Bihar Anjuman, a leading community organization with its chapters across the globe, held Sham-e-Bihar and Jharkhand in Riyadh last month. The guiding philosophy of Bihar Anjuman is to light a candle instead of complaining and despairing about the darkness. The socioeconomic conditions of Bihar and Jharkhand are comparable to some of the African countries in terms of illiteracy, poverty and backwardness which paint a grim picture of the states. Therefore, it is imperative that some meaningful interventions are made to improve the state of affairs. Taking this in mind, a group of dedicated and motivated men led by Shakeel Ahmad started a movement to light candles to rid their community of darkness 17 years ago. This movement has a single-point agenda of working to empower and enlighten the community through education. The oganization has taken several unique initiatives in the field of education. For example, Rahbar coaching centers are functional in several districts of Bihar and Jharkhand with the aim of preventing school dropout by supporting poor children and helping them gain admission to vocational and diploma in engineering courses. The objective is to enable them to complete job oriented courses through which they could be gainfully employed, thereby breaking the vicious cycle of poverty. There are many success stories attesting to the effectiveness of these programs. Plans are underway to start a Rahbar International School and a women's university. Speaking on the occasion, founder of the organization Shakeel Ahmad made a passionate appeal to the community members to join the initiatives by sponsoring students in order to change their lives and societies. Syed Muneer, president of the Riyadh Chapter, shed light on the programs being supported by the Riyadh Chapter with the help of philanthropists. He exhorted the audience to come on board and sponsor the needy students. The program was anchored by Mohammad Shaheen and Abid Hussain, the former being the vice president of the Anjuman. Earlier Dr, Aleem gave a lecture on vitamin D deficiency with special reference to women and the health complications associated with it. He also prescribed ways to prevent it. In order to encourage children to polish their public speaking skills, Arif Bin Azhar was given the opportunity to speak on the importance of education, and Hamza Durrani spoke on the importance of the Holy Qur'an. Abid Azhar had opened the program with soulful recitation of the verses from the Holy Quran. Bsheera Feroz recited a poem in honor of the Prophet (PBUH). On the sidelines of the program, a quiz and hadeeth competition was organized for children under the supervision of Dr. Abul Farah. Smaller children participated in sports and games. Hussain Zulqarnain and Hafuzullah gave a presentation on ways to alleviate poverty and how expatriates could become a part of this initiative.Other speakers on the occasion were Ozair Malik a specialist on focused approach. Salahuddin Manzari pledged his support to the initiatives of the Bihar Anjuman. Shakir Azad spoke on the importance of tapping government programs and scheme to the optimum. Summing up the program, Kaunain Shahidi highlighted the most heart-touching aspects of the evening. He raised the vote of thanks to the audience and core group members Syed Muner Ahmad, Mohd. Shaheen, Seraj Akram, Abul Farah, Azhar Hussain, Mohd. Abid, Dr. Aleemuddin, Kaunain Shahidi, Mohd. Amanullah, Sajid Idris, Nusrat Khan, Amanul Haque, Shakeel Durrani, Anzarul Haque, Anisur Rahman, Asif Iqbal, Md. Shabbeer, Tauqeer Nasir, Mohd. Afaq, Zafar Hasan, Mohd. Serajuddin and Mohd. Faisal. The sponsors of the program includded Alkabeer Meat company, Tsaameem Construction Company, Supertech Builders, Jumbo properties, AYT Electrical Co., Al Eatsam Al Khalij, Falpro Middle East, Petro Institute of Technology, Jareer Medical Centre, Rataal, Zahrani translation office and Ozair Falahi.
