NGO PROFILE
KASHMIR CHARITABLE TRUST
Address:
Kashmir Charitable Trust
Army Supply Road near Chehla Bridge
Muzaffarabad AK.
CEO: Mr. Aamir Khawaja
Chair: Mr. Abid Hashmi
Year of Registration in AJK:2007
Organization E-mail
kct@kct-uk.org
Web Site
http://www.kct-uk.org
Phone: +92-58810-42698
Fax: none
Year of Incorporation: 1996
Vision Statement
“To inspire and equip masses to reach their divine potential”
We believe that only unity can change destiny of nations, it can kill poverty, hunger injustice and discrimination of all sorts and all human beings can enjoy their basic rights like;
• Honest source of revenue
• Education
• Health Care Services
• The basic rights of equal gender
Mission Statement
“To solve unsolved problems innovatively”
Our task is to promote and make available industrial and supervisory skills to perk up supervision and management at the grass root level for men and women towards poverty alleviation, to work; for alleviating poverty through providing essential livelihoods; for empowering women through skill enlargement; for protecting children from abuses & exploitations through education & granting fundamental rights; making available healthy & vigorous environment for the youth & old-age to the erection of progressive nation; for the ecological preservation, fortification & conservation; for the sensible utilization of natural resources to achieve sustainable & unwavering development with active community participation for the inhabitants & the origins of the state of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, living else where.
Goal & Objectives
To relieve the inhabitants of the state of Jammu and Kashmir who are in conditions of need, hardship or distress as a result of local, national or international disaster or by reason of their social and economic circumstances
Needs Statement
On the fateful morning of 8 October 2005; an Earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale struck South Asia, affecting 3.5 million people: 73,000 people were killed, 79,000 were injured and disabled and 2.8 million were left without shelter, assets and livelihoods. In North-West Frontier Province, the earthquake damaged 84 percent of homes, hospitals, schools and other infrastructures; in Pakistan Administered Kashmir this figure was 40 percent. More than 27, 00 villages were affected in an area of 30, 000 square km. livestock and significant crop losses of between 40 percent and 75 percent. Aftershocks and landslides severed rural roads, forcing 250,000 people in to tented camps and stranding 745,000 people in mountainous terrain where they remained dependent on airlifts for food, shelter and medicine. The impact on health and education was devastating: 18,000 schoolchildren and 853 teachers lost their lives; 574 health facilities and 4,844 schools were destroyed. Over 955,000 school-age children had their education disrupted; 450,000 children aged 5-9 require immediate access to primary education. There was a significant destabilization of land and environmental damage.
The journey of KCT in Muzaffarabad instituted in 2005 when this overwhelming earthquake hit all South Asian countries chiefly a large portion of Pakistan controlled Kashmir & some sectors of NWFP. KCT penetrated in Muzaffarabad like other national & international organizations to assist this devastated populace in the of need and took some radical steps to launch various relief distribution & rehabilitation projects; above and beyond a surgical OPD is also set up in AIMS to provide them medical assistance. Community participation is vital for sustainability of development projects. Kashmir charitable trust has done many projects for relief rehabilitation and development of the most vulnerable and marginalized people. These include camp established at Mirpur, relief distribution in Tariqabad, medical care with the help of volunteers, celebration of memorandum day on 8th oct 2006, youth development, child protection project activities and women empowerment activities which are sustainable with the help of community participation.
Background Statement
Kashmir Charitable Trust is a community based organization endeavoring to shore up defenseless Kashmiri community; it was subsisted in 1996 with the registration # 1053171 in UK; collaboration with some British Kashmiries who longing to hold up their dejected & susceptible native Kashmiries predominantly women & children, living on the both sides of LOC. After the earthquake of 2005 KCT made efforts for the relief and rehabilitation of the victims of quake; it tried to rebuild the aptitude of the local community and assembled a volunteer force from local populace. KCT-UK developed the capacity of local volunteers equal to the stratum that in 2007 they registered a home organization in Azad Kashmir with the same name under the society act of 1860/21 with new registration # 6320. After 8th October’s earthquake the member of KCT, decided to start work with their partner Organization (KRRC) for accommodating the affective people. KCT team reached on 17th of October 2005 at Mzd. They establish their main Office in Jalalabad and arranged meetings with CRs for managing the relief work properly. The Members of KCT, over the years have been endeavoring to assist as many ongoing projects as possible through other Charitable Organizations, working in Kashmir. However, there is an immense task that can be carried out with increased man-power and financial resources. People living in the UK, particularly Kashmiri people have contributed well in making some of the projects successful. KCT is working under the slogan of “aapneyian nal mili the aapneyian waste kam karo” which simply means “Join your own and work for your own”. Objective of the slogan is to work for the local community to get involve, be part of the projects and help their own.
Medical Assistance: During upheaval of 2005; KCT developed a Surgical OPD with its partner organization KRRC in Abbass Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) in Ambore for six months to provide an immediate medical support; minimum 60,000 patients were cared for there.
Rehabilitation work: KCT provided 130 shelters to Khori Channa near Ali Sojal; a far flung village of Rawalakot during the early time period of disaster with the collaboration of Sahara Trust and distributed more than 20,000 CGI sheets in the most devastated areas like Tariqabad, Jalalabad, Sathibagh, Khawaja Mohallah & so on as donating 15 CGI sheets to each family; the task of distribution had split into two phases before starting rainy season.
Camp Management: During earthquake, KCT set up an immediate rehabilitation camp in Mirpur with the help of its partner Burnley for Kashmir for migrates of Muzaffarabad & Bagh districts where not only the devastated people were provided with the basics of life but also equipped with jobs those who were educated or skilled. The education of the students was bothered poorly and they were in an undeviating ordeal diminution so KCT had made required arrangements for the admission of these shaken children in schools to bring them back to the life from trauma condition.
Relief Operations: In the Post EQ operations, KCT has distributed relief in the form of foodstuff, medications, clothes, blankets and utensils, not only in Muzaffarabad and it’s around about but also in the other parts of Azad Kashmir with its collaborators KRRC & Burnley for Kashmir.
Rubble Removing Campaign: With the mutual aid of more than 400 volunteers force KCT started a rubble removing campaign with the support of KRC & NSF; recovered thousands of dead bodies and performed funeral procession. Its purpose was to give confidence to the people of Muzaffarabad to restart the construction to art their own.
Rescue works: Just hour after the tremor active involvement of Kashmir Charitable Trust rescued thousand injured ones. Immediately, after the earth quake, the team of KCT reached Jalalabad where Khursheed National Library, which was the precious heritage of Muzaffarabad, was totally damaged. The volunteers of KCT saved the all books, gathered them in a pile and after some time they had developed a temporary library in Jalalabad Garden.
Establishment of Computer Literacy Centre (CLC): The unemployment rate in Azad Kashmir is 40% to 50%; this is due primarily to lack of modern professional skills; that is the reason KCT has endeavoured to overcome this problem and construct gender equality by establishing CLC and ELC with the mutual cooperation of Burnley for Kashmir where all students are getting benefits at equal level whether they are males or females, poor or well-to-do, to promote youth literacy over and above to eradicate the roots of gender plus status discrimination. We believe that the institutes like CLC can easily revolutionize the future of the youth of a country.
Poverty alleviation via Empowering Women: KCT strongly believes in women empowerment that’s why it has started a number of projects for the welfare of women. KCT & Burnley for Kashmir started a Women Empowerment Project (WEP) for the promotion of vocational skills & established numerous sewing centres in Muzaffarabad District; moreover it distributed worth 300 sewing machines including hand machines, zigzag machines and electric machines to support widows to achieve income security, dignified working conditions and increased protection of the natural resources on which they depend; to eradicate poverty.
Sheltered Girls primary School in Rajpiyyan: Rajpiyyan is a minute township distant from Muzaffarabad city. Subsequent to confounded disaster, bulk of organizations could not approach there. In consequence, the devastated populace of this village could not get much assistance from these organizations. After passing a long time to the disaster the children of Rajpiyyan were still without school building but KCT provided those shelters for school. KCT with the harmonization of Burnley for Kashmir is establishing schools in remote areas like Rajpiyyan; to promote literacy.
Statement from Board Chair
With jumbled way of thinking I would like to take this opportunity to thank members and supporters of KCT who have donated generously to help the victims of 8th October 2005 Earthquake in South Asian regions Kashmir and Pakistan. Since the disaster had struck many of us did what we could in the beginning and thought that the work was done. The reality is that the enormity of the disaster has conceded, but the sheer size of the tasks has just changed its form and a different approach is required to provide support to the victims. We have to continue to work hard in order to provide what ever help we can for those who are still in the brunt of it and are helpless, for the most part, now that foreign help and support from different countries and NGOs has come to an end. The members and supporters of KCT working in various towns and cites in UK are urged to use their means to strengthen and help KCT to achieve its objectives. It will be with your help that we’ll be able to provide shelter, rehabilitation and long term support for the victims. There has been constant review of the ground reality and what needs to be done.
Although the initial relief phase according to some quarters is now over and we need to concentrate on rehabilitation and reconstruction. However, according to our volunteers and direct contact with some people living in remote villages, there are still those people that require shelter homes, reconnection of water, electric and other supplies. Many of the victims have no hope of having a house built before the winter falls again, for those further shelters will be required. Although the aim of KCT is on regeneration and rehabilitation however, we feel that the basic needs of the people must also be catered for.
We are so grateful to our partner and to whom who are working with us in the gigantic task. We and all our partner supporters and those who are working with us for the welfare of God’s marginalized creation we all know about our mission and objectives.
Statement from CEO
As I come across to the fore to my word as CEO, I can’t assist but replicate on the reality that, the Kashmir’s vulnerable communities require KCT as much, if not more, now as they did when it was established in its early years. We must persist to perk up the ways we do this in a very spirited market, and we must continue to gross and retain the expectations of donors that the money they give to us does go to the rationale for which it was projected and does really make a difference. We must prolong to develop our School Programs so that we can yoke the power of our own young lot in supporting KCT aims and objectives. Along with supporters and partners, KCT gazes ahead to meeting all these challenges. We must ensure that we maintain our partnerships and forge new ones within our capacity to service them. We were capable to do additional and superior, thanks to the sustained support, solidarity, team spirit, harmony and feedback of our supporters, donors and partners. I am proud of our Trustees, staff, team and volunteers who have installed so much to make the difference we have been able to achieve. Our appreciation goes to every one of you who is the part of our mission. The pathway to end poverty is an extensive one, but when walked together, success is a surer one. We believe there is a termination of poverty through managing dispersed youth, empowering women, protecting children from abuses and exploitation and providing them safe and protective as well as productive environment. Although it must be accomplished by working along with and sustaining poor people to act; allege their civil rights and confront the injustices they meet often. We and our entire partners, supporters and those who are working with us for the welfare of marginalized creation of God; we all know about our mission and objectives; we are so grateful to whom who are working with us in this gigantic task. To our volunteers, donors and supporters, I present my heartfelt thanks on behalf of the team; for your support and continuing generosity.
