By Hira Nafees Shah
The Pakistan-U.S Alumni Network celebrated the importance of peace, tolerance, and harmony through a series of community service events held nationwide for “peace week” from May 25th to May 31st. More than 3,000 alumni, students, and leadership of the twelve local chapters of the network enthusiastically took part in more than 30 community service activities including mural paintings, candlelight vigils, debate competitions, plays and online postings. “I think all 12 chapters did incredible work during the PUAN Peace Week,” said PUAN Country President Faisal Malik, who spearheaded the country project. “Issues related to peace were highlighted through their activities [with an] emphasis on tolerance.” Alumni led projects included the following service activities. For photos follow the PUAN Facebook page and the Twitter page. https://www.facebook.com/PakAlumni https://twitter.com/PakUSAlumni
Islamabad/Rawalpindi Chapter: More than 53 students volunteered to speak on the theme of Education and Peace before a crowd of more than 500 students. The local chapter of the twin cities also held an Arts Session with 100 children from the Mashal Model School and an original theatre performance written, directed, and performed by members of the local troop Theater Wallay.
Gilgit Baltistan Chapter: About 100 students from 25 local government and private schools took part in a poster competition centered on the themes of peace and tolerance. Competition winners were also invited to speak about their projects on a local radio station.
Azad Jammu and Kashmir Chapter: About 30 participants including alumni and school children took part in one big session comprising a candle-light vigil, a football match, an arts competition, an outreach and a meditation meeting to find peace in Mirpur. Meanwhile, more than 50 alumni and non-alumni also took part in an arts competition on peace in Muzaffarabad.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa/FATA Chapter: A 100-person conference was held on the theme of inter-faith harmony at Fast University Peshawar organized by the local chapter. Five speakers led a seminar each during the conference and there were also other interactive activities and a question & answer session. The students of the university also enacted a play on inter-faith harmony at the end of the conference.
Karachi Chapter: About 150 alumni and non-alumni took part in an inter-faith peace dinner organized at the Pakistan-American Cultural Center, with representatives from the Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Parsi and Christian communities. The guests shared their experiences and then joined together for a candle-light vigil to remember the victims of the Safoora Chowrangi attack. The local chapter also held a “Peace Bird” competition in which alumni and school children enrolled in summer camps at the Indus Valley School of Arts drew peace symbols onto sheets of paper and the top three participants won cash prizes. They also created slogans celebrating tolerance.
Jamshoro Chapter: More than 500 participants took part in five outstanding activities organized by the local chapter including Aao Pyar Bantein (Lets Spread Love), Aman Ke Rang (Colors of Peace), Aman Sawari (Peace Vehicles), Aman ki Baatein (Peace Talk). The chapter also held an online challenge called “Pass the Peace.” In “Aao Pyar Bantein,” about 20 alumni spent a day at a school for handicapped children where they printed messages of peace on PUAN T-shirts and distributed gifts. In “Aman Ke Rang,” PUAN Jamshoro organized a harmony-themed arts competition at a government school. Alumni gave out bumper stickers with peace slogans to motorists, laborers, and drivers on the streets of Hyderabad in “Aman Sawari.” The organizers also spoke about their experiences on Radio Pakistan in “Aman ki Baatein: Peace Talk.” Finally the Jamshoro chapter organized the brilliant “Pass a Peace Challenge” online campaign. Participants in the campaign wrote about what peace meant to them on a piece of paper, shared their photograph on social media and passed the challenge on to five more alumni from different chapters, who did the same. The challenge was shared over 50 times on social media.
Sukkur Chapter: Members of the PUAN Sukkur chapter organized a “Peace Walk” from the Sukkur Press Club to St. Mary High School. The students of the school also performed a tableau on the song ‘Heal the World’ and paid tribute to victims of the December 16 Peshawar Army Public School attack, advocating that education should not be stopped due to terrorist incidents.
Lahore Chapter: More than 50 people took part in a project called “Art Travels through Faiths” in which nine canvases were taken to four communities in Lahore — Ahmadis, Hindus, Sikhs and Christians. Members of each community contributed to the paintings and shared their perspectives about religious co-existence. PUAN Lahore also held an exhibition of the completed paintings along with a video showing their journey across Lahore and explaining the purpose of the project.
Bahawalpur Chapter: More than 70 people helped to paint a mural next to a local bus stand with the peace theme “flying colors.” Despite high sometimes scorching heat, the participants won praise for painting the entire 220-foot-long section of the eight-foot wall over the course of five days. Local television interviewed the chapter president and general secretary about the wall who explained the reason for the activity.
Multan Chapter: Alumni visited a church, a Hindu temple, a mosque and a shrine of a famous saint to celebrate themes of religious harmony and respect for Pakistan’s diversity. The Multan Chapter also help an inter-faith harmony conference at La Salle High School, in which more than 150 people took part, and held a poster competition with English Access Microscholarship students.
Quetta Chapter: More than 300 people took part in four activities organized by the Quetta PUAN chapter. A panel discussion was held on the subject of Peace and Interfaith Harmony at Quetta Press Club in which the participants shared their opinion about violence and threats in society and the importance of tolerance and brotherhood to resolve conflict. About 100 students and alumni took part in a Peace Walk organized at Sardar Bahadur Khan Women University and more than 30 people then took part in a candle-light vigil at the Quetta Press Club. The local exchange alumni also visited children at SOS Village Quetta and held a session on peace, co-existence, and tolerance.
Gwadar Chapter: More than a 100 men and women took part in a peace walk from Bilal Masjid to the Gwadar Press Club to promote civil society and mutual respect. A public dialogue was also held with the community stakeholders on the theme of “Peaceful Lasbela and Our Role.” The talk covered challenges being faced by Lasbela in maintaining law and order and how individuals could make a difference in this regard. PUAN Gwadar also held a seminar for nearly 200 people on the theme of “Our Responsibility to Promote Peace in Our Society” at the Makran Institute of Technology in Turbat.
