ISLAMABAD: The Mashal Model School in Nurpur Shahan, Islamabad on Thursday received a donation of books and children’s activity materials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on Thursday.

The donation was made possible through an activity and was a collective effort of heads of Asean missions and chairman of Asean Islamabad Committee - Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand.

“We decided to make today a better day for children of Marshal School. We believe that Covid-19 has been quite challenging but it cannot be an excuse not to come out and help each other, in fact even more so in these times of difficulty and take care of the community where we are a part of. This kind of effort is certainly necessary because people must help each other,” said the Thai ambassador Chakkrid Krachaiwong while addressing a ceremony to distribute activities materials to children.

In their comments, heads of Asean missions said apart from Asean-Pakistan relations on government-to-government level, they also attached importance to strengthening people-to-people ties. “Today’s activity is also aimed to further enhance such ties by focusing on the youth, which is the future of the country,” said Chakkrid Krachaiwong.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2022