From Family Legacy to a Welfare Movement

Khalq Organization was founded on April 20, 2023, as a student-run non-profit organization. Our primary focus is orphan development, particularly through practical education, vocational skill-building, health, and social integration. Alongside this, we work on climate action and youth leadership development. Our objectives are to design specialized orphan programs that provide accessible, hands-on education for marginalized communities, conduct climate action campaigns and awareness drives on social issues, and create structured opportunities for young people to develop leadership through volunteerism.

During our first three years, we have impacted the lives of more than 1,500 orphans, students, and people in need through more than 15 community projects. Together, we have raised more than PKR 2.5 million. These achievements have encouraged us to move beyond short-term activities and think about long-term welfare development.

One of our major long-term initiatives is the construction of an orphanage in Islamabad in collaboration with Live Like Ali Welfare. We began this project two months ago and have selected a location in River Gardens, Islamabad. Our experience of visiting and working with different orphanages has shown us that reaching children consistently and providing sustained opportunities can be difficult. Rather than continually responding to these challenges, we decided to develop our own orphanage.

However, our objective is not simply to provide shelter. We want the orphanage to become a place where children receive education, vocational training, and practical skills that can strengthen their future livelihoods and social integration. We want to focus on developing capabilities rather than creating long-term dependence on assistance.

Welfare work is also deeply personal to me. My father was one of the founding members of Safina Children’s Home, now situated in Sangjani, Islamabad. Safina Children’s Home was founded as an emergency response in 2005 following the Kashmir earthquake, when many families were displaced and many children were left without parents or guardians. The organization provided these children with education and opportunities to build sustainable livelihoods. Growing up around this work had a profound impact on me and became an important source of motivation for my own involvement in social welfare.

My mother’s journey in social work has been another major influence. She holds both a BA (Hons) and a Master’s degree in Social Work, and during her university years in Karachi, she was actively involved in community development and social welfare. Her work included initiatives to improve conditions in slum communities and provide education to children involved in child labour. Her team would even provide these children with Rs. 50 as an incentive to attend and learn, helping make education a practical possibility for children who otherwise had to work. She also worked on women’s health with Dr. Katherine in 1994. Separately, she conducted her thesis research in a burns ward, focusing particularly on women affected by stove blasts and cases of domestic violence and crime. Her work extended beyond research into the recovery and rehabilitation of these women.

She also worked to empower illiterate women by encouraging them to attend the Lyari Community Centre, where they could learn practical skills and eventually pursue entrepreneurship. In addition, she was involved in the rehabilitation of drug addicts at rehabilitation centres. Through her work with the Edhi Foundation, she helped locate and coordinate ambulances in Karachi at a time when emergency services were not as readily accessible, and she assisted homeless women in finding shelter and support through the foundation.

Seeing both my parents dedicate themselves to helping vulnerable people shaped the way I understood social responsibility from a very young age. Welfare work therefore runs deeply in my family, and these experiences ultimately motivated me to establish an organization focused specifically on the development and empowerment of orphans, without discrimination on the basis of sect, religion, race, or gender.

I am a fresh graduate of Bahria University, Islamabad, where I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. I am currently working as a Software Engineer at SS-Zentronics. My background in Computer Science and technology has also shaped how I approach welfare. I see considerable potential in using digital systems to improve transparency, accountability, coordination, and innovation within welfare organizations.

The limits of the Volunteer Model and Inconsistent Donations

One of our biggest challenges is our non-registered status. Until we are registered, securing consistent funding remains difficult. Donations are generally tied to designated purposes, and there is no guarantee of recurring income. At the same time, inflation continues to increase our operational costs. Registration also affects our ability to identify and verify deserving beneficiaries because we often need to work through registered organizations and orphanages to confirm beneficiary status and conduct appropriate assessments.

Funding has therefore been our biggest practical challenge. We primarily receive funding nationally through crowdfunding, but because it is not consistent, we have had to develop our own mechanisms for sustaining our monthly activities.

One approach we developed was a small-donation model. We created a group of regular donors who contribute a minimum of PKR 100 at the beginning of each month. If 100 donors contribute PKR 100 each month, we can generate PKR 10,000, which can be enough to conduct one month’s activity. Through family, friends, and word-of-mouth networks, this model has gradually developed.

It took us approximately two to two-and-a-half years to overcome the problem of inconsistent funding. The amount is not large, but it provides a dependable foundation for our flagship monthly activities and allows us to continue reaching children and conducting programs. Our experience has taught us that welfare organizations do not always need large donations to begin creating impact; they need mechanisms that can turn small contributions into reliable resources.

The other major resource on which we depend is our volunteers. We currently have more than 50 volunteers, including students from colleges, schools, and universities as well as working professionals. They are unpaid, and we recognize their contribution by providing certificates, experience letters, and recommendation letters.

Volunteerism is both our greatest strength and one of our greatest vulnerabilities. Our volunteers have academic, professional, and personal responsibilities, so the challenge is not simply recruiting them but retaining them and creating a system through which their contributions can remain meaningful.

Volunteers generally serve for six months, while team leads serve for 12 months to provide continuity. If new members are recruited twice a year, the process needs to be formal, merit-based, and structured. Our programs therefore depend on continuous recruitment and onboarding. Academic commitments can also affect implementation. There are occasions when team members have examinations at precisely the time when an important activity needs to be organized.

Unexpected volunteer turnover is also common. People may be extremely energetic when they first join but gradually lose motivation. We try to address this through orientation sessions, team-building activities, and regular meetups. Because much of our work is conducted remotely, it is important for members to meet one another and develop relationships. When team members meet during an orphanage visit or another activity, they become more comfortable communicating and working together.

Despite these efforts, we have seen many volunteers join with considerable enthusiasm and eventually leave. This experience has convinced me that youth volunteerism cannot depend only on goodwill or initial enthusiasm. It requires structured recruitment, training, defined tenures, recognition, motivation, and some kind of financial motivation.

Inclusion presents another set of challenges, particularly in a society where people can sometimes make assumptions about an organization based on the identity of the people behind it. I personally experienced one such barrier because of my name. My full name makes my religious background readily apparent, and during our first donation campaign in Ramadan, some people were hesitant to donate because the account was in my name. We eventually changed the account number to reduce this hesitation. With the support of many people, greater awareness, and word-of-mouth communication, this gradually became less of a barrier. Some people remain hesitant, but it is no longer the major challenge it was initially.

For me, this experience reinforced an important principle: welfare should not be defined by the religious or personal identity of the person providing it. An orphan in need should be seen first as a human being in need, and that belief remains central to the way I envision our work.

More broadly, remote and underserved communities remain difficult to reach. Financial limitations restrict how far our outreach can extend. Social and cultural barriers can make it harder for women and marginalized groups to access support. In many cases, deserving families do not even know that support exists, so awareness itself becomes a barrier.

Identifying who is genuinely deserving is also a time-consuming process. We have a designated team for verification and assessment. However, when people live in remote communities, physical verification can be extremely difficult. Even after verification, reaching beneficiaries with financial or physical support remains challenging.

At present, we are primarily operating in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, where we have a full team. Our operations in Karachi and Lahore remain limited, although we are trying to identify and reach underserved areas there. We do not yet have established relationships with organizations, NGOs, or individuals in many remote areas. This limits both verification and the delivery of assistance.

These experiences point to an important institutional need in Pakistan: welfare organizations require stronger networks through which smaller organizations can connect with established NGOs, government institutions, and community organizations. Such networks could help smaller initiatives verify beneficiaries, reach remote communities, avoid duplication, and extend their geographical reach.

From Informal Goodwill to Accountable Welfare Systems

Our experience has also taught us that welfare cannot become sustainable without strong organizational systems. There is a broader institutional gap in Pakistan in collaboration between small and large NGOs, as well as between public and private sector organizations. Small organizations can generally collaborate relatively easily with other small organizations, but collaboration with larger organizations is more difficult. If welfare initiatives are to achieve wider impact, these institutional barriers need to be addressed.

We also depend on government institutions, particularly where permissions, registration, or official processes are involved. A recent example was a plantation project in Rawalpindi involving more than 1,000 plants. The activity was delayed by approximately three weeks because of government policies and other issues. We had already invested in the plants and other preparations. Eventually, we were able to proceed with the plantation with other organizations.

The experience was difficult because the initial commitment regarding the plantation had not been properly secured. One day before the activity, the requirements changed, and we did not have a backup plan. The activity had already required approximately 15 to 25 days of coordination. This taught us that organizations working with government institutions need clearer coordination mechanisms and contingency plans.

Economic instability is another external factor that directly affects welfare delivery. Inflation has substantially increased our operational costs. When we started, one Iftar Drive cost approximately PKR 55,000. This year, during Ramadan, the cost reached approximately PKR 105,000 per day. The increase demonstrates how quickly economic conditions can affect the capacity of welfare organizations to deliver services.

For this reason, financial accountability and transparency are extremely important to us. I am personally working on a finance team portal to strengthen our internal systems. At present, we have a common WhatsApp group where screenshots of income and expenses are shared, while our finance team records transactions in real time on the portal. Once the information is recorded, financial reports for specific activities, months, or years can be generated and made accessible to donors.

We plan to develop this portal further and launch our website so that our financial records can be visible and accessible to everyone. All donations are acknowledged and documented according to their designated purposes. We have separate teams responsible for different activities and monitor donations to ensure that they are used for their intended purposes.

We currently have several activities operating simultaneously, including our orphanage project and summer program, Manzil-e-Nau. Designated teams are assigned to monitor these activities. So far, Alhamdulillah (praise to Allah), we have not faced corruption, misuse of funds, or political interference. I personally monitor every team and every individual. We also have a core team, but I consider it my individual responsibility to monitor the organization and address any issue directly, including taking legal action where necessary.

Trust is extremely important in welfare. If you lose public trust, there is very little chance that an organization can move forward. This is why I believe transparency should not be treated as something an organization develops only after it becomes large. It must be established from the beginning.

Our budgeting process is similarly planned. We develop a rough estimate and a manifesto for the year, or at least for six to eight months, so that we know what we want to accomplish. When funding becomes available, we prioritize activities according to urgency and available resources. If we receive funding for one activity, we implement it and then undertake fundraising for the others. In this way, we plan first and prioritize according to available resources rather than allowing funding alone to determine what we do.

Based on my experience, governance and organizational discipline are essential from the earliest stage. Even as a small and currently unregistered youth initiative, we have developed a proper constitution within Khalq to define rules, accountability mechanisms, and risk registers. We have tried to establish these systems from the beginning and to think about them over the longer term. Rules, roles, and tenures need to be clearly defined if an organization is to develop effective accountability and risk-management systems.

Transparent financial practices are equally important. Independent audits and restricted-use donations can build donor trust quickly. I believe organizations should establish this trust before they grow. When an organization eventually expands, it should already have a strong foundation of trusted donors and committed volunteers.

Looking ahead, I see considerable opportunities in public-private partnerships, collaboration among NGOs and community groups, data-driven planning, impact measurement, digital technology, online service delivery, and youth capacity-building.

Pakistan has a very large potential youth volunteer base, but it remains fragmented and is often limited to particular communities, cities, or universities. We need to build a national culture of structured youth volunteerism. NGOs and government institutions can support this by providing training, research, and capacity-building opportunities so that young people understand what they are entering into and know how to respond to the challenges they may encounter.

Public-private partnerships and collaboration among multiple NGOs can significantly increase impact. Digital technologies can also strengthen transparency and accountability while building public trust. Digital financial systems, accessible records, online communication, and data-driven planning can help welfare organizations demonstrate where resources are going and what outcomes they are producing.

For me, the future of welfare development in Pakistan lies in moving from informal goodwill towards organized, accountable, collaborative, and evidence-informed action. Young people already have the energy and willingness to contribute. What they need are structured opportunities, training, institutional support, partnerships, and systems that allow their efforts to become sustainable.

Our experience shows that even a small youth-led organization can mobilize resources, engage volunteers, support orphan children, undertake climate action, and develop systems for accountability. But for such efforts to grow, the wider welfare ecosystem must also evolve. Government institutions, NGOs, donors, universities, private organizations, and communities need to create an enabling environment in which local welfare initiatives can register, collaborate, access resources, develop capacity, and reach underserved populations.

Ultimately, our goal is not simply to conduct more activities. It is to build a model of welfare in which children receive education and skills, young people develop leadership through service, donors can trust how their contributions are used, and communities are empowered rather than treated merely as recipients of assistance.

I believe this is the direction in which welfare development in Pakistan needs to move: from individual goodwill to organized action, from short-term assistance to capability development, and from isolated initiatives to accountable partnerships that can create lasting social impact.

Closing Remarks

Pakistan doesn’t need one perfect organization solving every problem. It needs hundreds of small, sincere ones working side by side. At Khalq, we’ve learned that the sect you pray with, the language you speak, or the city you call home should never decide who gets help and who doesn’t. Welfare work only truly succeeds when NGOs stop competing for credit and start collaborating for impact. If every organization in this country, big or small, religious or secular, chose unity over division, we wouldn’t just change individual lives, we’d change what it means to be Pakistani. No child, no family, no community should ever be left behind because of the lines we’ve drawn between ourselves.

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