The British High Commissioner Dr Christian Turner presented the award to Hamza Farrukh today at a ceremony arranged by the British High Commission in Islamabad.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has recognised Hamza Farrukh, representing Pakistan, as the 129th Commonwealth Point of Light in honour of his exceptional voluntary service providing clean water to local communities in Pakistan.
Mr Farrukh runs a charitable project ‘Bondh-E-Shams’ (droplets of sunshine) which is serving over 45,000 people across 13 remote Pakistani villages.
Hamza began Bondh-E-Shams’ as a college project in March 2014, focusing on one particular Pakistani village. He was then awarded further funding to set up the charity, which has now provided over 10 million cups of water to people in remote communities in Pakistan through an environmentally friendly, solar-powered water extraction and filtration system.
Hamza Farrukh said “At Bondh E Shams, we have promised to take on the global water crisis” lack of access to safe water in large swaths of developing nations is symptomatic of the numerous structural disadvantages faced by the global south. My team and I realise the responsibility we have towards the 1.2 billion people who go to bed thirsty each night, and are dedicated to this lifelong fight.”
The British High Commissioner, Dr Christian Turner, said:
“I am delighted to present Hamza Farrukh with the Commonwealth Points of Light award for his exceptional voluntary service and ingenuity in helping to provide safe drinking water to tens of thousands of Pakistanis. Her Majesty The Queen has recognised Mr Hamza as Pakistan’s Point of Light for delivering a significant impact on the lives of others.”