Posts tagged FAST

IDP’s Calling – Anyone for Relief efforts?

6
2 years ago
by Ammar in , , ,

Last year, when a calamity hit Balochistan, we responded with FAST Relief. A well coordinated effort of us students at FAST Karachi. We raised quite a lot of money and made sure every penny of it was spent for the right purpose. We focused on medical aid and bought important medicine for daily use.

Now we have another humanitarian crisis knocking our door, that of the internally displaced persons (IDP’s). People who are leaving their villages and home-towns to avoid the military offiensive against Taliban militants. Are we ready to respond to this call? Will another FAST Relief rise in our absence, now that we have almost graduated?

Do we have people here to answer this call? Can we stand up, as responsible members of the society and do something again from Karachi and launch a well coordinated effort and provide some relief to the IDP’s?

Let us help the Pakistan Army restore peace to our Northern Areas. Let us stand together as a nation and prove that nobody is stronger than us.

Revisiting Procom.Net 2009

20
2 years ago
by Ammar in , , , ,

Let me begin in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Merciful. Thank You my Lord for making this possible. The 10th All Pakistan Programming, Engineering and Business Competition came to its close on May 2, 2009. The year’s biggest event at FAST Karachi truly lived up to its standards. Originally scheduled for the 30th of April and 1st of May, the event had to be postponed and transformed into a one-day affair because of the violence in Karachi. The postponement and rescheduling of the event was probably the toughest situation that I have ever encountered in my life.

Initially, we had over 200 teams registered and the total number of participants exceeded 620. These were record figures for any event in Karachi. The biggest plus was the fact that over 170 of these participants were to come from all over Pakistan (outside Karachi). Following the postponement by two days – the actual turnout was of over 140 teams, over 450 participants of which over 80 were from outside Karachi. And frankly, the turnout was unexpected. Given the situation – none of us expected such a great turnout of participants, guests, judges and visitors.

How we managed to pull it off – together – shall remain a mysterious miracle for years to come. But one thing is for sure, this year’s event is indeed being counted amoungst the best event’s ever held at FAST (Karachi). I congratulate my team for winning all the appreciation from the Chief Guest, Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman, corporate guests, visitors and our faculty. It would not have been possible without your sheer dedication.

For me, personally, had it not been Papa’s (Syed M. Faheem) and Ammi’s trust and support in me, I would never have made it where I stood a few days back. Arsalan Tariq Mir was also a great support I had. I can never thank him enough for his never ending cooperation and support. Bilal Musharraf, Maisam Raza, Saad Jamal, Saad Najeeb, Umair and Humayoon were there for me throughout the 4 years of journey till I became President of this mega-event. I will have to thank my little brother, Maisum, for bearing with me – spending sleepless nights just because I had to stay awake for Procom.Net.

It would not have been possible without Mr. Pervez Mohsin and Prof. Zafar Nasir’s unconditional support and trust in me and my team. I believe one of the reason’s behind our success lies in the fact that they did not interfere in our decision making – rather stood by us against people who tried to.

Both my Vice-Presidents, Naveed and Umair deserve all the credit for putting in their maximum. We really gelled together as a team when it was required. Atif Khan’s cooperation is also worth applause. He was part of all critical decisions that we took. We stood firm and pushed ahead when problems refused to let us move forward.

Adnan M. Yousuf (aka TipTop) was a great motivator since the very beginning. Moosa, Hasan, Saleh, Musab, Suhaib Zia, Zain Alvi, Fakhar-ul-Hasan, Abdullah, Waqar, Shoaib Ahsan, Asim Fayyaz, Hassan Yousuf. Thank you all for making it a success.

Assad Ullah kept pushing me when I thought of backing out of the race to become President. His efforts for the Design team can not be under-estimated. He was sick yet he made sure we had all the panaflex banners ready just before it was too late. We missed you at the event Assad.

And of course when it comes to the Juniors – Wahib Saif, Murtaza Munawwer Fazal, Hani Haider, Shahrukh, Ravendar, Ali Ikram, Asif, Ali Raza, Waqas Adnan, Amir Khan, Faizan Mehboob, Mohammad Ali, Fahad, Syed Hassan.. you guys rocked! Forgive me if I’ve missed out any names here, but you guys were brilliant when it mattered!

Hats to Ali Abbas Rizvi, Usman Tariq, Ali Ahmed Zaidi and Sami Moiz for Guest and Participant relations work. I am especially thankful to the little girls, Zahra Bhojani and Saima Karim for thier untiring efforts. A special word of thanks to Anum Fatima Sayani – the little girl working on a very important task these days =D

I have tried to mention almost everyoneI could remember. Forgive me again if I have missed out on any name. It was a total team effort and like I mentioned in my speech, I am proud of you ALL.

And as for motivation, here is what Mr. Faizuddin Alim (Snr. Business Development Executive at TPS) has to say about our event:

Hats off to all you! For making my journey special! For making this success possible!

Best Regards
Syed Ammar Faheem
President
Procom.Net 2009

FAST Relief [Update]: Aftershock rattles Pakistan as disease spreads among survivors

5
3 years ago
by Ammar in ,

A strong aftershock rattled southwestern Pakistan Saturday, as aid agencies warned that disease had begun to spread among tens of thousands of earthquake survivors waiting for relief supplies.

The 5.0-magnitude quake struck just before 6am in the mountainous province of Baluchistan, where a powerful pre-dawn tremor on Wednesday killed up to 300 people and left 70,000 people homeless.

There were no immediate reports of further casualties or damage as a result of the latest aftershock, the second strongest of more than 250 tremors to have shaken the region since Wednesday’s quake.

Aid has begun reaching devastated villages, but angry villagers in remote areas said they desperately needed shelter, with thousands of people whose mud-brick homes were flattened sleeping in the open in freezing temperatures. (more…)

FAST Relief

5
3 years ago
by Ammar in , ,

With one single objective in mind, we have started off on a mission to help the people of Baluchistan. The objective is to make them proud of being Pakistani, to provide relief to the displaced and injured people of the Province.

The deadly earthquake on the 29th of October has left over 300 people dead, several injured and around 15,000 people displaced. Unofficial sources say some 70,000 homes have been demolished.

Students are collecting donations at FAST Karachi, in any form. Material or cash.

If you’re abroad, we have made arrangements to collect the money through Western Union branches throughout Karachi. You can send the money in any of the following names:

- Syed Ammar Faheem

- Hina Aman

- Arsalan Tariq Mir

- Naveed Ahmed Taj

Do not forget to provide the MTCN number which is used for verification by the Western Union branches.

More:

Hinstance.com

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