The Fahmida Begum Centre is located in Mehran Town, Karachi. The Trust’s vision is that disadvantaged communities of Mehran Town have access to the resources they need to flourish as educated, economically active and valued members of society.
The Lead Trustee for the Fahmida Begum Foundation is Rukhsana Sheikh.
Mrs Fahmida Rashid Sheikh died in the UK in March 2014. To honour their mother, Mrs Sheikh’s children established the Fahmida Begum Foundation to support the very poorest members of the communities of Karachi, the ancestral home of the Sheikh family and Mrs Sheikh’s family (the Begum family). The Fahmida Begum Foundation gives expression to Mrs Sheikh’s Sadaqah Jariyah.
The Centre’s mission is to provide the resources and facilities for the poorest citizens of Mehran Town essential for them to live active and productive lives, including:
To date, the Fahmida Begum Foundation has made a real difference on the ground, having given financial assistance to widows, orphans and families with the objective of uplifting their living standards by primarily focusing on health and education. The Fahmida Begum Foundation continues to be a priority project for the COSARAF Foundation. A new centre is currently being built and the Foundation is looking to appoint a Centre Director to oversee delivery and develop the programmes run by the Foundation.
At the heart of the Fahmida Begum Foundation’s approach, therefore, is not to provide short-term palliative support to the poor, but to put in place a physical centre around which to put in place the infrastructure necessary for the poor of the community to flourish on a long-term sustainable basis.
