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Reaching out to world after terrorist
attacks:
Student benefit features 'U2 of
Pakistan'
They're the hottest band to rock South Asia since ... well, let's just say
they're the hottest rock band out of South Asia period.
The band is Junoon, which means "passion" in Urdu. The group, which The New York
Times has called "the U2 of Pakistan," blends Western rock, traditional Punjabi
folk music and Sufi poetry for a mystical, hard-to-describe sound.
The musicians have earned praise from the United Nations for their message of
peace, performed at benefit concerts to aid Afghan refugees and children, and
played at fund-raisers for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.
And, thanks to many sleepless nights and an unshakable can-do-will-do attitude
from a group of Bellevue Community College students, they'll be in Seattle next
month.
The students are officers of the college's recently formed UNICEF chapter.
Heading the group is Osama Parvez, 21, who started the chapter and came up with
the idea for the benefit concert.
"He's been a lot of the driving force," said Natasha Jaksich, vice president of
the club.
Parvez's inspiration came from his own experience volunteering with UNICEF in
his native Pakistan. He helped distribute medical supplies to the poor, kept
track of inventory and learned first aid.
UNICEF was first known as the United Nations International Children's Emergency
Fund, its task being to help children living in poverty in developing countries.
Its name was shortened to the United Nations Children's Fund, but it retained
the acronym "UNICEF."
To people in the developing world, "UNICEF's blue-and-white logo means help,
hope and relief," said Faisal Jaswal, the chapter's co-adviser and director of
development for the college.
Parvez started talking with his friends in August about starting a UNICEF
chapter, but it was the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that pushed the dream into
reality.
"There were a lot of short-term projects — teddy-bear drives, blood drives —
happening," Jaksich said. "We wanted to do something more long term."
The group also saw UNICEF as an opportunity to bring people together after the
attacks. In addition, the chapter sponsored its own community forum to educate
people about the Muslim religion and community.
Parvez got the idea for the concert when he heard that Junoon, his favorite
band, often did benefits.
He contacted the promoter who expressed interest in bringing the band to
Seattle. But the project was more than the UNICEF chapter could handle on its
own, so they asked the Pakistani Association of Greater Seattle to co-sponsor
the concert.
Support has come from other sources as well, including the school, other campus
clubs, and local businesses and organizations. The Pakistani Association of
Greater Seattle has been actively recruiting sponsors, selling tickets and
creating a souvenir program.
Jaksich recently attended a national UNICEF meeting in New York, where the
praises of this young Bellevue Community College chapter are already being sung.
At fifty members strong, the group is one of the largest college chapters in the
country.
And while their counterparts set modest goals of raising a couple hundred
dollars annually for UNICEF, this group is hoping to raise $20,000 to $25,000
from the Junoon concert alone.
"They're setting a standard for others to follow," Jaswal said
Angela Lo
Seattle Times
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