KARACHI, May 28: Over 100 handicapped children spent over three fun-filled hours enjoying music at a function organized at a seaside hotel on Tuesday.
The function was organized by noted social worker and artist, Jimmy Engineer, under his Fun and Food for Handicapped Children project launched over a year-and-a-half back.
The children belonged to the Ida Rieu School and College of the Deaf and Blind, Hope and Faith, Darul Sukoon and the Al-Umeed Institute.
Speaking at the function organized at the Beach Luxury Hotel, the social worker said that under the project, he takes handicapped children to elite restaurants or five-star hotels so that special children can also have fun and enjoy life like normal children.
He said that there are around 2,500 to 3,000 handicapped children in the city and he wants to line-up around 25 to 30 elite city restaurants and five-star hotels which could accommodate 100 handicapped children at least once a month.
He said that in this way, all handicapped children would have an opportunity to enjoy such outings every month that otherwise they might not be able to. He said that many hotels and restaurants had come forward and were organizing functions for special children.
He also urged philanthropists to come forward and take part in improving the life of special children by offering different facilities and materialistic help that could bring a smile on the faces of these wonderful children.
He said that the country was still far away from giving such children the privileges that special people enjoyed in the developed countries. He hoped that with continuous efforts of committed people, better understanding between the handicapped and the society could eventually be developed, and life for the handicapped people here would also become better.
The children danced and were enthralled with songs sung by stage and television artist, Farzana Naz, who has been performing as a volunteer at all such programmes for over a year now. Many handicapped children associated with Ida Rieu School and College for the Blind and Deaf also sang national and folk songs.
Fawzia Siddiqui of Sada Foundation distributed gifts among the children.