The Official Publication of Houston Karachi Sister City Association Helping Build Bridges of Friendship & Commerce

Transcription

1 The V O I C E The Official Publication of Houston Karachi Sister City Association Helping Build Bridges of Friendship & Commerce March, 2013 Issue INTRODUCTION The Houston Karachi Sister City Association (HKSCA) is an inclusive organization, whose sole mission is to promote peace through mutual respect, understanding, & cooperation one individual, one community at a time. The principal objective of HKSCA is to increase cultural and educational exchanges, to promote & improve understanding and interaction between the people of Houston and Karachi. The association also helps build bridges of friendship and commerce between these two vital centers of culture and economy. By supporting individual, civic, & business exchanges, HKSCA aims to develop ongoing projects, and events to promote cultural & people dialogue, as well as create opportunities between the citizens of the two cities. Established in Houston in 2009 when Syed Mustafa Kamal, the then Nazimae-Aala (Mayor) of Karachi, signed the Houston-Karachi Sister City Association Memorandum along with the then Mayor Bill White of Houston, Texas at a ceremony, at the Houston City Hall due to the efforts of former Council Member M. J. Khan & many community members in getting approval of Houston City Council. Mr.Haroon Shaikh served as founding President of HKSCA. Under the umbrella of the Houston Sister City Association, Karachi is the 17th city and the 100th Muslim city to have entered the sister city network. HKSCA organization comprises an oversight board of directors, and diverse membership, including individuals, professionals, families, businesses, and others. The HKSCA board of directors meets regularly to plan and review the activities of the association. Since the inception HKSCA has focused on supporting and facilitating various things in the city of Karachi. In support of this goal, HKSCA succeeded in obtaining Firefighting equipment from the City of Houston Fire Department and delivered to the City of Karachi in These equipments were sent to the people of Karachi Pakistan in the spirit of cooperation and goodwill as a result of the Sister City relationship. HKSCA also colorfully represented Karachi and Pakistan at the Annual Houston International Festival with a fashion show and pop music from local Houston Pakistani band the same year. The current HKSCA board of directors, under the leadership of President Muhammad Saeed Sheikh, has planned to work in the areas of Health, Education, Community Services, Culture, and Trade. Several initiatives started by HKSCA saw their completion end of 2011 and 2012 term. These includes the Alliance of Pakistan Flood Relief Efforts, Education initiatives, Health and Telemedicine initiatives.

2 President s Note I am honored and delighted to state that HKSCA ranks at the top of the Sister Cities Association of the city of Houston at the end of Since its inception HKSCA has focused on supporting and facilitating various activities between Houston and Karachi. I am pleased that we made significant achievements per our plan of action, under the areas of Education, Humanitarian Work, Healthcare, Culture and Trade. This brought both cities closer and opened the path to continue realizing more benefits laid down in the charter signed by Mayor Bill White and Mustafa Kamal in All areas of our activities have their own significance, however HKSCA coordinated and led the Alliance of Pakistan Floods Relief Efforts whose success resulted in us winning the Sister Cities International 2011 Innovation Humanitarian Assistance Award, which records our terms success in the history of Sister Cities and City of Houston. Also, the 2012 Houston Iftar with Mayor Anise Parker, which was a HKSCA coordinated project (jointly organized with ABU-DHABI, BAKU, and Istanbul Sister Cities), reflects the full colors of our community. Finally, it was a distinct honor for HKSCA to meet with President Barrack Obama (who is also Honorary Chair of Sister Cities International), and also have representation at 2013 Presidential Inauguration festivities in Washington D.C. I would like to acknowledge the support of all members of Executive Board of Directors and City of Houston office of Sister Cities Affairs for their cooperation. Last but not least, I am very grateful for the support rendered by S. Javaid Anwar of Midland Energy Inc. who generously sponsored almost all our activities which was the most important ingredient to achieve our targets. God Bless the United States of America and Long Live USA. President of Houston-Karachi meets with Honorary Chairperson of Sister Cities International, President of the United States During March 2012 visit to Houston, President Obama met with Mr. Muhammad Sheikh, President of the Houston-Karachi Sister City Association. Mr. Sheikh informed the president of the good work Houstonians are doing to strengthen the ties between Houston and Pakistan. President Obama showed off his Urdu language skills by telling Mr. Sheikh shukria, Urdu for thank you. Board of Directors President Muhammad Saeed Sheikh Committee Chairs: Awards & Recognition Cristal Montanez Trade & Commerce Sajjad Sheikh Hosting M. Amir Khan Vice-President Dr. Barkat Ali Charania Liaison Matloob Khan Professional/Technical Dr. Farooq Baloch Community Service/Media ILyas Hasan Choudry General Secretary Salman Qadeer Khan Public Relations Khalid Kazi Publications Amir Maqsood Khan Cultural Affairs Mariam Issa Treasurer Azam Akhtar Board of Directors: Masrur Javed Khan Haroon Sheikh David Godwin Nasruddin Rupani Mohammad Zaheer Syed Neiyyar Izfar

3 Humanitarian Efforts: Activities Report HKSCA initiated & formed Alliance of Pakistan Flood Relief Efforts Chaired by HKSCA President Muhammad Saeed Sheikh. The Alliance includes more than 42 Community organizations and Media Outlets. The Alliance successfully shipped 40 ft. Container worth more than $100,000 of relief supplies to the flood stricken people of Pakistan. HKSCA had led the efforts for a fundraiser, which collected $80,000 dollars for the relief supplies for 5 non-profit organizations. The donated items were distributed into the Mirpurkhas internally displaced persons camp in Pakistan's Sindh Province with the coordination of Helping Hand For Relief & Development. Houston-Karachi Sister City Association wins the Sister Cities International 2011 Innovation Humanitarian Assistance Award In 2012, the Houston-Karachi Sister City Association was selected as the winner of the Sister Cities International 2011 Innovation: Humanitarian Assistance Award for a city with population more than 500,001. The award was presented at the 56th Annual Sister Cities International Conference: A new Era for Citizen Diplomacy in Jacksonville, Florida on July 14th, Citizen diplomats from more than 20 countries attended this important event. Cristal Montañéz Baylor, Executive Director Hashoo Foundation USA, member of the Executive Board of Directors of Houston-Karachi Sister City Association and Alliance for Pakistan Floods Relief Efforts Coordinating Committee, received the Sister Cities International 2011 Innovation: Humanitarian Assistance Award on behalf of these organizations. During the Best Practices Humanitarian Assistance Workshop Panel, Cristal shared the phases of development which made the implementation of this project successful. Ellen Goldberg, Sister Cities of Houston President and Leslie Santamaria, City of Houston Protocol Manager & Sister City Coordinator represented Houston at the event. The Innovation Awards recognize the accomplishments of outstanding communities and individual Sister City programs that promote peace through mutual respect, understanding and cooperation. A United Effort of the Greater Houston community Led by the Houston-Karachi Sister City association to Serve the People Affected by the devastating Floods in Sindh, Pakistan. In response to the devastating floods of 2011 that affected more than 5.3 million people in Sindh, Pakistan, the Houston-Karachi Sister City Association (HKSCA) called a meeting of all the leading community organizations and media outlets of Houston. Under the leadership of the President of HKSCA, Muhammad Saeed Sheikh, an Alliance of Pakistan Floods Relief Efforts was formed consisting of 42 community businesses, organization and media outlets. The Alliance raised $80,000 in cash and $100,000 in in-kind donation. The donated items were distributed to 1,200 families in the Mirpur Khas internally displaced persons camp in Pakistan's Sindh province. The Alliance continues to meet to monitor the donations and its impact.

4 Mayor Houston Honored Alliance of Pakistan Floods Relief Efforts. On behalf of the City of Houston, Mayor Annise D. Parker, along with members of City Council, honored the Alliance of Pakistan Floods Relief Efforts ; to appreciate their outstanding efforts in helping flood victims of the Sindh province of Pakistan and for winning of the coveted Sister Cities International 2011 Innovation Humanitarian Award for a city with a population of more than 500,001. Special recognition ceremony was held at city council chamber. Council Member at Large Stephen C. Castillo briefed the council about the Alliance effort. Alliance Coordinator Muhammad Saeed Sheikh, along with other members of the Alliance working group, Mr. Ruhee Ozgul, Mr. Talat Talpur, Mr. PJ Khan Swati, Mr. Jamil Dawoodi, Ms. Noor Nisa Ghangroo and Mr. Jamil Siddiqui received a special proclamation from Mayor Annise Parker. Education: As part of the Education initiatives, HKSCA participation in the YES program was recognized by the US State Department & Center for Inter-Cultural Exchange. The program led by HKSCA member of board of directors, David Godwin, managed hosting of many exchange students from Pakistan with Houston families of Pakistani origin. HKSCA continues to be committed to the YES Program, with active participation, since HKSCA initial inception. In past years, the exchange students were hosted by then HKSCA past President Haroon Shaikh and many other members'. In March 2012 HKSCA hosted the delegation of iearn Pakistan to Houston Coordinated by Director HKSCA David Godwin. The iearn delegation was led by the Director of iearn Pakistan Farah Kamal. HKSCA coordinated an extensive schedule of activities for the delegation to promote the efforts of iearn Pakistan and its cooperation with HKSCA & the YES program. The highlight of the visit was signing of a MoU between iearn Pakistan, HKSCA and Houston Academy of International Studies. The MoU seeks to establish an education exchange program between Houston Academy of International Studies and Habib Girls & Habib Boys High School in Karachi, under the iearn program. The exchange will include student interactions through web mediums as well as development of joint curriculum between the schools. The iearn delegation was also honored by the City of Houston at the dinner hosted by HKSCA. The dinner was presided by the City of Houston Council Member Andrew Burkes. The delegation was also hosted by Pakistan Council General Aqil Nadeem at the Pakistan Consulate Houston. Awards & Recognition: HKSCA President Muhammad Saeed Sheikh received several Community Services Awards, which includes Safeer-e-Pakistan Pride of Performance Award 2011, Pakistan Chamber of Commerce-USA Platinum Star Award 2011 and South Asian Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Community Service Award Health Care: HKSCA Health and Telemedicine initiative is to develop a partnership between Houston Physicians and Karachi s primary public hospital with Houston's M D ANDERSON Cancer Research Center. The initiative aims to establish a medical consultancy practice as a objective of the partnership, whereby the hospital and doctors in Karachi are able to get secondary opinion from Physicians in Houston. The program deploys electronic medical records and diagnosis devices, both in Karachi Hospital and in Houston, enabling video conferencing, patient medical records and laboratory analysis data. The program exchange will initially focus in the area of Oncology, where Karachi is currently facing a great shortage of expert physicians.

5 Trade and Commerce In May 2012 HKSCA hosted 7 members High Level Business Delegation of the Karachi Chamber Of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) in Houston. During this visit HKSCA arranged the Port of Houston Visit, Networking Dinner at the Pakistan Consulate, Meeting with Mayor's International Trade Development Council, Business Opportunities Meeting at Sam's Club, and Doing Business between Houston & Karachi Forum at the Greater Houston Partnership ( G H P ). T h e v i s i t concluded as President & CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership (GHP) Jeff Moseley, President of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) Mian Abrar Ahmad, and President of the Houston-Karachi Sister City Association (HKSCA) Muhammad Saeed Sheikh; signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), according to which activities of mutual interest will be done to benefit the members & affiliates of KCCI, GHP, & HKSCA in the fields of import-export, investment climate enhancement, business information, and other commercially oriented activities. Mr. Matloob Khan was the Coordinator of the KCCI Delegation visit to Houston. HKSCA Meets with Macedonia's Prime Minster In order to seek investments and trade a very high profile governmental delegation of the republic of Macedonia headed by Prime Minister Nikola Gruesvski visited Houston last week. Mayor Anise Parker hosted the delegation visit. The delegation also included of Vice Prime Minister Vladimir Pesevski, Trade and Investment minister and other government officials of the government of the Republic of Macedonia. During the delegation visit President Celil Yaka of the Texas American Turkish Chamber of Commerce hosted a round table business dinner meeting attended by many prominent members of community and business leaders. The Houston Karachi Sister City Association was represented by President Muhammad Saeed Sheikh. While meeting with the prime minister and vice prime minister Mr. Sheikh briefed about the existing trade between Houston and Karachi; and invited the visiting Prime Minister to consider Pakistan as trading partner and explore the countless opportunities available in energy sector in Pakistan. Mr. Sheikh also highlighted Thar Coal Reserves in Pakistan. Representing Sams' Club, Khaled Khan discussed the possible business with Walmart and Sams' Club. Prime Minister Gruevski and Vice Prime Minister Pesevski made powerful presentations about many available business and investments opportunities in Macedonia. Ambassador Zoran Jolevski of Macedonia, prominent business man Farooq Shahmi, Ruhi Ozgul, Chairman of Wallis State Bank, and many others were present on this occasion. Texas traditional gift cowboy hat was presented to the Prime Minister. Karachi Houston Sister City Association Inaugurated in 2011 HKSCA assisted in forming Karachi Sister City Association under the Leadership of President Salim Rajani. The Karachi Houston Sister City Association aims for Sister Cities to join hands with Karachi, Pakistan that has huge potential and opportunities. KHSCA will always be ready to facilitate and work in collaboration. Karachi Houston Sister City Association is progressing well in the tense circumstances here in Karachi Pakistan. The Association has formed its website for the dissemination of information and membership registration. The Association recently organized a throw ball competition to provide healthy environment and promotion of sports. The Association worked in collaboration with HKSCA and Helping hands for the distribution of flood relief goods in Mirpurkhas, Sindh. The association attended inauguration ceremony of free medical camp at DOW College arranged by House of Charity and presented a memento to Mr. Sagheer Ahmed, Health Minister on behalf of Houston Karachi Sister City Association. In addition the Association is coordinating with Karachi Chamber of Commerce to initiate trade related projects. The Association also met with the officials at US Consulate for the promotion of culture and arts.

6 Houston Iftar Annual Ramadan Dinner with Mayor Annise Parker With a massive attendance, 2012 Houston Iftar, the annual Ramadan dinner traditionally hosted by the Mayor of Houston, turned out to be a huge success. The event was jointly organized by representatives of several Sister City Associations from various Muslim cities such as ABU DHABI, BAKU, ISTANBUL, and of course, KARACHI. Apart from Sister City organizations, several other local organizations also collaborated. The Houston-Karachi Sister Association ( HKSCA ), under the guidance of its President, Muhammad Saeed Shaikh, played the lead role in coordinating the whole event that was held on August 11, 2012 at the George R Brown Convention Center. Along with a huge number of community members from different faiths and cultures, many a members of Houston City Council and several of Consul Generals were also present at this occasion. Host Committee which included: Irada Akhoundova, Muhammad Saeed Sheikh, M.J. Khan, Azam Akhtar, Syed Nayyar Izfar, G.M. Chisti, Ruhi Ozgul, Sunny Sharma, Celil Yaka, Matloob Khan, Syed Shahid Ali, Nasir Abbasi, Muhammad Zaheer, Munira Punjwani, Mustafa Carrol, Sajjad Sheikh, Talat Talpur, Cristal Montinez, Mahmud Dahri, Shah Haleem, Amir Khan, Rauf Khan, Mehmet Akumas, Arif Momin, Barkat Ali, Zafar Khan, and Omar Khawaja played a very vital role in making the event a huge success. Speaking at this occasion, Mayor Annise Parker commented how the Houston Iftar Dinner has become an annual event that people from all sects and religions appreciate and eagerly wait for every year. She further commended and thanked the local Muslim communities for adding to the strengths of our city and making all of us proud to be Houstonians. She also pointed out that the whole event is entirely supported by members of community and various sponsors and thanked the Host Committee for doing a wonderful job of conducting such a huge event. Muslims from all over the world participated which shows that the event enjoys a wide spread support amongst many communities and how proud everyone is about practicing this important pillar of Islam, Fasting. Chair of the Host Committee, Irada Akhoundova welcomed the guests. Omar Khawaja served as the Master of Ceremonies. Professor Pervez Ahmed and Dr. Gamal Mahmoud presented brief speeches emphasizing the importance of RAMADAN Various community members also spoke at the event and thanked the Mayor s Office, and the City Council for their support. Those who spoke included Muhammad Saeed Sheikh, M.J. Khan, Mehmut Okumas. The Maghrib Prayers were led by Imam Shahid Rizvi of the Al-Noor Masjid. Imam Mustafa Yagit from the Turkish Center called the Adan and also recited Quran beautifully. Delicious dinner for Iftar was provided by Tempura Restaurant and was served by volunteers from His Highness the Agha Khan Council of Southwestern United States. The menu also included Turkish and Greek items. In conclusion, the event turned out to be a beautiful occasion to portray the brotherhood between all races and religions whereby everyone ended up having a good time under one roof, happily and peacefully.

7 HKSCA Participation in The 57th Presidential Inauguration The President HKSCA Muhammad Saeed Sheikh along with several prominent Houston area community leaders including Nomaan Husain, National Trustee, Obama Finance Committee, AJ Durrani, Chairman Emerge- USA (and General Secretary ISGH), Mustafa Tameez, President Outreach Strategists, and HKSCA Committee Chair Mariam Issa. attend the many activities associated with the 57th Presidential Inauguration of US President Barack Obama in Washington DC. The members noted activities that one or more attended were Presidential Candlelight Celebration for the President's Finance Committee and close supporters, Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi Inauguration Luncheon, National Muslim Inaugural Gala,Presidential Swearing In ceremony on Capitol Hill, Presidential Inaugural Ball,and Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service at National Cathedral. President Shaikh met with Massachusetts Governor Patrick Deval, Senator Al Franken of Minnesota, Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen.Mark A.Welsh III and discussed the impressive developments in the Houston Karachi Sister City Association to promote US-Pakistan business and cultural issues. Sister Cities International Inaugural Gala: January 17, 2013 Sister Cities International holds the distinct honor of having the President of the United States serving as our Honorary Chairperson. It was very fitting indeed that the first-ever Sister Cities International Inaugural Gala kicked-off the 2013 Presidential Inaugural celebrations in Washington, D.C. An exclusive VIP reception prior to the start of the Gala set an upbeat mood for the start of a great evening! Washington D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray, European Union Ambassador João Vale de Almeida and other visiting dignitaries mingled with members of the corporate world over cocktails! As the guests streamed into the beautiful Hall of Flags, they were welcomed by a powerful opening performance by the President s own U.S. Marine Band. The Air Force Color Guard presented the colors as the Marine Band played the national anthem. Tim Quigley, Mary Palko, Mae Ferguson of the Sister Cities International Inaugural Gala Host Committee, then welcomed the guests. VIPs were joined by citizen diplomats and community leaders showcasing the thriving sister city network. Sister Cities International Board of Directors Chairman Thomas A. Lisk, Mayor Gray, Ambassador Almeida, and Mike E. Fox Jr. provided opening remarks.

8 Pictorial of HKSCA President SCH Ellen Goldberg,Council Member Andrew Burks & Mike Luster presenting HKSCA recognition to visiting iearn Pakistan Ex Director Farah Kamal Cultural presentation at Turkish Center Eid Dinner Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee presenting Congressional Recognition to Alliance of Pakistan Floods Relief Efforts Council Member AL-Hong presenting SCI 2011 Award Letter to President Sheikh. HKSCA Board of Director's with Elected Representatives from Karachi. A group photo with Council General of Turkey at HKSCA/HISCA Eid Dinner HKSCA Participation at Houston International (ifeast) 2012 Voter Registration Day by Congresswoman Lee