June got off to a great start for Members of Soroptimist International St Albans & District.
On Monday 8th June Farhat Zia came to St Albans URC Greenwood to talk to Club Members about the work of her Charity the Akifa Foundation in her home town of Baffa in Pakistan. Farhat and her husband Iqbal raise funds and deliver on initiatives across three key pillars – people, planet, and wellbeing https://akifafoundation.com/.
Farhat presented on three areas of the Akifa Foundation – the focus on people, planet and wellbeing; the SUSTFEST Collaboration and the Education and Warm Winter Project funding Appeal 2026.
Some images of the slides are shown here:
The video below includes some powerful footage showing the devastating impact of global warming and climate change on Pakistan. Climate change causes rising temperatures, increased flash flooding, and new phenomenon e.g cloud burst. This reduces community resilience and puts people at risk of facing hardship and increasing poverty e.g food and water insecurity. The Akifa Foundation has provided funding for the deployment or restoration of more than 30 water wells and boreholes.
Pakistan ranks among the countries most impacted by climate change, despite accounting for less than 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions. According to the World Bank, approximately 45% of Pakistan’s population lives below the poverty line. The country has the largest number of glaciers outside the polar regions, and rising global temperatures are causing more severe weather events. Deforestation in the country has made the flooding much worse.
Akifa Education and Warm Winter Project funding Appeal 2026
Farhat appealed for support of the Akifa Foundation’s Education Fund by donating to provide fees, education, resources and uniforms for young people. They are currently supporting 80 children annually.
WHAT: £45 per annum supports 1 child’s school fees, education resources and winter clothing which includes a warm jacket, socks, scarves, shoes, and school uniform.
WHY: To enable positive education outcomes and to protect against temperatures as low as 0 degrees.
TARGET– 2026 – 100 children supported – £4500
Click below to view the presentation in video format (it is about 5 mins long)
Seychelles Soroptimist Friendship Link Visit: The day after the Akifa Foundation had been introduced to the Club, some Members were able to meet up with Cecile Hodoul who was visiting from the Seychelles. SI St Albans & District has a Friendship Link with SI Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles. Cecile was visiting her sister and niece who both live in St Albans. We met in the George Street Canteen in St Albans which has a view of the Cathedral. It also has a garden, which Danielle worked on as an environment for both wild-life and visitors (there is a bee hive too and the cafe sells the honey) – all in the 
centre of St Albans – amazing! It was wonderful being together.