The Ayaz Rana Foundation (“ARF”) is a charity dedicated to facilitating the impoverished and the deprived in their everyday lives.
Working in conjunction with the Citizens Foundation, Change Agency the UK and Human Relief amongst other charities, they are also a creator of genuine opportunities to lift those needed out of their dire circumstances and alleviate their lifelong burdens. Operated for years, it has recently been officiated as a trust, thereby expanding its operations and increasing the number of lives they transform.
ARF’s patrons Mohammad Ayaz (architect) and Dr Rana Najmi (pulmonologist) have worked in philanthropy and have assisted Pakistan causes for many years. As they expanded their family to include three children—Aashir, Aliza, and Dania Ayaz—they have also expanded their efforts to aid the disadvantaged. In fact, their dedication to provide for the needy is prominent in all aspects of their lives, and their selflessness is reflected in their family home.
“Like every parent, when our parents grew the family through my sisters, I saw how life completely [changed]. They completely lived for someone else—for us—their children. And they took this forward by always caring for others. I find that the most extraordinary thing.” (Aashir Ayaz)
Mohammad Ayaz and Dr Rana Najmi’s remarkable altruism and sentiments have been particularised into breaking people away from cyclical deprivation and burdens—the defining goal of ARF. The crux of this ethic is explained by Dr . Rana Najmi, “[d]onations and charities run out. It isn’t a long term solution. So we are co-funding opportunities to heal families.” These opportunities pursued by ARF have mainly targeted aiding the youth such as through contributing towards increasing access to education, as it is viewed by ARF to be the key in allowing those who were born into impoverished circumstances to grow into a life never envisioned for them.
“It’s important to target young people before there’s a real problem [so] they can make their own self-reliant [and] better healthy choices for themselves.” (Mohammad Ayaz)
Their ARF headline project, the Polyclinic Project (“TPP”), is one of those opportunities. Held at the end of March this year in conjunction with Indus Health Network U.K. and Give a Gift, it was an event that had attracted numerous engagements from various philanthropists across the U.K., with donations amounting to £30,820. The project was created to tackle the discrepancy in healthcare access in Pakistan by constructing a polyclinic in one of the most impoverished areas in the country. By providing general examinations and treatments to those who do not require or cannot afford hospitalisation, TPP is able to give aid to those who are often turned away at the clinical desk. As a result of the success of the event in March, construction for the first polyclinic of many has recently started, opening up an avenue towards GP access for all and indiscriminate medical treatment in Pakistan.
“Everyone across the world is linked through their commitment to social causes. ARF is a reminder that we can all recommit ourselves to be a part of education and health for all.” (Dania Ayaz)
ARF represents a mission to accord to every single individual the dignity and rights they deserve. No matter if it is GP access for all, or increasing the quality and access to education in Pakistan, it serves as an important symbol of the good people can deliver by contributing what they have. By rallying people to recognise this value, they work towards altering the attitudes of people in society to provide for those in need, and engineer a long-term solution for alleviation of the deprived and impoverished.
