Al-Khobar: 'Panorama' Family Gala Held at Half-moon
News: P A Hameed Padubidri
Daijiworld Media Network – Al-Khobar (SP)
Al-Khobar, Jan 26: Half-moon Beach, an exotic place situated on the bank of the Arabian Sea around 30 kms away from Al-Khobar, was witness to the ‘Panorama Family Gala’ organized by PANORAMA [Padubidri Non-Residents Association for Muslims Amity], Dammam-Khobar unit, on Friday January 22. The annual general body meeting of the Association was also held alongside the gathering. PANORAMA Riyadh unit was invited to be there in the meeting as well as gathering.
The Association, consisting of young and active NRI Muslims belonging to Padubidri village, was formed in the year 2006 in Dammam and Riyadh, with the objective of promoting education along with the prime aim of upgrading the Urdu School, which has existed in Padubidri since the last over 75 years, and is now in a dilapidated condition. Despite that, it also is aimed to support the underprivileged classes of the community in the field of social, religious, educational awareness programmes etc.
The Gala was kicked off ,after Jumma prayer with the Qur'aan recitation by Ismail Musliyar Manjanady, who was the head teacher (Sadar) of Padubidri Madrassa.
Ahmed Hussain, who was elected for the second term in the annual general body meeting as the president of PANORAMA-Dammam Unit, and presided over the function, made a welcome speech and urged the member audiences to get actively involved with the growth and development of the Association of both the units in successfully implementing the school building project, estimated to cost around one crore rupees. He said, “the school building will consist of Urdu medium school along with other educational facilities like religious knowledge, English medium school, vocational training course, tuition classes etc. The women will get maximum benefit from these facilities during their spare time, which will help them to become self-reliant. The gathering had been exclusively organized for the Association’s members and their families in order to bring Padubidrians, who are there in Riyadh, Dammam, Khobar, Jubail, Al-Hassa and other parts of the Kingdom, in one place and to encourage them to work for the common objective,” he said.
Ayoub Ahmed, general secretary of PANORAMA, gave a brief about various activities of the Association, in addition to its programmes and achievements, starting from 2006 to 2010, and requested for more and more involvement of the members with their far-reaching efforts, mainly to realize the project, which is now underway. The financial report was presented by its then treasurer, Ibrahim M Hussain, and got approved by the members present.
Various games, playoffs etc., were organized for the children, ladies and the men. Competitions like sack -race, hitting the pot, volleyball, tug-of-war etc. were organized for the men, while 25 meters’ running race, balloon running-race etc. were exclusively arranged for the children below six years of age. This race created a milieu of enjoyment for the spectators including the children’s parents. Pot-breaking competition was the core of fun and amusement for the whole audience. Stage quiz was also conducted and the winners were given prizes on the spot. Besides, various events were also conducted for ladies like lemon and spoon, etc. Prizes were distributed to all the winners and participant children.
Haji Meera Hussain, who is the patron of PANORAMA and a senior person from Padubidri, who is on visit tour in the Kingdom, PANORAMA Riyadh unit president, Abdul Khader Mayyadi, its ex-president, Abdul Rahman Hussain, Daijiworld Saudi correspondent and advocate, P A Hameed Padubidri, general secretary of Dammam JF unit, Mansour Ali Ahmed, A R Bawa Uchila and several other dignitaries were present on the dais. They addressed the audience.
Ilyas K M hosted the programme. Delicious lunch was arranged by Basheer M Hussain and his team.