17th SANA ANNUAL SANA CONVENTION WAS A GRAND SUCCESS!
By: Khalid Hashmani
Most
participants arrived on the evening of July 5th. Many traveling from as far as
Canada, Los Angles, Texas, San Francisco, New York, and Washington DC. After
registering at the registration desk, they mingled with each other, engaging in
intense conversations about Sindh, SANA, and other topics.
SANA MEDICAL SEMINAR (Friday, July 6th 9 AM to 12:30 PM)
The
morning of July 6th started with a delicious breakfast. At 9 AM sharp, the SANA
Medical seminar proceedings started, where several Sindhi leading physicians
presented the latest research and information in the medical field. Dr. Rafat
Ansari moderated the session. Dr. Ashfaq Turk was the first presenter and shared
his latest research in the field of Cardiology. His half-an-hour presentation
covered the topics of Hyperlipidemea and pacemakers. He was followed by Dr. Bahu Shaikh, who
talked about Supportive care in cancer Treatment.
The focus of his presentation was the latest drugs to ease pre- and post
chemotherapy treatment. Dr. Rafat Ansari spoke on the screening and prevention
aspects of breast cancer. His presentation also included the role of diet and
hereditary factors in cancer. He was followed by Dr. Bilal Ansari s presentation
on Recent Advances in Cancer
Treatment . He discussed several drugs that show promise in the cancer
treatment. The last individual speaker of this session was Dr. Aijaz Turk, who
made presentation on two important topics in the field of Gastro-enterology. He
spoke on treatment of Hepatitis C and Gastro Esophageal Reflux diseases. The
last segment of this session consisted of a panel discussion on the topic of
Recent medical advances and their availability and usefulness in Sindh .
Dr. Ali Mohammad Ansari moderated the discussion and the panelists were Dr.
Aftab Shaikh, Dr. Rafat Ansari, Dr. Fahima Qalbani, Dr. Mehmood Qalbani, and Dr.
Jan Mohammad Memon. The consensus seem to be that the poor health care
infrastructure in Sindh and lack of awareness about preventive measures was so
acute that it was almost impossible to deploy medical advances achieved in West
in Sindh. Dr. Afzal Arain briefed the audience on an interesting program devised
some Pakistani doctors under the auspicious of a Pakistani Doctors Association
in North America (known as APNA). This program involves providing orientation
and training in basic health and hygiene factors to the rural residents of a
target area and hiring and training of 2-3 midwives to ensure proper care during
birth. It was claimed that the areas where this program has been instituted, the
morality rate has dropped significantly. At the conclusion of the seminar, a
delicious lunch sponsored by Glaxo Pharmaceuticals was served to all
participants.
GENERAL BODY MEETING (Friday, July 6th 2 PM to 5 PM)
The
General body meeting started with welcome address by Mr. Mohammad Ali Mahar,
General Secretary of SANA. He welcomed the attendees and went over the agenda
and ground rules for the meeting. Mr. Sani Panhwar, President of SANA, presented
his report on the activities of SANA that have occurred since the new Executive
Council (EC) took office on January 1, 2001. He particularly spoke about the new
SANA Web site that has received rave reviews from every one who has visited the
site. Other EC members who presented reports on the occasion included Mr. Zia
Memon (Vice President), Mrs. Zeb Agha (Vice President, Women Affairs), Dr.
Shoukat Ansari (Treasurer), Mr. Sajjad Siddiqui (Joint Secretary), and Dr. Badar
Shaikh (Regional Secretary for East Zone). Some of the more interesting points
from these presentations included the following information:
SANA FINANCES:
$
25,000 already collected in donations and sponsorships for the 17th SANA annual
convention. This excludes the expenses for the convention that are yet to be
paid. SANA s assets stood at about $ 70,000 before these expenses.
SANA SINDHI LANGUAGE COMMITTEE:
Has
achieved a good progress and arranged sale of inexpensive Sindhi-English
dictionaries ($ 3 each) at the convention. The committee also proposed that
March 4th be declared as the Sindhi Language Day . On this day, Sindhis
throughout the world would celebrate Sindhiat and every Sindhi will speak, read,
write in Sindhi language, eat Sindhi food, and wear Sindhi clothing.
After
the reports by EC members, Mr. Mahar Hussain Shah (former Vice President of
SANA) presented several of SANA resolutions/position papers to the participants
for discussion and approval. All resolutions/position papers were unanimously
approved. The resolutions/position papers were written in the form of a letter
to Secretary General of United Nations and cover the following areas:
DYING AGRICULTURE IN SINDH:
This
resolution/position paper discussed water shortage, agriculture tax versus
income tax issues, conditions of farmers and land-holders and other practices
and policies of Pakistani Federal government that have created a crisis of
unprecedented proportion in Sindhs agriculture sector. It demanded that water
distribution between various provinces be done on the basis of historical
agreements instead of allowing Punjab a free hand to siphoning of the water from
River Indus in excess of their due share. The paper added that if the justice
and fairness were not restored to the agriculture, the people of Sindh would
forever give up their hopes in the federation.
DECLINING EDUCATION IN SINDH:
This
resolution/position paper discussed worsening academic conditions in Sindh’s
educational institutions. It demanded that the excessive budget that is being
consumed by the Defense services of Pakistan be curtailed and redirected to the
education sector. It demanded significant increase in budget allocation to the
educational institutions of Sindh.
INCREASING UNEMPLOYMENT IN SINDH:
This
resolution/position paper described the desperate unemployment situation faced
by Sindhis in Sindh. The discrimination against them in both private and public
sectors is causing a tremendous pressure on families that has resulted
unprecedented increase in suicide rate among Sindhis. The resolution demanded
that the governments of Pakistan and Sindh immediately take steps to eliminate
official and unofficial discriminatory policies and practices against Sindhis
and institute a pro-active equal
opportunity program with targets
that require government and public sectors to achieve representation of Sindhis
in proportion to the their population ratio. It further demanded that Pakistan
should adopt similar programs to what the government of the United States has
done for its minorities. In particular, all government contracts awarded in
Pakistan should require that the companies that are owned by Sindhis and
Baluchis must be subcontracted be allocated
certain percentage of the work.
RESTORING AUTONOMY AND SOVEREIGNTY FOR SINDH:
This
resolution/position paper traced the history of the creation of Pakistan and
noted that Sindhis voted for Pakistan with the understanding that the
constituent provinces (states) will enjoy full autonomy and sovereignty in the
new country. After Pakistan was created, the groups who have assumed the control
of Pakistan have forgotten those commitments. The increasing tendency by the
federal government to centralize powers is a gross violation of the Pakistan’s
charter. The position paper demanded that only four areas (Defense, Currency,
Foreign Affairs, and inter-provincial affairs) are to be controlled by the
federal government and all remaining areas are to be reverted to the provinces
in accordance with the 1940 Pakistan Resolution.
PROTECTING PROPERTY RIGHTS OF SINDHIS:
This
resolution stated that where as Sindh has seen migration of unprecedented nature
from other provinces and countries, this has considerably diluted the polarity
of natives in Sindh. To protect the historic national rights of Sindhis, it is
demanded that the right to purchase properties in Sindh be restricted to those
who are born in Sindh. In addition, the government should undertake serious
steps to arrange return of recent immigrants to their provinces and countries.
PRESERVING SINDHI LANGUAGE:
This
resolution/position paper expressed alarm on the unfair treatment given to
Sindhi language in Pakistan. It demanded that the existing laws that require
instruction in Sindhi language be strictly enforced. All government officials
appointed in Sindh must be well-versed in Sindhi language and new Television and
radio stations be started to broadcast all programming in Sindhi language. Until
these stations are opened, the portion of Sindhi language be increased to at
least 60% on all broadcasting that are located in Sindh.
SINDHI
PHILANTHROPIC ORGANIZATIONS OF NORTH AMERICA SEMINAR
(Friday,
July 6th 5 PM to 6 PM)
Dr. Roshan Shaikh moderated a seminar on the synchronization and coordination of activities between various Sindhi philanthropic organizations. He listed SANA US Science & Educational Foundation (USEF), and Hidaya as the main open Sindhi organizations operating in North America. To this list, others added WSI, WSC and Dada Vishnu Mission as other Sindhi open philanthropic organizations. Suggestions for achieving synchronization of activities between these organizations were discussed at length. Some felt that amalgamation of these multiple organizations would produce more effective results, yet others felt diversity of these organizations provided opportunities to maximize contributions. One point of view was that as the population of Sindh-based Sindhis was quite low in North America, the funds that could be collected from this segment of the population would not be sufficient to undertake tangible projects in Sindh. A suggestion was made that these contributions be used to influence larger charitable organizations in North America to divert their charitable funds to Sindh. The meeting ended with the consensus that regardless of the diversity of the opinions, Sindhi philanthropic organizations must cooperate with each other and undertake joint projects for the welfare of Sindhis.
SINDH RIGHTS COMMITTEE MEETING (Friday, July 6th 6:30 PM to 68:30 PM)
Mr.
Iqbal Tareen moderated a meeting of Sindh Rights Committee. In addition to the
committee members, several other attendees including representatives of other
Sindhi organizations attended the session. Mr. Tareen gave an impressive account
of the activities that SRC has been able to organize to-date. He talked about
the recent protest marches in front of the Pakistan embassy in Washington DC and
UN Headquarters in New York on the water issue as examples of the joint
successful activities with other Sindhi organizations. Many expressed
satisfaction with his leadership of the committee and urged him to continue his
leadership until an effective infrastructure was in place for coordinating a
unified struggle for Sindhi rights. Mr. Sohail Ansari, President WSI assured
full cooperation of his organization with SANA and WSC and stated that WSI was
ready to work on any joint projects that benefit Sindh and Sindhis. Dr. Saraki
of WSC also expressed satisfaction with the progress-achieved to-date but urged
expansion of these contacts. He invited SANA and WSI leaders to join the
international conference on Sindhi rights that are being organized by WSC in
London, UK on July 28th. In the end all participants expressed solidarity with
the Sindhi cause and made commitments to foster comradeship among Sindhi
organizations and jointly take initiative to help to create a similar
cooperative environment in Sindh.
AN
EVENING OF ENTERTAINMENT (Friday, July 6, 10 PM to 1 AM)
The
last item of the day was a program of music and songs. A group based in the USA
put up quite an impressive performance that consisted of songs in Sindhi, Urdu,
and other languages.
The
7th Annual SANA convention, held in Chicago, Illinois, from July 5 to July 8,
20001, was a grand success. More than 350 persons of all ages joined this event
of fun, music, songs, speeches, and some serious discussions. Like the first
day, the second day too was packed with events that kept attendees busy.
Running
little bit late, the second day started with a delicious breakfast and informal
katchaharies (small group discussions) until the organizers started urging that
people move to the main conference hall so that the first session of the day
could be started.
PAINTING EXHIBITION BY RIZWAN ALI UMRANI (6th and 7th July - All day)
An
exhibition of paintings by well-known artist of Sindh, Mr. Rizwan Ali Umrani
attracted large crowds. As some of you know Rizwan has a year round exhibition
of his works at his famous "Mother Gallery" in Larkana. A critic's
comment summarizes Riawan's beautiful work quite appropriately: "He uses
sharp visible, bright, dense and dark colors, which are the colors of Sindh
rather than dim and invisible colors. His artistic work is a window from which
one can see the glimpses of real Sindh".
SESSION
(July 7th -- 10 AM to 1 PM)
TOPIC:
Role of SANA for Sindhi Community of North America
PANELISTS:
Khalid Hashmani, Iqbal Tareen, Roshan Shaikh,
This
important session covered many aspects of SANA dynamics including controversial
and non-controversial topics.
Dr.
ALI MOHAMMAD ANSARI, is a
well-known physician of Sindh and is a former Secretary of Health of Pakistan.
He regularly travels to North America and has shared his views and experiences
by addressing past SANA
conventions. In his introductory remarks talked about the importance of SANA in
organizing Sindhi community in North America. He added that SANA has to play
more active role to keep Sindhi community united. The SANA platform offers
unique opportunities for North American Sindhis to keep their culture alive and
to interact with Sindhis who live in Sindh and elsewhere in the world. He urged
participants to do some "out of box" thinking and come up with
interesting and workable suggestions for maximizing the participation of women,
children and youth in SANA activities.
Dr.
ROSHAN SHAIKH, is a
network expert and owner of a private network consultation company. Recently, he
wrote a book titled "The Principles of Networking" that is being
published by two leading US-based publishers. He is a founder member of SANA and
promoter of many charitable and educational projects in Sindh. He started his
speech with emphasis on the importance of being charitable in achieving personal
growth and serving the Sindhi community. He talked about high ideals of SANA and
an urgent need for uniting all North American Sindhis. He noted that the sad
fact was that not all Sindhis were present at the convention and said the unity
can only be possible if the justice was done to those who feel aggrieved. He
challenged the current leadership of SANA to approach this issue seriously and
organize a set of concrete steps that will address grievances of all Sindhis and
not try to achieve unity with only "Forgive and Forget" slogan.
Mr. KHALID HASHMANI, is a computer professional, first President of SANA, and an activist for unifying all overseas Sindhi organizations. He stated that today's topic has been the focus from the day one of the SANA's life. In his view, the first objective from the SANA Charter document "To create a sense of brotherhood, cooperation, and cohesion among Sindhis living in North America" should be the key defining principle for SANA's role. He added that we must all recognize that SANA is an organization of people who have a variety of religious, ideological, and political views but wish to interact with each on the platform of SANA only as Sindhis. To serve all of our community well, we must respect this diversity, show tolerance to the views of others, and ensure that no one feels being left out with what we do on the platform of SANA.
Mr.
IQBAL TAREEN, is a
manager in a computer personnel company and a former President of SANA. He is a
well known Sindhi activist, who in his student days, played an important role in
keeping Sindhi student movement focused on Sindhiat. In addition to the
importance of uniting North American Sindhis and maintaining close working
relationships among various Sindhi groups, SANA has to offer special programs to
keep Sindhi youth interested in our culture and language. He added that the
continued interest of Sindhi youth in SANA offers our only hope to keep Sindhi
culture and Sindhi language alive here in North America. He also urged special
programs for SANA women. He added that for a dynamic organization, it is
essential to have all SANA men, SANA women, and SANA youth to equally feel that
SANA is serving them.
Dr.
SHOUKAT ANSARI, is a
senior electrical engineer with a major international consulting company. He is
the current Treasurer of SANA and an active member of San Francisco Sindhi
community. He talked about the need of frequent contact among North American
Sindhis. This is particularly challenging since our community is small and
spread over a large continent. On top of this, strong North American culture
makes it difficult to keep our children interested in Sindhi culture. The annual
SANA conventions and periodic regional get-togethers provide excellent
opportunity, but we need to do more. He recommended that the institution of SANA
chapters be strengthened to increase the community interaction.
He hoped that in each locality where-ever there are at least 5-6 Sindhi
families, a SANA chapter would be beneficial. On behalf of SANA Executive
Committee, he offered to help Sindhis who would like to form chapters in their
localities.
Dr.
AZRA HAQUE, is a
well-known Sindhi physician and education expert. She talked about the
importance of education if Sindhis were to overcome economic backwardness. In
today's competitive environment, only the communities that are equipped with
education and skills can achieve progress. She urged SANA to play an active role
in spreading awareness about education to rural Sindhis and instituting special
programs for Sindhi children here in North America. She recommended that SANA to
organize targeted programs for children that emphasize education in religion and
cultural aspects would help to retain Sindhi identity.
An
intense question-answer period followed after the panelists shared their initial
views. Some of the key questions that were hotly debated are as follows:
1.
A suggestion was made that since most participants at the SANA conventions were
Muslims, each convention session be
started with an 'ayat' from Quran Sharif.. Those opposed this suggestion stated
that SANA was a secular organization and our members have a variety of religious
affiliations. If we started proceeding with recital from one religious book then
we will have recite from other books.
2.
The causes for women's lack of participation in SANA functions attracted some
strong opinions. The educated Sindhi men were told to recognize that the
tradition of male dominated community would keep Sindhis backward and behind the
times. They were urged to proactively encourage women to assume an active role
in community affairs and just not be relegated to take care of children and
household affairs. The Sindhi women
were urged to come forward and be active and the Sindhi men were urged to be
tolerant of the diversity that women's active participation may bring.
3.
There was an sharp discussion about the mandatory $75 per person registration
fee at the SANA convention that included five meals. Some members felt the fee
was reasonable and a great value that ensured that every one in the community
got more opportunities to meet with each other instead of families forced to
look for different eating place in and outside of the hotel. The opponents of
the registration believed that the $ 75 per person was a large sum for a family
with limited income who had children. They felt that the fees prevented many
from attending the convention. Many more would have attended if they did not
have to pay the high fees. Others suggested that a reasonable compromise would
have been to keep the registration free and offer a meal plan that could be
purchased on an optional basis.
Although
no one wanted to leave this interesting and highly interactive session, the
organizers had to warn that the session had continued much beyond the meal start
time and that we had gone past the lunch time.
KEY-NOTE SPEECHES
(July 7th
-- 3 PM to 7 PM)
MODERATOR:
Mr. Iqbal Tareen
PANELISTS:
Najamuddin Shaikh, Nooruddin Sarki, Anwar Pirzado,
Mr.
NAJAMUDDIN SHAIKH, is a
senior diplomat of Pakistan, who has been ambassador of Pakistan to Canada,
Japan, and other countries. The topic of his presentation was Pakistan's
relations with USA and India. He very eloquently gave separate analysis of the
factors that have played role in shaping the relations of Pakistan with USA and
India. The fall of Soviet Union as the second super power has had a profound
impact on the relationship of Pakistan with both USA and India. India, which
used to be closer to Soviet Union, has now much improved relations with USA,
where as Pakistan's close religious and cultural relationships with Muslim
states of central Asia have increased Pakistan's strategic importance. The plans
to construct oil pipeline from central Asia to Persian Gulf through Pakistan and
construction of the proposed sea port in Persian Gulf will increase the
influence of Pakistan in the region. In an answer to a question, Mr. Shaikh said
that financial viability of Gawadar Seaport is highly dependent upon the
construction of the oil pipeline from Central Asia. In reply to another question
as to why so few Sindhis are employed in Pakistan's foreign embassies and
missions, he said that partly it is because most of the clerical positions are
filled locally and partly because of the reluctance of rural Sindhis to work in
foreign countries. He told the questioner that if he knew any suitable and
qualified Sindhis who were interested to work at the clerical positions in
foreign missions, he would gladly help them to secure jobs.
Mr.
NOORUDDIN SARAKI, is a
veteran Sindhi politician, who once headed the communist party of Sindh. He is
an attorney by profession and is in the forefront in fight for economic and
political rights of poor Sindhis.
He has been active in Sindhi politics since his student days. He stated that the
Pakistan was created on the premise that its provinces will enjoy autonomy in
accordance of 1940 resolution. Sindh, which has been an independent nation for
much of its history voted for Pakistan and not for India because the proponents
of Pakistan promised autonomy to it but the proponents of united India would not
make such promises. Look! what has happened now, the provinces in the country
whose leaders did not promise autonomy enjoy more autonomy than the provinces in
the country that was created for the very reason that its provinces will enjoy
autonomy and sovereignty. He added the topography of Sindh has much changed
since the pre partition days. Sindh's larger cities now have significant
non-Sindhi populations, who are reluctant to adopt Sindhi culture and Sindhi
language. This has complicated matters for Sindhis, who must now work harder,
intelligently and persistently to safeguard their existing rights and fight to
win those rights that were promised in 1940 resolution.
ANWAR
PIRZADO, is a
distinguished journalist and writer from Sindh. He has been associated with
leading newspapers of Pakistan including Dawn. He was once an officer in
Pakistan Air Force, where he suffered a court marshal at the hands of rulers of
Pakistan for writing a letter that talked about the plight of East Pakistanis
(now Bangladeshis). His presentation gave a detailed account of politics and
economics of water shortage for Sindhis. He talked about the history of water
treaties and accords. He said that Punjab has consistently broken these treaties
and accords to keep Sindhis subjugated to its domination. While Sindh's crops
remain decimated, Punjab's production is at the record levels. On top of it, the
government of Pakistan has forced Sindh, on occasions, to purchase Punjab''
produce at highly inflated prices. He warned that Sindh, which once produced
world's best rice would probably cease to be a rice-producing region due to the
water shortage. He demanded that if Sindh's agriculture is to survive, the
historic Sindh-Punjab Water accord of 1945 must be implemented.
Ms.
QAMAR WAHID, is a
professor at Sindh University and a very active Sindhi woman academician. She
has struggled against the plight of Sindhis and particularly Sindhi women for
much of her adult life. She talked about the terrible conditions in Sindh,
where, each day, Sindhis are being pushed behind by the Federal government run
by Punjabis and the provincial government dominated by Urdu speaking. Sindhis have more or less become an audience to their fate.
They can see what is happening to them but cannot do anything to change the
course of destruction that is being laid for their culture and language. Every
non-Sindhi who arrives in Sindh feels that they own it and that Sindhis are
rural and backward people who do not deserve to progress. The discrimination
against Sindhis in jobs, scholarships, and other opportunities is so acute that
one feels that Sindh has become an occupied territory of 18th century where the
victor can plunge anything of the defeated people. She told the audience that
they would be living in the dream world if they think they are going to bring a
change by sending few thousand dollars for charitable and educational projects.
What is needed is concerted effort to unite Sindhis and an intense pressure on
the government to make changes that will ensure the survival of Sindhis as a
cultural nation.
Mr.
MEMON ABDUL JABBAR, is a
entrepreneur from Karachi and an activist who has taken on the challenge to help
Sindhis to become more competitive and educated. He said that like rest of the
world, Pakistan is a much changed place, where political struggle based on old
tactics will not be successful. The situation is so much controlled that even
when Sindhi politicians are elected to high positions, they cannot effectively
help Sindhis. The time has come when educated Sindhis have to go beyond flowery
speeches and drawing room politics and start helping their Sindhi brothers and
sisters to improve their skills and education. The affluent Sindhis of North
America should work closely will universities and other educational institutions
in Sindh to bring about a basic change, where rural Sindhis are able to resist
Sindhi and non-Sindhi tyrants.
Mr.
RASOOL BUX PALIJO, is the
head of Awami Tahreek, which is one of the major political parties in Sindh. Mr.
Palijo has resisted each and every tyrant who has attempted to hurt the
political and economic rights of Sindhis. During the recent artificially created
water shortage, he and his party started a mass movement that is now joined by
other Sindhi groups. True to his reputation, his was the most eloquent speech
that covered many aspects of the plight of Sindh and Sindhis. He touched every
nerve and every soul in the conference hall with his references to world history
and analogies from world battles. He urged every educated Sindhi to read more -
learn more about world history, freedom struggles, and particularly the military
and political strategies. You don't need every Sindhi to be educated to bring
about a change. What you need is smart leaders and smart middle class who can
predict and understand each move of adversary and quickly make a counter move
and take an offensive move, when appropriate. He added that he was quite hopeful
in the ability of Sindhis to withstand all onslaughts and ultimately come out
victorious. Let! there be no doubt that these Sindhi Sapoots and followers of
Shah Abdul Latif will never give up on their rights. They will not vanish in the
history. They will resist and fight until they are victorious. By this time
every one in the audience so attentive that other than his words, there was no
other sound. Even the Sindhi infants, who never seem to stop crying, seem to
have been taken aback by what was happening around them. Most in the audience
were impressed with Mr. Palijo's analysis and articulation of Sindhi issues, his
hopes and his encouragement that Sindh is worth living for and Sindh is worth
dying for. As he finished his speech, almost all of the audience arose, giving a
memorable standing ovation, a rare occurrence in SANA conventions, to one their aging
sons who had really moved them today.
Although
no one really wanted to end the session, time constraints forced it to close it
after only 3-4 questions. Many will remember this session where people of
diverse yet converging views helped to clarify issues surrounding the plight of
Sindhis and made suggestions to help overcome it.
(July 7th -
8:00 PM to 2 AM)
After
a 5-course dinner buffet attended by almost all registered participated in a
huge banquet hall, a wonderful program that starred Ustad Mazhar Hussain and Ms
Shirazi took place. It was an evening of many memorable songs, delicious music,
and recognition. Students who had performed well in their schools by securing at
least 3.5 grade point average were awarded certificates and small prizes. Dr.
Gul Agha was recognized for arranging short internships for four Sindhi students
of Mehran University to attend 2-month research programs at the University of
Illinois. These four students were introduced and they spoke few words about
their experiences. The biggest applause went to the organizers of this
convention who had once again proven that when Sindhis take on a responsibility,
no one could match them in the perfect execution. A resolution asked SANA
Executive Council to approach all individual and groups of Sindhis who had left
the fold of SANA once again join hands on the platform of SANA. For the next
year's convention, the audience voted for New York. Ustad Mazhar Hussain sang
several old compositions and some of recent compositions that were enjoyed by
every one. Although, not a native Sindhi speaker, Ms. Shirazi sang several
Sindhi songs that hit very well with the audience. The evening finally ended
with one of the largest Ho Jamalo on this side of Michigan Lake.
MEXICAN
BRUNCH (hosted by Local Organization Committee)
(July
8th - 9 AM to12 PM)
The
dreaded morning had so soon arrived when every one had to say good bye to each
other. One could see groups of children exchanging their telephone numbers and
e-mail addresses, ladies securing commitments from each other on attending next
year's SANA convention, and male folks were seen talking about the convention
that was ending and the plans for the next year's convention in New York.
Although the brunch was delicious, people were not too happy that this grand
event was ending so soon.
Indeed it was a grand event that we hope will become grander each year.
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