ISLAMABAD, June 24: Institute of Advanced Studies, a project by Helping Oppressed And Powerless (HOAP) Foundation, an NGO, was inaugurated at a simple ceremony here on Tuesday.

Ms Hashmat Effendi, a US-based Pakistani philanthropist who is nowadays visiting Pakistan, opened the inaugural ceremony. HOAP’s chief executive officer Noor Mohammad, Manager Special Projects Ahmed Din Hunzai, Professor Nafees Siddiqui, Shahid Mehmood, other members and a number of students attended the ceremony.

Following the will of her father, the first state officer the late Syed Mohammad Waqif, Ms Effendi donated her house in the federal capital to HOAP Foundation for setting up the institute. She has founded The House of Charity in Houston, USA, which aims to bring help, hope and healing to the disabled and under- privileged children around the world. She has so far taken over 100 disabled children including burn victims from Pakistan for surgery and prosthesis to the United States.

These children were operated upon by Dr Robert McCaullyf at Shriner’s hospital in Houston and are now living a normal life. She has now chosen six children from across the country for treatment in the United States. The six children with deep burn scars, who were present on the occasion, have already been issued visas and will be going to the US next month.

Highlighting the role of the HOAP Foundation, Noor Mohammad said it strove for effective provision of education, health service, computer literacy, hotel management and vocational training programmes for the oppressed and the marginalised sections of the society. He was hopeful that the institute would further expand its programmes in the near future.—Junaid Bahadur