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A delegation of executive members of PAD based in the UAE traveled to Pakistan to oversee the distribution of aid to internally displaced people who have fled fighting between militants and security forces.

The Pakistan Association Dubai (PAD) is involved in the collection of relief goods and cash for more than three million people displaced over the past three months.

PAD team has been distributing relief goods in the camps in Peshawar, Malakand, Mardan, Swabi and Nowshehra in north-western Pakistan. We have now registered a charitable organization in Pakistan, called PAD Relief.“Generous support from the Pakistani community in the UAE enabled us to provide a substantial relief to the affected people,” said the PAD’s General Secretary, Muhammad Khaleeq.

Mr. Shah Hussain Orakzai who comes from the insurgency-troubled North West Frontier Province (NWFP), owns a transport and luxury car rental business in Dubai, where he has lived for 42 years, traveled to Pakistan from the UAE six weeks ago to give hands-on support and plans to remain for several more weeks.

PAD raised more than half a million Dirhams through a live telethon on GEO TV to provide relief and has sent five containers of clothes, shoes, toys, bedding and four consignments of medicines, food and other non-perishable items by air.

“We have our own system for welfare and so we decided to club together to help to remedy this bad situation, ”said Riaz Farooq, PAD's President

The group has also set up a clinic in the area of military operations in Thana District.
The clinic is staffed with doctors, an X-ray machine and a basic laboratory.PAD also distributed a large number of sewing machines to women so that they could work and earn a living for their children and themselves.

When PAD team was in Peshawar, NWFP’s capital, they came to learn of the plight of students from the Swat valley and other affected areas. The group is co-operating with Peshawar University to provide basic relief goods to more than a thousand students it has taken on from the affected areas.

As a start-up measure, PAD team handed out 200 “ scholarships” worth 3,000 rupees each this week which brought hope on the faces of displaced youth.“We learnt that many of the students were not asking for help because they were shy; some students had not eaten for three days.

“We want to invite overseas Pakistanis to contribute funds for projects to help our countrymen here,” said Mr. Farooq. PAD Relief camp In-charge in Peshawar, Mr. Naveed Anwar, pointed out that long-term help is needed for those affected by the fighting, constant supply of medicines will be required in coming months.

At a ceremony held at Peshawar University, more than 300 female college and university students were provide with scholarship and repatriation aid ranging between 5,000 and 15,000 Pak rupees each. The total amount for this initiative exceeds rupees 3 million.

A delegation of 24 executive Pakistanis sat together in a meeting at PAD along with Javed Malik, Ambassador At Large of Pakistan, to discuss the problems faced by overseas Pakistanis living in the UAE.

PAD arranged a meeting with Mr. Javed Malik, Ambassador at Large, who has also recently been appointed as member of the OPF Board of Governors, on the 12th of July 2009 at 8:00 pm. The purpose of this initiative was to listen to the problems faced by overseas Pakistanis living in UAE.

After listening to the problems Javed Malik said, “The OPF should stop playing with the sentiments of people living abroad. It was very unfortunate that the OPF did not effectively perform the task for which it was created.

Mrs. Samina Nasir, head of PAD's Education & Personal Development Committee discussed the major issues related to lack of quality in Pakistani schools in the UAE and other Gulf countries.

Malik said he would request the government to open an OPF office in the UAE to directly interact with the community here where around 800,000 Pakistanis live. Mr. Riaz Farooq Sahi, president of Pakistan Association Dubai, said the association is playing a pivotal role in the welfare of the community through Free Medical Camps once a month and welfare day every Monday.

PAD's welfare committee is currently busy in arranging students’ sponsorships and raising fund and goods for IDPs. “I believe that the OPF should have better interaction with the community abroad, said Mr. Sahi. He also pointed out that the Pakistan Consulate General in Dubai was not adequately equipped to deal with the needs of such a large community, therefore, the government should expand the consulate or should open more offices in other emirates.

Dr. Zarqa Taimur, member of PAD's Executive Committee and Vice President of Medical Wing said, “There is a lack of healthcare facilities for the poor Pakistanis and absence of a welfare scheme for expatriates.”

Dr. Zia ul Hassan, President of the PAD's Medical Wing, noted that a basic health unit should immediately be opened in Dubai to provide free treatment for deserving Pakistanis.

Hamid Malik, Chairman of PAD’s Professional Wing, said that Pakistan government should help overseas Pakistanis progress in their businesses and jobs. We seriously need to improve Pakistan’s image by interacting with people, especially Emirates.

In the end Mr. Sahi congratulated everyone in the meeting for obtaining the approval of the multipurpose hall’s construction after two years of efforts and asked the Ambassador At Large to use his good office to get the release of promised funds from the Pakistani Government for the completion of the dream of Pakistani community living in the UAE in the shape of the Community Center.

You don't have to become an industrial baron and make a billion dollars to live a life of significance. All you have to do is share the resources you now have. However insignificant you may think they are, they are of greater value to someone not so fortunate as you. The straightforward way to live a life of significance is simply to share your three T's: time, talent, and treasure. Our lives are meant to be given away to significant purposes, to loving families, to friends in need, to lasting relationships. Find a way that your gifts can serve others.

Your time, energy, and money are precious resources they are limited and you are the sole owner. If you spend them in one area, you can't spend them in another. When we say yes to one thing, by default we are saying no to something else. The key to winning is to say yes to the significant things in your life. Time. It's a paradox of life that only by giving away our time do we make our life meaningful, for time is the most precious gift of all

. The time we spend playing with a child or grandchild, chatting with a bedridden friend, mowing a neighbor's lawn, teaching another adult to read, cannot be measured in money but is priceless. And life rewards those who donate their time, first in terms of their own satisfaction and the good opinion of others, later in ways they can never foresee. The time may come when you need a hand, and there will be many more hands offering help than you can count. Talent. There's something especially rewarding about applying your best talents toward the benefit of others.

The way to make the greatest contribution with your talent is by recognizing and using your strengths. Most types of sports equipment- golf clubs, tennis racquets, baseball bats- have a certain spot called the "sweet spot." Hitting the ball with that spot yields optimal results: a long drive down the fairway, a swift crosscourt return, a home run. If you've experienced it, you know that when you hit the sweet spot you barely feel it, but the ball seems to know where you want it to go. Okay, maybe you're not an athletic superstar. But whatever you endeavor to do, there's a sweet spot that you sometimes hit that makes everything seem easier. Sometimes the sweet spot can be thought of as a set of skills that you can apply to something you want to accomplish, such as helping others. Want to know an easy way to find your sweet spot? Answer the following two questions, and think about how your answers intersect:

1. What am I absolutely passionate about?
2. Which tasks are easy and natural for me?

Most of us recognize the feeling of significance we get when we're living in our sweet spot. Others tell us we make it look easy, that we really excel, that we seem to be having a ball, that we're "in the zone."

When was the last time others said something like this to you? What were you doing? Like finding any sweet spot, it's worth hitting these questions around for awhile and finding your answers. Then you'll be ready to serve up your winning shot.

Treasure. You don't have to be rich to donate your treasure to others an insignificant part of your modest holdings can be a fortune to others but stories of truly generous wealthy people lift all our spirits. Here's one.

In 1981, business leader and self-made millionaire Eugene Lang looked out at the faces of the 59 African American and Puerto Rican sixth-graders who had come to hear him speak. Years earlier, Lang had attended this same school in East Harlem. Now, he wondered how he could get these children to listen to him. What could he say to inspire these students when, statistically, most would probably drop out of school before graduation?

Finally, scrapping his notes, he spoke from his heart. "Stay in school," he told them. "If you do, I'll help pay the college tuition for every one of you."

At that moment, he changed the life of every student in the room. For the first time, they had hope- hope of achieving more than their older brothers and sisters, hope of living a better life than their parents and neighbors.

Six years later, nearly 90 percent of that class graduated from high school, and true to his promise, Lang made it possible for them to attend college. A few years later he founded the "I Have a Dream" Foundation, which has supported similar projects in 57 cities, assisted by more than 200 sponsors helping more than 12,000 disadvantaged students with academic support and guidance through high school and a college education.

Give to Receive
There's a Chinese proverb that says, "If you continually give, you will continually have." The person who first said that may have been a farmer, because creating a life of significance is a lot like growing bamboo. When planted, bamboo may take up to two years before sprouting through the surface. It requires the right combination of water, sunlight, care, and feeding to build a strong root structure and foundation for growth, and none of this growing foundation is visible aboveground. But once it sprouts, bamboo can grow 100 feet in two weeks. Patience is a prerequisite for the bamboo farmer- and for anyone who seeks to build a life of significance. Be impatient to plant the seeds of significance, but patient enough to nurture them and watch them grow!

Author:  Lee J. Colan, Ph.D