By Nadeem Abbas
The 4th annual Film Festival by OUR ORGANISATION, a non-profit initiative led by Ribqa Raza Malik, was held to celebrate and empower the special children of the slum area and the orphanage in Lahore, Pakistan.
The Film Festival featured movies made by the disabled boys and girls who face multiple challenges such as lack of education, exposure, food, and other issues in their living conditions. The movies portrayed their miseries, psychological, emotional, and other struggles, as well as their hopes, dreams, and aspirations.
OUR ORGANISATION’s mentors, Ribqa Raza Malik, Pavail Anjum, and Minahil Siddique, visited the slum area and the orphanage homes to persuade the parents of the special children to let them participate in the project. They also provided physiotherapy and training to the children to help them express themselves and achieve their goals.
The children learned how to make movies about their dreams under the guidance of the mentors. The movies included Brave, Friendship, Hunger, and Shackles, which highlighted the challenges of hunger, threats, and crutches that the children face in their daily lives.
OUR ORGANISATION also helped the children in the orphanage who live without their parents while remembering their small memories of them. The orphanage students created movies themselves, acting, producing, and directing them. The films depicted their dreams, daily lives, and childhood memories. In the film Memory, a girl named Rida recalled the tragic moment when her mother had a heart attack and died in front of her.
The Film Festival was attended by hundreds of people, including the parents, teachers, and friends of the special children, as well as local media and celebrities. The audience was moved and inspired by the films, which revealed the resilience and creativity of the special children.
At the end of the festival, OUR ORGANISATION’s CEO, Ribqa Raza Malik, told the audience about the challenges the team faced in the noble cause. She said some clerics of a religious group, Jhuggi Taleemi Programe (JTP), resisted their project and termed it vulgar and against the norms of the society. They also barred students of their school from attending the event and even mistreated the mothers of the students.
Shahid Lone also praised the excellent service provided by OUR ORGANISATION to the students of low background. He hoped this philanthropic work would enable the students to stand on their own feet and create big names for their parents and the country.