SANA Convention 2008: expression of gratitude
We have been trying our best to hold meaningful, informative and entertaining annual conventions for our community in North America. We have worked on the content as well as the packaging of the conventions. I think we have held relatively good conventions in Washington, DC (2005), Toronto, ON Canada (2006) and Orlando, FL (2007). All of them were good but the 24th annual convention held in Dallas, TX July 3-6 was really an icing on the cake.
(The one very special and an important convention we held in Karachi, Sindh ‘A Pilgrimage to Sindh’, in December 2005 is a separate story and we don't compare it with our conventions held in North America).
Anyone who missed the Dallas, TX convention truly missed a great community event in North America. We will be writing on it in coming days to report to you various aspects of the convention. Tonight I just want to express my gratitude to all the people who helped organize it.
First and foremost are the few active members of the Executive Council and the Central Convention organizing committee. The members of the local organizing committee deserve special mention as they did a marvelous job. Two of them Faizullah Abbasi and Sarfraz Abbasi deserve a lot of praise as they took upon them to call almost every one they could get hold of in USA and Canada to attend the convention. There were some other reasons for a huge turn out at the convention but this was definitely one of them.
(Talking of big turn out, I must mention that a sizeable number of Sindhi Hindu families attended the convention.)
The other local organizing committee members that worked hard and/or gave their support to the effort were:
Nisar Hafiz
Maqbool Mughal
Dr Suleman Memon
Saeed Hafiz
Altaf Hafiz
Masroor Brohi
Saud Memon
Munir Umrani
Although Umar Farooq Abbasi is not from Dallas, TX area, he was a part of the team and was a big help at the convention.
The youth did an excellent job at not only preparing a detailed two-day (not the usual 2-hour) youth program but also helping in the registration and other work. It were the help and the efforts from Dallas youth, Nisar Hafiz and his team that Talat Talpur and Nicole were seen as the two most relaxed people at the convention this year.
The youth also held a two-hour music program with a local band, one of our own youth being a member of that band. The active members among the youth were:
Shahzad Hafiz
Shahmir Abbasi
Sanaullah Abbasi
Nadia Abbasi
Momal Umrani
Rabail Umrani
Feryal Umrani
Sindhu Hafiz
Sherry Hafiz
Wafa Hafiz
Becky Hafiz
Rafil Abbasi
Sumair Abbasi
Shahrukh Agha
Shayan Hafiz
Momi Hafiz
Ladies were not behind and they also held a good and entertaining program, helped in preparations and managing different programs at the convention and preparing surprise gift packages to be given away through a draw during the music program. The active members among the women were:
Shama Hafiz
Farzana Mughal
Almas Abbasi
Nasreen Umrani
Najma Abbasi
Dr Feroza Arif Memon
I must have missed a few names but I am grateful to all of them and thank them on behalf of the EC, AC and the Central Convention Organizing Committee for a job well done. It was a team effort and they have certainly set up high standards for organizers of our Silver Jubilee convention next year and other conventions to follow.
I must also thank Rahman Soomro for his crowd and time management skills, Dr Aijaz Turk for raising funds and Dr Maqbool Halepoto, Mohammad Ali Mahar, Kohsher Ahmed and NoorunNissa Ghanghro for conducting various sessions. Thanks to Dr Mahmood Qalbani for presenting a touching documentary of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed and rendering a poem.
I am also grateful to our guests for accepting our invitations and traveling from far pavilions to attend and speak at the convention. I'll talk about them in another mail.
Special thanks to all the participants for their attachment and love for Sindh, Sindhi language, Sindhi culture and their sense of one-ness and belonging to the community that attracts them to SANA conventions every year. One noteworthy thing this year was that the house was jam-packed during our main session and audience heard the guest speakers in pin-drop silence. Rahman Soomro didn't have to do much at least in those sessions. For some other sessions his idea to charge $10 from anyone whose cell phone rang during the programs worked quite successfully.
Thanks to all and best regards,
Aziz Narejo
President, SANA