they are up and running. The Doctor incharge of the Eye Unit, Dr. Ajmal, started working there with a torch and a wobbly chair. He showed us round the unit when we were there in Dec. 2003 to officially open the unit. It all was a very emotional experience.
Dr. Ajmal has kept all the records since the beginning of the clinincs and they and they have operated on 7000 patients( Cataracts) and helped hundereds by giving them medicines and advice.
The cost per patient is has been kept to a minimumas there is no paperwork involved other than the records. They advertise locally by hanging sheets in the streets and at the back of rickshaws with the information painted on them. Hopefully our club will keep an interest in the eye-camps in future.
From: Jean Memon, Rotary of Roding
Chigwell, Essex
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