I Am The Change Awards 2021 – Celebrating The Change Makers Amidst COVID-19

Every year, Engro Foundation – the social investment arm of Engro Corporation - recognizes local change agents and highlights projects that aim to improve lives across different spheres, through its flagship initiative of I Am The Change (IATC) awards

Lahore (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 01st September, 2021) Every year, Engro Foundation – the social investment arm of Engro Corporation - recognizes local change agents and highlights projects that aim to improve lives across different spheres, through its flagship initiative of I Am The Change (IATC) awards. The IATC Impact Awards celebrate the spirit and the impact of these change makers’ year on year through financial grants and capacity development. Amidst the global pandemic, the IATC 2021 is planning to celebrate the change makers who have been working hard to lessen the impacts of COVID-19 in Pakistan. For this, we invite Social Development NPOs and NGOs and Social Enterprises to apply to the IATC impacts awards and share their inspiring stories of creating community impact in the fight against COVID-19.

All organizations must apply to one of the two categories – social development and social enterprise. Both categories have a separate set of requirements. The requirements along with the online application form can be accessed here: https://www.iamthechange.com.pk/

Following the application phase, there will be an extensive review of all the applicants within the two categories, where an external jury and IATC team, will determine which organizations have had the most meaningful impact in Pakistan. After this, two recipients will be selected, one from each category. Each recipient will be given a cash award of PKR 2 million in recognition of their efforts.

Below are some inspiring stories of the few IATC 2020 recipients, who created strong community impact in the fight against COVID-19:

Dr Syed Osama Hussain

Dr. Syed Osama Hussain is one of the IATC 2020 recipients hailing from Peshawar and currently a resident medical officer at the Khyber Teaching hospital specializing in internal medicine. During the first wave of COVID-19, Dr. Hussain was working in the COVID-19 wing and ICU of the hospital. He is also passionate about social work, and has volunteered at several medical camps, including one in Tharparkar, Sindh.

“As a doctor, treating a patient in need is a reward within itself and the joy one feels once a patient is alive, well and recovering can only be recognised by fellow doctors and healthcare professionals”, he said.

Dr. Hussain has also been working tirelessly to erase the misconceptions regarding the Coronavirus, to ensure that people take proper and necessary precautions and during the first wave, he arranged and volunteered at a medical camp in his native village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to provide awareness and assistance to the people while COVID-19 was at its peak.

Raja Muhammad Iqbal

Raja Muhammad Iqbal is a retired subedar from Army Medical Corps, currently appointed as the Senior Nurse to Mian Muhammad Bukhsh Trust Hospital. During the pandemic, Mr. Raja has remained available for duty and had more interactions with the COVID-19 suspected and/or positive patients than any other nurse at the hospital. At the start of the pandemic, Mr. Raja stayed on the premises of the hospital 24/7 and volunteered his services for over-time work, recognizing the need to serve his country once again.

Speaking on behalf of healthcare professionals, Mr. Iqbal shares, “we will continue to remain steadfast and work towards decreasing the footprint of the disease. I have been deployed on the border and contributed in wars so it was my passion to help that propelled me to continue to serve in the line of duty. I am truly humbled to be presented with the IATC award and hope that such initiatives continue to reward and recognise frontline workers.”

Sana Sharif

In the wake of the pandemic, many communities were at the risk of being forgotten, one of them being the incarcerated. Through her association with Legal Aid Society (LAS), Program Manager Sana Sharif conducted a series of meetings with senior prison officials including the IG Prisons and DIG Prisons in order to understand the nature of demands from prisons in the context of combating the threat of COVID-19. She ensured timely achievement of legal aid clinics, free legal advice and interviews, and representation of the incarcerated in 8 Sindh-prisons. With a Master's degree and extensive experience in Development Sector Support programs to her credit, Sana supervised LAS staff across 15 districts in Sindh during their visits to Superintendents of all 24 prisons and led the distribution efforts of the required PPEs in the entire Karachi and Hyderabad division. These efforts are what led her nomination and recognition for the IATC award.

According to Ghias Khan - President & CEO of Engro Corporation and Trustee of Engro Foundation, "The IATC award recipients truly depict how heroes are born in times of crisis. As a Pakistani organization committed to solving some of the most pressing issues of our time, it is a very humbling experience for us to learn from and celebrate the achievements of these individuals and institutions who rose to the occasion. Together, InshAllah we will emerge stronger and united as a nation from this pandemic.”