Dear Donors, Supporters and Friends,
As most of you know, we have successfully completed phase one of our sanitation project in the village of Khairo Dero, district Larkana, Pakistan and are planning to build a second sewerage treatment plant this year. Our primary school in partnership with The Citizens Foundation also began functioning in April and our first batch of 120 children were enrolled. I write to you now to update you on our plans for the fiscal year starting July 1 and seek your support for our projects.
Our major plan is going to be a low-cost housing project in Khairo Dero. For this, we have surveyed the village and identified 20 families who live out in the open or have made makeshift structures out of cloth, sticks and hay. They’re all farm workers who earn less than $1 a day and haven’t been able to build homes for their families. Ali Hasan Mangi Memorial Trust plans to provide the materials to build two bedrooms, a toilet and a kitchen for each family; the structure is based on the traditional structures of this region and prominent architect and low-cost housing expert Arif Hasan has graciously agreed to sketch the design for us as part of his most generous contribution. Mr Hasan plans to add cavity walls made of bricks, the material most easily procured in the village itself, to make the structures climate friendly.
The families, in turn, have agreed to provide the labor and to pay for masonry services, in line with our model of community participation.
It will cost an average of 100,000 rupees ($1200) to buy the materials for each house and so we’re seeking to raise a total of 2 million rupees ($24,000) to build 20 homes. Any and every contribution is welcome and no amount is too small.
We’re also planning to build a community park for which the trust acquired the land adjacent to our primary school. We plan to include hundreds of trees, a playground for children and a walking track. This will be the first park not only in the village but among all the surrounding communities and the children and women in particular are very excited to have a place for recreation. We need to raise roughly 300,000 rupees ($3500) to build the park. The community is involved in discussions on how they can self generate the means to maintain and care for the park. We look forward to your continued support and contributions and would love to hear your thoughts and feedback. Please write to us at mt@alihasanmangitrust.org and you can find all the information on how to donate at http://www.alihasanmangitrust.org.
Thank you as always for caring.
All the best,
Naween Mangi
Managing Trustee