Swat, a paradise-like valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, is renowned for its outstanding natural beauty but sadly became a battlefield in the 2007 crisis when the Pakistani Taliban seized the region.

Unfortunately, in the last few years, agriculture and tourism are severely affected due to uncertainty and chaos, and thousands of people have lost their lives, some have lost their lifetime earnings

To deal with such critical situation, few young fellows decided to establish a platform for the support of orphan and helpless children and make them responsible citizens through quality education. The platform was given the name "Parwarish".

The Parwarish team surveyed orphans in war-affected areas of district Swat. According to the survey, there were 7,000 orphans in district Swat in 2009 as around 3,500 people were killed in Swat during the militancy and the subsequent military operation. Swat saw the largest population of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) when the armed forces launched the operation in 2009.

Parwarish was launched formally in 2009 with 40 orphans. Later on, the number of orphans increased by admitting 25 children each year, and now there are 255 orphans including 85 girls at the Parwarish Home.

The orphanage home was conceptualised and set up in 2009 as a full-fledged nonprofit, donation based, enterprise to tend to the driven - out shelterless children. Parwarish runs under the umbrella of Pakistan Association Dubai where expatriate Pakistanis have adopted children for $100 (Dh367) per month or $1, 200 per year. The cost covers school fees, hostel stay, uniforms, books, healthcare, all the meals, entertainment and sports.

Parwarish is a non-profit group dedicated towards the education of children afflicted by atrocities in Swat. The organisation has since been sustained steadily through philanthropist support from PAD.

According to PAD, this support to the orphanage in Pakistan would not have been possible without the approval of the Community Development Authority and agreement by both Emirates Red Crescent and the Department of Islamic Affairs to help transfer donations to Parwarish.

We call it the Parwarish home. The students communicate with their sponsors, exchange greetings on occasions, and sponsors get to know their progress on a regular basis.

PAD strongly believes in inculcating the spirit of giving in human beings no matter where they are. Investing in young souls is the main idea. They are the future of Pakistan, and we wish to see them as the torchbearers of humanity, globally."

Aims and objectives

Some of the goals and objectives of the orphanage are facilitating the orphan children with free education and resident facilities, giving them formal as well as technical education, educating and training them in such a way that they may not live with an inferiority complex, arranging sports and co-curricular activities, display leadership qualities and enhance conditions among such children.

Orphan Care Jirga

Parwarish has also arranged Village Jirga in some villages. The Jirga contains minimum five members having one among them as the elected chairman, one as general secretary and one as finance secretary. The fund shall be solely spent for the education of children by providing them with school books, uniform, clothes and shoes. Parwarish in 2011 gave admission to 16 orphan girls and 12 orphan boys, in 2012, 32 orphans including 12girls were admitted.

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