Her Majesty The Queen recognises Pakistani charity founder with Commonwealth Points of Light award
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has today 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, currently living in the UK, 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.
“Bondh E Shams has leveraged the power of smart-tech and I-o-T in our flagship solution called the “Oasis Box:” a transportable, solar-powered water filtration unit that removes 99.99% of water contamination and can be installed in under a record 7 minutes, anywhere in the world. I dedicate this award to my exceptional team, our partner non-profits and my family who have supported me unconditionally. I find this award as motivation to continue our work and reach thousands more in water-stressed communities – thank you again for this honour.”
The British High Commissioner, Dr Christian Turner, CMG, welcomed the news of Hamza Farrukh’s award. He said:
“Hamza Farrukh has shown exceptional leadership and ingenuity in helping to provide safe drinking water to tens of thousands of Pakistanis. I look forward to congratulating him in person at the British High Commission, on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen, in Islamabad when he is next in Pakistan.”
• The Points of Light award recognises outstanding volunteers every day of the week – people whose service is making a difference in their communities and whose story can inspire others to creative innovative solutions to social challenges in their own communities and beyond.
• Points of Light began in America under President George H. W. Bush and today over 6,000 US Points of Light have been recognised. The scheme has the support of all living US Presidents.
• Since 2014 the UK Prime Minister has been recognising a daily Point of Light from the UK, with more than 900 volunteers now recognised.
• The Commonwealth Points of Light is a continuation of this programme with a special series of awards recognising inspirational volunteers throughout the Commonwealth, coinciding with the UK being the Chair-in-Office of the Commonwealth for the next two years. One volunteer from each of the 53 Commonwealth countries was recognised in the days leading up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in April 2018. Following the success of this programme, Her Majesty The Queen decided to continue this work and award one volunteer from each Commonwealth country every week leading up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Rwanda in 2020.
