7/6/2012 Maliha visited Sehba Akhtar Library which is in terrible condition. She also visited the DMC office where she talked to Rahila Khan, the Director of Libraries, about the project. Rahila was very enthusiastic and supportive of the endeavour. However, permission for work in the library could only come from the Administrator Central.
11/6/2012 Maliha met with Nazir Lakhani, Administrator Central of DMC. He told her that he wanted to meet the Kuch Karo Core Team and that he needed a written proposal of what the project would involve. He also explained that only registered NGOs are given permission to carry out the kind of project we are planning to. Kuch Karo was given a few months to take care of registration.
12/6/2012 Met Rahila Khan again. A lawyer was approached regarding NGO registration.
13/6/2012 First official meeting of the Core Team. We wrote a sponsorship letter and sent it out.
14/6/2012 Contacted paint companies. Proposal letter for Lakhani Sahib drafted out. Website was launched.
15/6/2012 Proposal letter sent.
16/6/2012 Revamped the food chart, which outlines what the Workshop participants and the team will be fed everyday. Navigation for the website was improved. Our first sponsorship rejection.
17/6/2012 Rewrote and proofread another sponsorship letter. The letter was sent to Maliha's cousin for further proofreading before it was forwarded to Dawood Group.
18/6/2012 Called potential sponsors to request a meeting with the Team. Most companies did not respond, positively or otherwise.
19/6/2012 First day of the workshop.
20/6/2012 The Core Team officially met Nazir Lakhani, Administrator Central of DMC. We got a very positive response. He told us that he would give us a "free hand" on the project and that he would support us in the areas of media coverage, contacts, and sanitation of the region surrounding the library. Rahila Khan, also present at the meeting, told us about someone who might be interested in our project and arranged a meeting with him.
22/6/2012 Rahila Khan arranged a meeting with her contact, Saif ur Rehman Grahmi, at the Taimouria Library. We got to see a decent functioning public library we could use as a model. Grahmi Sahib gave us some great advice; he told us that we wouldn't really get much support, financially or otherwise, until and unless we could actually show that some work was being done in the library. We put more energy into speeding up the restoration.
23/6/2012 Broke the news about the library aspect of the project to the participants of the workshop. One potential sponsor.
25/6/2012 The Core Team had its first official visit of Sehba Akhtar Library. Measurements were made of the rooms and the plans were sent to an architect and a paint person for estimated costs.
27/6/2012 Nazir Lakhani called to say that he would be visiting the library. Rahila Khan gave us a hard-copy of the No Objections Certificate. One confirmed sponsor. 28/6/2012 One potential sponsor called for a meeting. Paramount agreed to drop off their catalogue, told us that we could get up to a 20% discount on bulk purchases and possibly some donations. Lead High School teachers visited the library. They were interested in being NGO members.
30/6/2012 Painting and carpentry began at the library. Nazir Lakhani visited the library with media.