Azaadi Flood March

The year 2010 saw Pakistan being the victim of heavy Monsoon floodings; which have taken hundreds of thousands of innocent lives so far, with thousands more on the verge of dying. Earlier the 2005 earthquake completely shaked up the northern areas of the country, the aftermaths of which wasn’t fully recovered yet that the country suffered another major natural disaster in the form of "Floods". Due to this 2010 would be remembered as one of the most disastrous years in the history of Pakistan. An estimate of 20 million people has become homeless with no clothes to wear, food to eat and water to drink. In addition to this high levels if standing water in the streets have resulted in the breakout of many fatal diseases, most common ones being cholera and malaria.

In such times of hardships, the people of Pakistan have shown great support for the flood affected people in face of the slow moving government. They have continued to carry out relentless efforts in collecting donations for those in need. However it would be unfair here to mention the efforts of the youth of this country, who are working day and night to help these people in whatever way they can, especially the students of SZABIST.

Dressed in green and white, the national colors of Pakistan, the students of SZABIST UNITE took the pioneering lead in organizing three Flood Marches to raise funds for the flood victims. Each March was a combined effort of the students.

Bemisal Iqbal, one of the leads students in the organizing of Relief Camp is reported to have said, "Szabistians have always been involved in such initiatives. We've had numerous collections in the form of cash and good, and we now plan to leave to the affected areas as soon as possible to make sure that all this collected gets delivered to the right people".

The first Flood March was organized on the 14th of August, from Szabist to Dou Talwar Clifton. More than 300 students participated and in only two hours collected Rs. 112,500. At the end of the march, the students were joined by "Rahnuma" the student organization from Indus Valley. The day ended with students forming a circle around Dou Talwar and singing the national anthem. The second March was carried out the very next day on the 15th of August although this time a lesser number of students were witnessed. Even with a few students short, in less than two hours' time more than Rs. 200,000 was collected. However the third March was carried out on the 18th of August, was perhaps the largest one in which not only Szabistians but also students from other institutes participated. The March was a huge success and in just over an hour Rs. 302, 250 were collected.

The students of Szabist are an inspiration to all institutions of this country. This is proven by the fact that students of schools and colleges from all over the city started relentless efforts in helping the flood victims by collecting donations on all the major spots of the city such as Park Towers and Forum. Together, we shall rise above in this time of grief and sorrow for the millions who have been affected.

Conclusively, it is important to note that today we are in a similar situation as we were in 1947; the only difference is, at that people were in need of a nation, now nation is in need of its people. So come, let us join hands together to help rebuild Pakistan.

'Let us rise above and donate our hearts out'