KARACHI, Feb 4: Ilmathon, a fun filled activity, which started four years ago as a walk for a cause, attracted as many as 7,100 men, women and children, even a couple of people on wheel chairs, with one motive -- to raise funds for The Citizens Foundation.

The TCF is an NGO which runs 344 school units in different parts of Pakistan for economically under-privileged students.

Ilmathon 2007 also attracted students in their uniforms from some of the Citizens’ Foundation schools in Karachi. They brushed shoulders with students from elitist schools.

All students went home with paper bags containing items of their interests. Needless to say, the students from The Citizens’ Foundation schools were more excited about the give-aways.

Some NGOs had set up stalls selling clothing and decoration pieces designed by women from villages and semi-urban areas. Food and game stalls attracted a lot of youngsters.

Two stalls that stood out sold art works and paintings done by students studying at institutions run by the Citizens Foundation and those from the Centre for Cognitive and Language Development.

There were only a few works that had not been sold by the time the mela was over.—A Correspondent