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RAJA, Iftiqar and Ibrahim (three furthest left) with the rest of the charity delegation in Islamabad
Businessmen do their bit for earthquake victims
Shelina Begum in Islamabad24/10/2005
BUSINESSMEN from Greater Manchester have taken time out from their daily routines to help the victims of the earthquake.
Longsight's Gulzar Cash and Carry owner Iftiqar Ahmed joined his cousin, Ibrahim Variyam, also a Manchester businessmen, to help distribute aid in Islamabad.
They had been watching the news carefully since reports of the earthquake broke, but they felt there was more they could do than just donate money and aid.
Said Iftiqar: We wanted to make sure that aid was getting to those who really needed it and the only way to do this was by going there ourselves."
Ibrahim had already been helping the Al-Masoom charity in collecting aid from local businessmen, rallying around young men to help pack and then load the aid into trucks.
But this wasn't enough. He wanted to make sure everything that he loaded for departure to Pakistan will get to the victims. So he along with Iftiqar joined Al-Masoom on their relief trip.
Said Ibrahim: "We knew the group will need help to unload their boxes at the airport and then help distribute them. So we came along. We all have family in England and a business to run but we have left that just so we can do this. We can make money when we get back, but in the meantime there are more needy people who need our help.
"We visited the largest hospital in Islamabad and our hearts went out to all those victims at the hospital. We were told that the injuries we saw were nothing compared to what people had had earlier on in the week.
"I realise that we will be seeing much worse in Kashmir, but we are more than determined to get out there and do what we can."
Oldham man Raja Abdul Rehman has also joined the delegation. He runs a community-based organisation called Itifaq Association based on Roundthorn Road, Glodwick.
He had collected clothes and 30 tents for the victims and he decided it was important to take the aid directly to the victims.
Said Raja, who owns Euro Fast Food: "We are only a small organisation but we have worked hard to raise as much as we can for our needy brothers and sisters in Pakistan.
"I am from the Mirpur area and know it well and I will be able to get to the remote areas and help those families who have got nothing.
"None of my family or friends have been hurt in the disaster. They felt the quake and that was scary enough.
"Now that I'm here I want to do as much as I possibly can to help as many people as I possibly can"
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26/10/2005 at 20:36
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