The Tough Get Going

TCF commenced it first school in Ibrahim Goth, one of Karachi’s largest slums, 23 years ago. Entrenched in poverty and deprivation, this community is home to hundreds and thousands of daily-wage earners, who barely make enough to feed their families for the day. It was therefore fitting that TCF should kick off its relief efforts in response to the COVID-19 crisis from this community. When the coronavirus lockdown was enforced, many faced the risk of being unable to provide for their families, until the TCF alumni of the community stepped up to help.

When TCF reached out to its alumni in Ibrahim Goth to lead the TCF COVID-19 Response efforts in their community, they rushed to help. A team of 15 community-based volunteers led the effort who began the process of identifying families in need of urgent support and were suffering the brunt of the economic impact of the crisis. As a first step, the team collected and organized the data of 512 families in the area and after careful verification, shared this online database with the TCF COVID Response Team at the Head Office.

TCF partnered with JazzCash, Pakistan’s leading mobile financial service provider to effectively disburse funds to each of these families. An amount of Rs. 2,200 – enough to cover two weeks’ worth of groceries – was allocated for each family, who simply had to present their National Identity Cards to their nearest JazzCash retailer and avail the money. The families who received the money purchased groceries from their own neighbourhood which further became a source of income for several others facing the crisis.

The Citizens Foundation strongly believes in the importance of strong networks and partnerships in delivering instant and critical support, especially in difficult times such as these. See more updates on our relief efforts here. We urge you to come forward and join us in this battle against COVID-19. Please give your Zakat, Sadqah and donations to help us in reaching out to more people in need of urgent support.