Today’s Good People, Good Works will be presented in Urdu and English, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Urdu and Thai.

HOST (IN URDU): Hallo, generous viewers, and welcome to Good People, Good Works on Supreme Master Television. This week’s show features the first in a two-part series on the non-profit, volunteer organization Funkor Child Art Center of Islamabad, Pakistan. Founded in 2002 by peace advocate, artist and children’s book author Fauzia Aziz Minallah, the Center promotes awareness of environmental protection, preservation of traditional culture, human rights, moral values and peace through art appreciation and book reading. Ms. Minallah will now discuss what led her to establish the Center.

Fauzia(f): I'm an artist, I love painting, and I've been painting since the age of 12. I've always loved painting and still love painting, and it makes me very sad that something so beautiful like painting is not enjoyed by many children in Pakistan. First of all, because of poverty many children don't go to school, and if they go to school, if they're from the underprivileged strata, they don't have any art or painting in schools. So this was in 2001 that I thought of setting up this Child Art Center, where children can come and paint.

And through this Center I promote art and book reading among children. (The name) Funkor is made out of two languages spoken at (my) home. I speak Urdu with my husband, so “fun” means “art” in Urdu, and “kor” is my mother language; a Pashto word, “kor” means “house” so it means an “art house” for children. The main purpose is really to promote art among children, but use the medium of art and book reading to promote concepts of peace, tolerance, human rights, environment and heritage protection.

I go and organize workshops in different shanty towns and schools for special children, refugee camps, relief camps, because I have noticed that art also has a very therapeutic effect on children, they enjoy painting. And the time that I spend with them is a time that they really enjoy themselves and express themselves.

HOST: Being an artist and peace advocate, Ms. Minallah herself has written and illustrated a series of books for children with storylines containing deep messages to expand the horizons of young minds and encourage respect for people of diverse cultures.

Fauzia (f): This book of mine was printed when I was 18, and this is to promote the Pakistani culture through the clothes of different parts of Pakistan. So this is Baluchistan, and then this is from KPK - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. And this is for little girls to learn the different dresses of Pakistan and here is the doll on the other side. And then I did a lot of cartoons for children, a cartoon strip in a newspaper “Nation” for children and it was on different social issues like child labor. And then understanding special (needs) children, if you have one at home how can you make it easier for the child and yourself also. So this was all done through a cartoon strip.

But it was really after September 11, 2001 when I felt that as a mother the world is really changing for my boys. I have two boys, and they are Muslims. So I wrote this book, “Amai's Wish,” and this is my bird, Amai, and she's made out of light. And she can also magically turn into a shooting star and take children to different parts of the world and tell children about different cultures, different children of the world.

So here in this book, Amai takes children to New York (USA) and then they meet American children. She also takes them to Afghanistan, to meet a child called Bibi. It's really to show children that there are beautiful children everywhere. There are good children in America. And then for Americans the message is Afghani children are good too.

And then I wrote a book “Children of Light”; this was printed by ACTIONAID Action Age and given free of cost in schools. And this book promotes peace between India and Pakistan. These two children are Pakistani and then they meet a Hindu boy. And Amai takes them and this is also an awareness about nuclear weapons and really it's urging children to think differently because in India and Pakistan a lot of pride is promoted as far as nuclear weapons is concerned. So I tell children about what nuclear weapons are, I take them to Hiroshima (Japan) and they should really think about what is good and what is bad for their future.

And this book, “Sadako’s Prayer,” was printed by ANT Hiroshima; this is another organization in Hiroshima. It's about Sadako, and it's a true story, but in this book Amai takes Sima and Ali to Japan. This is Sima and Ali. And she takes them to Japan and they meet Sadako. So this is printed in Japanese, in Dari language for Afghanistan, Urdu and English, so it's available in four languages.

HOST: In recognition of her selfless efforts to promote harmony between peoples and children’s education, Fauzia Minallah has received several international awards, including the 2007 Hiroshima Citizen's Award for the peace-advocacy message presented in her book “Sadako's Prayer.”

Fauzia (f): There is the Bremen Peace Award in Germany; they shortlisted the work of Funkor Child Art Center in democratizing art, taking it (art) to children who have never enjoyed art (before). And then My Hero Project, they have awarded one of our videos as third prize. And then this year, they have awarded (me) the Ron Kovic Peace Prize, which is a big honor for me, and then, I also have a Book Promotion Award from the National Book Foundation of Pakistan. Awards are very important in one's work, and it gives you strength, and it gives you this motivation to do more, and there is so much work to do with children.

HOST: Many non-profit organizations and volunteers partner with Funkor to provide a better life and education for vulnerable children in Pakistan.

Fauzia (f): Funkor works with different organizations, with different NGOs, and it's very small right now and I would love to keep it small because it's quality work that we do with children, and if I increase the number, then I don't feel that the quality of work will be as it is now. So far we have organized workshops for over 80,000 children since 2001, and different activities like book reading, art workshops, and recycling workshops. with different children from minority groups, Afghan refugee children. So we have worked with different children.

HOST: Through Funkor’s “The Multi-colored Scarves of Peace from Pakistan” project, Pakistani girls ages 8 to 19 had the opportunity to design scarves reflecting their vision of a peaceful world.

Fauzia (f): These are scarves that some girls wear in Pakistan, and they painted (them) with different messages of peace. So one girl painted a doll, because for little girls all over the world, dolls are very important, and a house, and then she painted a bird which she said is Amai, because she (Amai) loves children. It was exhibited in Munich (Germany) at a little art gallery, and now it's in Austria. It will travel to different places.

It was really the idea of the gallery in Munich, Germany. So the idea was to tell other children that it doesn't matter what kind of clothes one wears, it's really their thoughts, it's their feelings that matter. So what they painted was their thoughts and their feelings, which are not different from any other child of the world.

HOST: Another wonderful Funkor Child Art Center initiative is “Amai’s Nest,” a healing center for children living in a northwest Pakistan relief camp. The young ones and their families were severely affected by the massive flooding that inundated one-fifth of the nation in August 2010.

Fauzia (f): This is a place where they have two teachers and a supervisor, and right now there are about 51 children, and they all come from a relief camp in Bahrain, Kohistan (Pakistan). So this is funded by Funkor Child Art Center, with the help of all the friends who donated money for flood relief, and implemented by another NGO(non-governmental organization) in Swat, Kohistan, (called) Idara Baraye Taleem-o-Taraqi.

And this is where children can catch up with their studies, and children who've never been to school, they start to learn ABC, ا (alif), ب (be), پ (pe) in Urdu, and then they have other activities that they don't have in other schools, like they have painting, they have book reading. We have a little library for them. And then they have sports, like once a week they do different games, play cricket or they have races.

HOST: As an environmentalist, Fauzia Minallah is also deeply concerned about the future of our planet and works to spread important messages to young ones about nature conservation.

Fauzia (f): Things that have made our lives life easy have on the other hand destroyed this planet also. And it's sad because some people are not able to control their desires and (it is) their love for ease that the world is (becoming) warm and its effect is really on the poorest of the poor. And in Pakistan also, if you see the destruction because of the floods, it has to do with global warming and most of the people who are affected by the floods were the poor.

These days I'm working on a book on the environment, (called) “Trees Are Our Friends” and really telling children about the importance of trees. If we had trees we would not be having such a big disaster. If we had trees, then the destruction that was caused by the floods would not have been so much as it was, as we had witnessed in 2010. Because we have cut down a lot of trees in Pakistan, and that is something one has to tell children, it's very important for their future.

HOST: Here are some closing thoughts from Ms. Minallah.

Fauzia (f): Out of all the concepts, it is the concept of tolerance that we have to teach our children. All the conflicts that we are witnessing in the world are really because human beings have stopped tolerating each other, and respecting differences. One has to really learn to live with differences and respect differences. So that is what I try to promote in through my books.

HOST: Ms. Fauzia Aziz Minallah, we sincerely appreciate your kind-hearted, benevolent work that brings so much happiness and hope to disadvantaged Pakistani children. We all share your dream of soon creating a more loving, peaceful world for all youth.

For more details on the Funkor Child Art Center, please visit www.FunkorChildArt.com or connect with the Center on www. Facebook.com

Please join us again next Sunday for Good People, Good Works and the conclusion of our two-part program on Fauzia Minallah and the Funkor Child Art Center.

OUTRO(IN URDU): Harmonious viewers, thank you for your company on today’s program. Up next is May your heart The World Around Us be replenished with the after Noteworthy News. currents of Divine love. May the palette of life always be filled with bright, joyful colors for everyone.

Today’s Good People, Good Works will be presented in Urdu and English, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Urdu and Thai.

Fauzia (f): A mother is called Amai in some areas of Pakistan. So I named my bird “Amai,” because Amai loves children, and she loves children like a mother and my bird Amai is made of light, just like mothers tell you, “Don't do this, this is right, this is wrong. Amai wants light to be shining in children's minds, their mind are enlightened.

HOST(IN URDU): Hallo, splendid viewers, and welcome to Good People, Good Works on Supreme Master Television. Today’s show features the conclusion of our two-part series on the non-profit, volunteer organization Funkor Child Art Center in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Founded in 2002 by peace advocate, artist and children’s book author Fauzia Aziz Minallah, the Center promotes awareness of environmental protection, preservation of traditional culture, human rights, moral values and peace through art appreciation and book reading.

Fauzia(f): (The name) Funkor is made out of two languages spoken at (my) home. I speak Urdu with my husband, so “fun” means “art” in Urdu, and “kor” is my mother language; a Pashto word, “kor” means “house” so it means an “art house” for children. The main purpose is really to promote art among children, but use the medium of art and book reading to promote concepts of peace, tolerance, human rights, environment and heritage protection.

Nausheen: My name is Nausheen Malik. And I work as a coordinator for Funkor Child Art Center. I started work in 2009 and it’s been two years since I joined. I love working here with special needs children and especially the ones who cannot see. While working with blind children, one feels very touched, because once a child made a painting with three children and he said that these are my three siblings.

HOST: Fauzia Minallah now kindly introduces us to two of Funkor Child Art Center’s core projects, Amai Park at the Al-Maktoom Special Education Center for Visually Handicapped Children and the “Arts and Books for Children In Crisis” program.

Fauzia(f): We are in Al-Maktoom Center for visually impaired children. And this was in 2006 when I really wanted to work with blind children because I saw an exhibition of tactile drawings in Germany, and I got that material and I wanted to do it here, so I met Ms. Robina Anjum, the director of the Al-Maktoom Center; she welcomed me and ever since I've been working here as a volunteer.

Robina(f): Fauzia came to me in 2006. She was carrying special paper. This special paper is used by special needs children to make drawings. She requested to work with the special needs children. She said that she wanted to get a sketch of these children’s thoughts about nature and different things. They have not seen anything, but they might tell us how the moon looks like, flowers, and trees.

I said, “Okay,” and then she started coming to the school and children started drawing all these things on the paper. They also used special clay to make different models with her help. Small models, models of everything, eatables, they made all the things out of clay, then they thought to arrange an exhibition so that we can tell people that these children also have the same feelings.

HOST: Ms. Minallah became aware that the public parks in Islamabad are not designed to meet the needs of visually impaired children, so with the help of other like-minded friends she decided to do something about it.

Fauzia(f): And it was a couple of years back when this idea came up that we should have a special play area for blind children. Because blind children when they go to parks, because they can't see, they get pushed and they can't play like normal children. And while children who can't talk or can't hear, at least they can see that somebody is coming or somebody is pushing so they can take care of themselves. But for blind children, it's very difficult to play in public parks. So that's why we built this area that is like any other public park. And this was all funded by Pakistani friends, our Dr. Anwar Dil and a few more people, and they raised funds for this park.

Robina(f): And really these children come from disadvantaged families and they do not get a chance to play around like this. Then we thought that we will include a water feature in the park and sand feature in addition to the play place toys so that children get the full opportunity to enjoy nature like ordinary children do and help each other.

HOST: The park is named after Amai, the bird of light, the main character in a children’s book series written and illustrated by Fauzia Minallah that teaches young ones about different cultures and peaceful living. Her books include “Sadako’s Prayer,” a true story about a little girl in Hiroshima, Japan for which Ms. Minallah received the 2007 Hiroshima Citizen's Award for its peace-advocacy message. Now let’s have a look around Amai Park to see how it meets the needs of the children at the Al-Maktoom Center.

Fauzia(f): I wanted this play area to be really special for these children so that they can enjoy themselves and use their limbs just like any other normal child. But the only different things that you will see is that the slide has all these sides, they are raised so that they don't fall, and we have a bar where a child cannot go straight. These special braille tiles, they were donated by an architect, Faiza Moatasim, and they are A, B, C.

So we wanted everything in this park to be educational as well as, you know, including something of beauty, and through that beauty, they can also learn something. So on this side is ABC, on the other side we have a ا (alif), ب (be), پ (pe), which is in Urdu, the alphabet in Urdu. And this is all painted by the children here. Because some children have a little bit of vision, they can see from a distance of two or three inches, they have painted, and because a flower is very easy to paint, they painted the flowers.

And the children who can't see, we just told them to go make these dots. And then, if you come on the other side, I will show you that we used stencils for blind children. And then they painted with stencils, like this circle is made with a stencil and that was made by a blind child. And the reason why it is all so colorful is that although the children can't see here, we wanted to tell them that it doesn't matter if they can't see, we will paint this place as bright and as cheerful for any child who can even see because we wanted a very nice, bright, cheerful place for them.

So you can see that there're a lot of trees here; this is a banana tree where children can feel, how and where banana grows from and then they also feel the big leaves and then they feel the small leaves of this tree and then they can compare that this is a big leaf and that tree has a small leaf. So this place has a lot of trees also to give them shade, and keep them cool in summer also. So in this corner, we have all these fragrant plants for them. It's basil; it's a beautiful scent. So when they sit here, I ask them if they can smell something and they always tell me that it's a very nice sweet smell.

HOST: Volunteers from local schools sometimes organize events with Funkor Child Art Center to bring joy to the children at the Al-Maktoom Center. For example, a group of high school students from the Beaconhouse School System painted Amai Park’s play structure and then organized a party for the children that featured activities such as singing songs and distributing gifts.

Syed (m): Actually, I was very much interested in doing social welfare work. After that, I searched the Internet and came across Funkor Child Art School. I contacted Madam Fauzia and talked to her and arranged our first event in the school, which went very well. Then we started working with her. We feel very good over here. We get an inner satisfaction when we come here and see a totally different atmosphere where we have the opportunity to gain experience and children also become happy and their small smile also matters a lot.

HOST: Through the Funkor Child Art Center’s “Arts and Books for Children In Crisis” program, a number of uplifting events are held for young ones who live in challenging environments.

Fauzia (f): I work with children who are really in crisis situations, they are either in relief camps or they are in shanty towns. So for them it’s a very beautiful respite from their bleak surroundings and it's a healthy activity they get. Art has a very therapeutic effect on children, so that is why I use art, because I would love to help these children. It's the art I use as a tool to give them a nice, productive time.

Rahat (f): This is “Sadako’s Prayer” and Madam Fauzia came here and she told us that this book is a book of peace.

Danish (m): In this book, I liked Amai the most; she takes the small girls on adventures and she is a fairy.

Ahmed (m): My name is Ahmad Faraz and I am a student at Punjab University. I have been connected with Fauzia and Funkor for the past five years and we have worked together during the earthquake and Fauzia informs me whenever she wants to take me as a volunteer. I felt so happy when I came here that I am helping disadvantaged children and I feel satisfied. We should take care of them and we should teach them because they are our future and we can gain a lot from them.

HOST: Ms. Fauzia Minallah, and all Funkor Child Art Center volunteers, we sincerely appreciate all that you are doing for underprivileged children in Pakistan. Surely through the steadfast devotion of yourself and others a more joyous, colorful future is assured for all Pakistani youth.

For more details on Funkor Child Art Center, please visit www.FunkorChildArt.com

OUTRO (IN ENGLISH): Happy viewers, thank you for your company on today’s program. Up next is The World Around Us, after Noteworthy News. May all children be forever blessed with Divine love and be gifted with bright, blissful surroundings.