Parveen Saeed is the founder of Khana Ghar,
an outfit that provides heavily subsidised meals to the poor residents of Khuda ki Basti, Taiser Town in Karachi.
The three-rupee
meal served at Khana Ghar includes one roti and a plate of curry.
Essentially a
housewife, Saeed was drawn to feeding the poor when she read the story of a
local woman who killed her two children because she could not afford to feed
them. She set up Khana Ghar in January 2002 and gradually drew in family,
friends and others to help set up food houses and distribution points.
Saeed plans to
continue devoting her life to this initiative and dreams of being able to feed
everyone everywhere.
A soft-spoken,
humble woman, who is usually seen wearing old, faded clothes, 52-year-old Saeed
rarely ventures out without covering her head. She speaks in Urdu, and strains
hard to understand English, answering the most difficult queries with a smile
and a nod.
Saeed is
reluctant to admit that she has done anything worthy of praise and recognition
but, only recently, she was honoured by Timberland Pakistan’s
Green Awards for her meritorious service.
