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Author: Abdul Rehman Nawaz | The Author is a first year Law Student at Government College University, Faisalabad
‘’If we can conquer space, we can conquer childhood hunger.’’ ¬Buzz Aldrin
The world population stands at 7.9 billion according to the United Nations. Of those 7.9 billion people, 690 million people sleep on empty stomachs every night while we are contented in our warm cozy beds. These 690 million people account for 8.9% of the world population. World Hunger is a problem that exists beyond borders and every country has been trying to eradicate it by opting for sustainable ways like minimizing food wastage.
There are billions of dollars set aside from the country’s budget to send people to outer space in search of lives and in search of sustainability while the lives already existing on this planet are being ignored and overlooked.
World hunger is a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG – 2) of the United Nations and they aim to remove hunger from the world by opting for sustainable ways.
‘’Hunger is not an issue of charity. It is an issue of justice.’’ ¬Jacques Diouf
Owing to the sustainable development goal – 2 of the United Nations and to the fact of genuinely feeding empty stomachs, there’s a successfully run and managed project ‘Ehsaas LangarKhana’ which literally means care food-shade. It is a project of ‘Saylani Welfare Trust’ which is an organization founded in the year 1999 by Maulana Bashir Ahmad Farooqi.
The Saylani Welfare Trust was founded on the fundamentals of helping the indigent, feeding the hungry, and giving people a chance to lead a contented life. Saylani Welfare Trust manages an array of welfare activities like Family adoption, Educational aid, Blood-bank, Medical aid, and such. They are a non-profit and they have set up more than 150 food-shades. They are a source of people not sleeping hungry at night.
Owing to the necessity, they set up a permanent branch at a roadside or near a community from where it’s easier for people to come and eat for free. They operate seven days a week, 365 days a year and what they are doing in the community by feeding people is so good. They are open to people from all walks of life and not just the poor. One can simply walk up to the food counter at one of their branches and eat a meal. They serve three meals in the communities they are established and they are entirely run on donations.
I got to know of their good doing from when I noticed one of their food-shade in my community. It is located on the boulevard for easy access for everyone. Every person lining in the vicinity passes this boulevard on a daily basis and this food-shade can’t be unseen.
They have proper food counters, tables, chairs, and hygienic standards of serving food. Below is a picture was taken of a food-shade run by Saylani Welfare Trust where people can be seen having meals midday.
Of course, a person who hasn’t ever slept on an empty stomach cannot fathom how great this deed is because they can’t relate to it. But this food-shade and so many like these in so many other cities of Pakistan have been a cause for less hungry people. They don’t have to worry for a meal or three meals a day because it is provided to them in their community for free of cost.
With its 150 food-shades, every day 125,000 empty stomachs are catered to. In our vicinity alone, hundreds and thousands of people avail themselves free mails from the food-shade daily.
These food-shades have been a blessing for those who don't have means to afford a meal. With the ever-increasing population of a developing country like Pakistan and ever-increasing responsibility on the government of Pakistan, removing hunger can only be done in a joint effort, and that's where NGOs like these come to help the people.
‘’Hunger knows no friend but its feeders.’’ ¬ Aristophanes