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This is an agonizing and
painful story of an impoverished and
destitute family hailing from Hatoon
District Ghizer (120 km away from the Gilgit
town). The family comprises of a widow and
four children of ages 16, 13, 9 and 6.
Unfortunately, the children’s father passed
away
when they were very young, leaving them
without the much needed affection and care.
Furthermore, the mother is deaf and dumb,
and therefore, was unable to provide for
their basic needs.
The family’s distress
worsened when the village elders made an
unfavorable decision by allocating their
only shelter, a small hut in a piece of
land, to the children’s step-sister’s son.
The children and mother were only allowed on
the roof of that hut. Ultimately, the widow
and her daughters were forced to vacate the
house immediately.
Out of sheer despair, the
poor family begged for temporary shelter
with other relatives; one of the girls, a
teenager now, was allowed to stay at her
step-sister’s home in Ishkoman, provided
that she lived as a worker, while she
attended school. The remainder of the family
sold some fruit trees and with the support
of some compassionate neighbors, managed to
build a single room with four walls; but due
to lack of financial resources, the
construction was incomplete, and no roof
could be built. In the severe cold weather,
they were left unprotected.
Seeing the deplorable
condition of the family, the CEENA team took
the following steps in order to transform
this family’s life:
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Two younger girls (Kehkashaan
& Nureen) were already accommodated at
the Empowerment Centre for Children with
Social Disadvantages (CEENA’s Orphanage)
in 2008.
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Last year their third
sister (Meher Bano) was also shifted to
the Orphanage.
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Management made a
decision to keep the girls at CEENA
during the winter vacations as they did
not have any shelter that they could
call home and decided to visit their
village to see the condition of their
mother and older sister.
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During the chilly winter
cold, CEENA team visited the family and
decided to provide financial assistance
to complete the remaining construction
work for the one-room shelter in order
to store the family’s meager belongings.
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CEENA
also undertook the care and residency of
both mother and the older daughter to
provide them safe and peaceful living
conditions. The older girl is now
continuing her studies, and has
demonstrated outstanding results despite
the fact that she has undergone through
immense trauma and
stress.
Currently, all the family members living at
CEENA’s Orphanage enjoy the caring,
comfortable and loving atmosphere. All the
four daughters are now continuing their
education, with the hope and aspirations for
a better and bright future. CEENA empowered
the family to transform their own destiny
and make a difference in their lives and
contribute to overall development of the
community and the region.
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