This Article was initially written on 6 Feb 2007, at the eve of completion of first 6 months months of YPES. The article has not been updated since then. -- Shuaib

Today, YPES completes its first six months of existence.  Let us look back and see what we all had been doing over the last six months.
 



A group of around 20 active community members (Founding members of YPES) sat together in early August 2006 to discuss a strategic plan to build a platform for Pakistani Youth in UAE. Although similar platforms (like YPPF) existed in the past but with the passage of time, sincere leaderships left the platform and new leadership lacked the capability to lead the community. Many of our Founding members had been participating actively in Community activities for last 3-5 years. After comprehensive discussions, vision, mission and objectives were decided. The founding members elected office-bearers and an Organizing Committee (OrgComm) to guide the organization.
 
Syed Babar Mustafa was elected General Secretary and Majid Rafique was elected Deputy General Secretary of YPES. 
 
YPES announced its existence in a press conference from the platform of Dubai's Pakistan Association.

 





The Jashan-e-Azadi show was our first great achievement. Around 300 guests attended the show, filled with nationalistic theme, willingness to continue support for Earthquake victims of Pakistan, food, fun and prizes. Office bearers of Pakistan Association Dubai were among the chief guests. The unforgettable incident of the day was show of full unity, discipline and faith to fight against those who want to harm our community. The event was organized in association with Dubai Times.



 
 


14th August 2006 was a special day for us. WWW.YPES.ORG was launched on this very day. Having a clear vision and objective to bring the Pakistani Community together. Shuaib Iqbal Nazir and Basit Khursheed spent sleepless nights to make the Web Portal possible for the community. Further stats on {YPES Portal's 6 month performance to be available soon}.

 


 


Pakistan Association, Dubai appreciated our efforts. We were invited on Association's Jashan-e-Azadi events on 14th and 17th August. On 17th August, YPES OrgComm attended the program "Chalo Phir Muskaraain", a comedy show by Behroz Sabzwari, Anwar Maqsood and Moen Akhtar.
 



 


Preston University has also been supporting our activities. YPES representatives were invited to Preston University’s Indo-Pak Independence Day Celebrations.
 

YPES believes in informal links and friendships among the community members. Informal gathering on 16 Sep 2006 was attended by around 40 community members. The evening was filled with bowling fun, followed by informal gathering and discussion.



 

Ramadan Quiz was a new concept experimented on YPES website. During the month of Ramadan, the members were asked 3/4 questions per day. Each day, the questions were from a different juzz (Sipara/part) of Holy Quran. Members were supposed to answer the multiple choice questions daily. Prizes were given to the winners of the contest.



 

This was another informal evening organized during the month of Ramadan, where around 70 members gathered to compete against each other in the tournament. There was a group iftar followed by matches between the participants.



 

Cricket is the lifeline of Pakistani Youth. YPES provides a platform to play Cricket with fellow Pakistanis. A number of cricket matches have been organized for YPES members. They included weekend fun matches as well as Chand-Raat matches among the YPES teams. Our team has been victorious in its matches against various teams like TCS and YPCW


 

YPES is for the community of Pakistan. On the same lines in association with The Citizens Foundation (TCF), we organized Cricket a match against PPF. The proceeds of the match went to TCF to support their education related projects in Pakistan. The matches were totally one-sided and YPES tigers out-performed in all the matches played.
 
 




This was a community event, attended by 300+ Pakistani families, mostly youth. A good time for the fellow-members to socialize with each other. It started with a desert drive watching the sunset at the dunes followed by an evening in the desert, followed by YPES's competitions and prizes was enjoyed by the visitors.



 
 

YPES showcased its talent on Pakistan Pavilion stage at the Global Village. On Dec 25 2006, our theme was "Quaid-e-Azam". Quaid-e-Azam's message was conveyed to the audience of different nationalities, visiting our Pavilion. The members impressed the audience by their performances. (More information look at the press release)

On Dec 30, we celebrated Eid at the Pakistan Pavilion stage. The venue was over-full and thousands of Pakistanis celebrated Eid day's evening with us at the Global Village. The audience were mesmerized by the talent of our performers. (More information look at the press release)

 


On Jan 10, our theme at Global Village was "Pakistanis in UAE". The program comprehensively highlighted on how YPES can help fellow community members in jobs, education, legal issues and whatever they want. (More information look at the press release)
 

We believe that accountability and continuity is the key to leading any organization successfully. Keeping this in view, a meeting of YPES OrgComm was held to review past 6 months performance. Weaknesses were identified and areas that should be concentrated during next six months were highlighted. In the meeting Majid Rafique was elected as GS and Fatima Atta was elected as DGS.
 

Our vision is to help Pakistani Community. More emphasis would be given for the activities that directly effecting our lives. For example, to help community members in Job Search would be our top priority. Similar activities like seminars, counseling something that would help the Youth of today to be a better individual tomorrow. Number of active members on the forums would be increased significantly. More YPES members would be involved in organizing the YPES activities. Focus on constructive activities should be increased.
 
All fellow Young Pakistani Expatriates are requested to support us in moving forward... Please help us in building a strong and proud community of Young Pakistanis, eager to help each other, shoulder to shoulder and hand in hand. Pakistan Zindabad!
 

Your comments are welcome in THIS thread

Published on: 2007-02-13 (5799 reads)