Charity Navigator Gives TCF-USA ‘Exceptional’ Rating

Some great news for TCF-USA supporters: Charity Navigator, America’s largest independent charity evaluator has awarded TCF-USA its highest rating, indicating exceptionally high fiscal efficiency and management at the organization.

The four-star rating, described as ‘exceptional’, indicates that the recipient organization exceeds industry standards and outperforms most charities in its cause. Only a quarter of the charities evaluated by the Navigator receive this rating.

According to the site, TCF-USA’s administrative expenses are a mere 5.8% of the total cost of its program, with fundraising expenses at only 4%. See the detailed rating for TCF-USA on Charity Navigator’s site by clicking this link.

The Charity Navigator rating system examines a charity’s financial health — how responsibly it functions day to day as well as how well positioned it is to sustain its programs over time. Founded in 2001, the Web site has become the nation’s largest and most-utilized evaluator of charities. It was rated as one of America’s 50 top web sites for 2006 by Time Magazine.

TCF-USA accepts Zakat donations, which are applied toward the direct education expense of children studying in TCF schools. To make a donation to TCF, visit http://www.tcfusa.org/donate.php. Or learn more about Zakat utilization at TCF here.

Coloring the Future!

Recently, DAWN, Pakistan’s largest English newspaper, invited school-going children from different socio-economic backgrounds in Karachi to draw their vision of Pakistan’s future. A photo feature on DAWN’s Web site has assembled 12 such drawings, that reflect upon the hope and optimism felt for the future by our younger generation. Three of these drawings are by TCF students.

In these difficult times, the bright outlook shared by all these young artists — from less-privileged children in a poor slum to students at posh, private schools — gives us hope that tomorrow will be a better place because of them.

The drawings by TCF students, all of whom are residents of Machar Colony, Karachi, are shown below. (Machar Colony is one of Karachi’s poorest, and most heavily populated slums. Like other unplanned settlements, it is marked by huge heaps of garbage, lack of sanitation, and extreme poverty of its residents.)

1–Machar Colony in the Future Pakistan, by Muhammad Qasim

Ruqaiya, a class 5 student, hopes for a just and equal Pakistan where schools and colleges are accessible to children hailing from all social strata. In her thoughtful drawing, she sees a future where industrial and technological development in the country shall defeat ills such as drugs and violence.

TCF Primary School in Machar Colony, Karachi

Something I remember from my visit to TCF Primary School in Machar Colony: The freshly painted, pink building of this school is a sight to behold in the filthy slum. Not just because it is one of the few buildings that have been painted and that have a gate, but because its verandah hosts several young trees, lovingly and painstakingly cared for by the school’s principal and students. Any kind of plantation is a rare sight in the colony, which is known for its saline and infertile soil. And that is why Qasim’s drawing (on top) becomes all the more poignant.

Today’s post was written by a TCF-USA worker in Washington, D.C.

Durdana Rehman Becomes the First TCF Student to Attend Medical School

It gives me immense pleasure to share with you that 18 year-old Durdana Rehman has become the first TCF graduate to attend medical school!

Durdana, who graduated from TCF Secondary School–Shirin Sultan Dossa Campus II in Roranwala, Punjab, was recently admitted to one of Pakistan’s oldest and top medical colleges, the Fatima Jinnah Medical College, Lahore. The first girl in her family to ever study medicine, Durdana has set an example for countless women in her family and village, as well as thousands of TCF students following their dreams of gaining higher education.

Durdana joined her TCF School in Grade 6. Before TCF came to the small, rural community of Roranwala, there were no schools near her home, and she had to travel several miles each day to go to school. From then onward, there was no looking back for the ambitious young girl who, from the beginning, knew she wanted to be a doctor one day.

With her dedication and her teachers’ encouragement, Durdana passed her Matriculation exams with an A grade. She then went on to complete her Intermediate—also with a Grade A average—from the Defence Degree College for Women, Lahore. She was able to study in the college on a scholarship from the Standard Chartered Bank, which has an academic scholarship program supporting TCF students aiming at higher education. Throughout her Intermediate, Durdana put her heart and soul into preparing for the highly competitive, medical aptitude test for admission, competing with thousands of applicants nationwide. Her two years of intense preparation paid off, and she became the first in her family’s generations of women to pursue her dream of studying medicine.

Durdana has eight brothers and sisters, of whom four are enrolled in TCF, and two have already graduated to go on to college. One of her brothers recently obtained a degree in Pharmacy from the Lahore Pharmaceutical College. Durdana hopes that all her siblings will follow suit and obtain higher education.

We wish the future Dr. Rehman the best of luck in whatever she does, and hope that she is only the first among many more TCF students who will follow their dreams like she has!

This post was written by Madiha Waris Qureshi, a TCF-USA worker in Washington, D.C.

WMD Commission Selects TCF-USA as Recipient of Proceeds from its Report

TCF-USA is honored and delighted to share this news with its supporters. Please share with your friends!

Chicago, IL (January, 2009) – The Citizens Foundation, USA (TCF-USA), a 501(c)(3) registered charity that funds schools for disadvantaged children in Pakistan, has been selected by the Congressional Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism to benefit from the sales proceeds of its report.

The commission, formed by the United States Congress after 9/11, recently issued its report and recommendations to the incoming President and Congress.

The report repeatedly stressed the importance of supporting education and other areas of social development in developing countries like Pakistan, in order to prevent them from becoming fertile grounds for extremism. TCF-USA, which for years has funded the schools run by The Citizens Foundation (TCF) in some of Pakistan’s poorest communities, welcomes this emphasis, which addresses the root causes of extremism.

TCF has built more than 530 modern school units across the slums and villages of the country, currently educating 65,000 students. It has also created a widespread infrastructure of teachers’ training, providing employment to thousands of female teachers. Girls make up 50% of the students in TCF schools, a remarkable achievement given the overall rate of female literacy. TCF-USA is incorporated in Illinois.

Continue reading WMD Commission Selects TCF-USA as Recipient of Proceeds from its Report…

Welcome to the TCF-USA Blog!

Friends and supporters, we are delighted to welcome to you our brand new blog. We hope that you will visit us often to keep updated with what’s happening with TCF-USA and its support chapters throughout the nation!

This blog will carry news and event updates, and every once in a while, an entry from one of our supporters across America — sharing with us their experiences with TCF-USA, and the change they are helping to bring about in the lives of Pakistani children.

Stay tuned!