Preaching responsibility: Mask Drive Pakistan

A group of students from Aitchison College recently introduced an initiative called Mask Drive Pakistan. They say that a huge percentage of Pakistan’s population is underestimating the global pandemic, and is refraining from taking the necessary precautions. 

There are several reasons for this. 

Most of the public does not think of it as life-threatening but, rather, as a phase that’ll pass even without precautions. Besides that, many people lack the resources to buy sanitary products because of their reduced incomes due to the pandemic. Furthermore, NGOs and nonprofits are mostly focused on ration distribution drives these days to aid the underprivileged. 

Yet, these students realised that there is no emphasis on items such as masks, gloves and sanitizers. 

Mask Drive Pakistan aims to raise awareness among the general public regarding coronavirus and the precautions needed to prevent its spread. All this, while also making disease prevention items accessible to underprivileged communities during the ongoing pandemic. 

Mask Drive Pakistan came into being at the beginning of July. It has already conducted multiple mask distribution drives in more than 10 cities all over Pakistan and donated over 2000 masks. The cities include Lahore, Peshawar, Karachi, Islamabad, Vehari, Nathia Gali and Sahiwal among others and the list of names is increasing every day. The workforce now consists of more than 150 volunteers from all over the country and they too are increasing quite rapidly. 

Two students from Aitchison College – Nahayan Ali Sheik and Haris Ali Wahla – founded the organisation. They also explained their idea for starting the organization. 

“Both of us saw that the people lack awareness or just do not have resources to take simple precautionary measures like wearing masks”, Nahayan Sheikh explained.

“We wanted to make that easier for the public because no one should be worried about resources when it comes to little precautions in such difficult times”, Haris Wahla also added.

The organisation’s funding is reliant on donations. The founders and the volunteers encourage people to come forward and donate to the cause. They use donations to buy masks and other sanitary products. Volunteers then relay this equipment to those in need. 

You can support MDP through donations or by promoting the work and raising awareness on social media. You can also join as a volunteer in different capacities. Head over to their Instagram page for more details.