KARACHI: Dolmen Mall, renowned for celebrating festivities all year round, brought together leading international and local brands to celebrate Ramadan at Dolmen with 70 high achieving students from The Citizen’s Foundation (TCF).
Under the umbrella of Dolmen Cares, the collaborated activity with Dolmen Mall brand partners like Khaadi, BabyShop, OUP, McDonalds and Sindbads celebrated positive social change through education by delighting students with a recreational and educational trip around the mall. Members of participating brands, TCF, socialites and celebrities like Asaad Ahmed, Kashmir Band, Moammer Rana, Sonya Hussain, Nadeem Baig and others were among the forerunners spreading smiles on the faces of TCF students who got top scores last academic year.
Aged between 8 to 11 years, boys and girls from less privileged backgrounds were delighted to participate in a ‘on the house’ shopping spree and iftaar upon completion of the academic term. Volunteers from participating brands rejoiced the student’s achievement and resolve for their academic pursuits by helping them select their Eid outfits from the country’s most favoured brand –Khaadi! The spirit of giving caught momentum as the students toured around the mall towards Baby Shop and were elated to receive surprise gifts.
Naureen Khan – General Manager Marketing, Dolmen Mall shared her view: “We take pride in giving our community a reason to revel the joys of love and togetherness through their fervor for shopping, food and entertainment. I believe it is our collective responsibility to share and bring a positive change in society through this collaboration with TCF and all our brand partners. We delight in ensuring that there is something for everyone and it was a pleasure for our team to creating memories by celebrating Ramadan at Dolmen with TCF children. We felt grateful to have a chance to spread smile on the faces of these bright TCF students through Dolmen Eidi.”
Testing the literacy and street soundness, students were quizzed on creativity, math and social skills by OUP – Oxford University Press team and remained engrossed in a story telling session until a scrumptious iftaar by McDonalds at the Dolmen Mall’s food court. The excitement peaked as Sindbads’ made an appearance to handout Dolmen Eidi and goody bags in addition to taking children for unlimited Sindbads play time and rides.
“Ramadan holds a special place in our hearts; people are in the spirit of giving and it helps us continue our mission to educate the less privileged children of Pakistan. Education remains one of the most pressing matters of our country and we staunchly believe that it is the only answer to the questions of poverty and other social issues. Our children have demonstrated great talent and diligence with 64% scoring A/ A+ grades last academic year. This Ramadan, we are delighted to have this unique collaboration with the Dolmen family that not only highlights our endeavor but also motivates children to become agents of positive change,” said Isfandyar Inayat, General Manager Outreach at TCF.
The Economist has called The Citizens Foundation (TCF) “perhaps the largest network of independently run schools in the world.” TCF has nearly 1,500 schools in 700 sites across Pakistan where children were previously out-of-school. The Foundation is the largest private employer of women in Pakistan with an all-female faculty of 12,000 teachers and principals. TCF has 220,000 students this year. Nearly half (48%) of TCF students are girls. Eighty-eight percent of TCF alumni have gone to college and 71% are employed. News Desk
