LAHORE, Jan 10: As many as 25 special students from the Roshni Association for the Welfare of Special Persons will participate in the 3rd international Lahore marathon on Jan 14. These special children will display their talent and passion for the love of sports by featuring in the 5km family fun run.

The association is being run by Mrs Shahida Pervcen-Hannesen and her husband Hamid Hellmut Hannesen and the couple lived in Germany for 20 years before moving back to Pakistan to set up a school for people with special needs.

“I always knew I wanted to come back to Lahore and do something for my society,” she said here on Wednesday while registering for the 5km fun run. “So now I have set up Roshni village where we teach special persons over 16 years of age skills such as organic baking and gardening.”

Roshni village, located on Bedian Road in Lahore, currently has a total of 36 students, six of whom live on the premises with Mrs Hannesen.

She says: “They are like my own children. I think of them as family. After all we live in the same place and I cook for them and spend a lot time with them too.”

She feels that participating in the marathon is something that all her students should experience since it will help them gain confidence and feel a sense of achievement. —APP