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Human
Development
Foundation |
Interview with Dr. Khalid Riaz,
HDF's co-chair
Dr. Khalid Riaz is the co-chair of
the Human Development Foundation's
Board of Directors. He is a cardiologist
in the Chicago, IL suburb of Elgin,
and manages to carve out much needed
time between his professional, family
and other responsibilities.
How long have you been involved
with HDF?
I have been involved with HDF, since
its inception. I was initially part
of a task force of six people established
by APPNA (Association of Pakistani
Physicians of North America) that
recommended the creation of the foundation.
APPNA has been involved in public
heath programs in Pakistan since 1989.
During the implementation of that
project, members perceived the need
for interventions in the areas of
illiteracy and economic deprivation.
We felt it was difficult to improve
people's health conditions if they
do not have the education and knowledge
to understand their health problems
and the economic means to change their
life styles. So APPNA Executive Council
set up a task force to evaluate this
problem. After reviewing this state
of affairs, the task force recommended
the creation of an autonomous foundation
in collaboration with the Society
for International HELP (SIH) and the
Noor Foundation to meet this challenge.
APPNA's Executive Council voted unanimously
in July 1997 to set up HDF and charged
it with facilitating a "movement
for positive social change" as
our gift to the people of Pakistan
on the occasion of the fiftieth (50th)
anniversary of Pakistan's independence.
Education, health, and economic development
are the three main areas of HDF's
field work. But the real purpose and
method adopted is to train and empower
the communities to make decisions
for themselves. We do it through the
community organizations that carry
these (development) activities.
How did you get involved with
APPNA?
I became involved with APPNA starting
in the early 80s. The health component
of APPNA, called APPNA SEHAT, started
in 1989 and I have been involved with
this aspect of the organization since
its inception.
APPNA is the parent organization
of many other smaller organizations,
and it has provided a platform for
Pakistani doctors and their families
to get involved in professional, social
and charitable activities in North
America and Pakistan.
Why did you choose to go beyond
the call of duty as a doctor to get
involved in such an organization?
I don't think getting involved is
something unique that I did. Many
Pakistani doctors have been involved
with APPNA and other organizations
to help our community. Most expatriate
communities have done that to some
extent and many of the more recent
expatriate groups have really maintained
their connection with their native
cultures and have felt the need to
give something back to the community
and help increase opportunities for
them.
In addition with advances in technology,
it is easier to get involved with
these activities across the oceans.
It is easier, faster and less expensive
to travel between Pakistan and the
US compared to 20 or 30 years ago.
Calling Pakistan when we first migrated
to USA thirty years ago, used to be
such an issue. Now you can just dial
in directly. With advent of e-mail,
we are literally in touch with our
organization in Pakistan on a daily
basis as well as our local networks
in the US. Because of these advances,
it has been easier to communicate.
You co-chair HDF with Dr. Nasim
Ashraf. How did this system of leadership
evolve and why?
When the organization (HDF) was founded,
two co-chairs were appointed by the
APPNA Executive Council on the recommendation
of the task force: Dr. Nasim Ashraf
and myself. Because of our unique
areas of interest and skills, we decided
that Dr. Ashraf, will focus on HDF's
activities in Pakistan and relationship
with institutional donors and government
and other key officials and individuals
and I would concentrate on developing
and managing the organization in North
America.
What kind of work does being involved
in the North American component of
HDF entail?
I focus on developing community networks
in North America and overseeing the
development of the foundation. My
primary area of interest has been
the development of a broad based leadership
structure with shared responsibilities,
and a sustainable and transparent
organization that is responsive to
the needs and aspirations of the community
in general. We are striving to create
an institution that does not revolve
around one or two leaders, and will
hopefully continue to make a difference
in people's lives long after we are
all gone. I am very greatful to many
of our activists who have helped me
in this regard. Actually the organization
is being currently managed by Shahnaz
Khan, Atiya Khan , and Javaid Sherwani
while some of us are on a leave of
absence because of our responsibilities
with the task force.
How did you decide the modus operandi
of HDF?
Initially, we went in with some broad
general guidelines. We had a group
of consultants with expertise in Pakistan's
social sector who studied the scene
and made recommendations. We decided
to adopt the collaborative model.
This meant that instead of trying
to reinvent the wheel, we will work
through existing NGOs (non-governmental
organizations) and community organizations
in a collaborative manner to provide
services in all three areas (education,
health and economic development) of
our work through community empowerment.
When HDF came into being, our partners
already had projects functioning in
some communities, so we decided to
work in those areas.
We wanted to create reproducible
models in each province. We did not
want to be perceived as parochial.
That's why we have projects in every
single province of Pakistan and an
urban model in the Katchi Abadis of
Karachi..
Were you involved in this type
of work in Pakistan?
I was not too involved in charitable
work in Pakistan but a lot of what
I saw and learnt there has contributed
to my current passion for community
development work.
I was born in the district of Khushab
in Punjab, in one of the least developed
areas in Pakistan, but lived in many
different towns during my school days.
Growing up, I had seen how people
live in very poor conditions without
education and without the means to
live a comfortable life, and not even
having proper medical facilities.
I could not help but notice, that
even under these adverse conditions,
there were people who excelled in
certain fields. The main difference
between these succesful people and
the average citizens seemed to be
the opportunities that were available
to them.
Also to some extent, being a Muslim,
I have always believed that it is
the Sunnah of all the prophets to
strive to leave this world a better
place than one finds.
As a student in Pakistan I did not
find much of an organized opportunity
to be involved in community health,
or other development related activities.
When I migrated to the United States,
I came across very well organized
volunteer and other community service
activities. One of the beauties of
this country (America) is that Americans
have put into practice what we have
always talked about in terms of social
and civic responsibility.
A combination of all of these factors,
and a desire to help the underprevilidged
people that I had left behind motivated
me to become involved with APPNA and
HDF.
HDF is currently involved with
a Pakistani government task force
on human development. Can you please
elaborate about this?
Since HDF's inception, apart from
field work, we have been trying to
lobby the Pakistani government and
key people in Pakistan about the need
to put more emphasis on the social
sector and alleviating the problems
of the common people.
During one of Pakistani President
General Pervez Musharraf's visits
to the United States, he gave an opportunity
to the representatives of Pakistani-American
organizations like HDF to meet with
him. During this meeting, our officers
presented him with a description of
our projects and asked if the Pakistani
government could help HDF expand our
projects and implement them at the
district level and possibly nationwide.
Since then, HDF co-chair Dr. Nasim
Ashraf has been pursuing this idea.
Finally in June 2001, President Musharraf
appointed the task force for human
development under the leadership of
Dr. Nasim Ashraf. Three of our officers,
including myself, were asked to serve
on this task force.
What we are being asked to do is
to come up with a national plan that
will reproduce the holistic social
sector human development intervention.
The task force began working in early
September. There has been a tremendous
amount of interest in many community
service organizations in Pakistan
in working together with us as well
as working with the country's newly
forming local governments. Recently
in Pakistan, there has been a decentralization
of government power, which HDF sees
as a very positive development. We
hope that this means local governments
will be more responsive to people's
needs and improve the lot of the common
person.
What do you see as the future
of HDF?
Our mission is to basically facilitate
a movement for positive change in
our community. Movements are a dynamic
force where the journey itself is
the destination. The need for improving
people's lives through enhanced opportunities
will always be there. For HDF, this
improvement is an ongoing process
in terms of increasing the number
of people involved and served and
improving the quality of our work.
We also believe that ultimately,
the stronger the Pakistani community
is in North America, the more help
it can offer the underprivileged in
Pakistan. The community here, however,
also has many needs. We intend to
set up projects for the Pakistani
community in America focused on the
same three areas of development that
we work on in Pakistan: health care,
economic development and literacy.
While the general areas will be the
same, the specific needs in North
America will be different. We intend
to design our projects in consultation
with our communities and based on
community needs assessment studies.
At this point, our main goal is to
educate the Pakistani-American community
about human development in Pakistan
and to generate funds to support of
projects in Pakistan.
Is there anything you would like
to add?
I would like to appeal to the entire
Pakistani-American community to come
forward and join us in this mission.
We are non-political, and non-parochial
and have a very broad based leadership
structure and transparent decision-making
process.
HDF is not limited to doctors. This
is a community organization, not a
doctors' organization. We have about
20 active local and regional networks
in the US and Canada. Many of our
network coordinators are non-physicians
The best way to get involved is through
our local networks. If a person is
interested, they can contact our central
office (847 490 0100 or email pakhdf@aol.com)
or network coordinators and we will
provide them with all the help that
we can.
Let us all say YES to PAKISTAN, and
join hands to realize the dream that
the Muslims of the subcontinent struggled
so hard for.
Date/Time Last Modified: 6/17/2002 4:34:27 PM
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