"It is by God's grace that we are donors, not recipients. The sincerest form of gratitude is providing meaningful help to those weaker than ourselves."
These are the sentiments of Nuzhat Niaz, wife of the ambassador of Pakistan to Japan. This year Niaz has assumed chairmanship of the Asia-Pacific Festival and Charity Bazaar, a fun-filled, springtime event designed as a major fundraiser by the Asia-Pacific Ladies Friendship Society. Niaz explains that from its emergency relief fund ALFS made special donations at the time to the victims of the Niigata earthquake and of floods in Sri Lanka, the Philippines and South Korea, as well as to those who suffered from last December's tsunamis. Recently the magnitude and frequency of natural disasters prompted her in her leadership capacity to say, "We must make extra efforts to raise funds for welfare and disaster relief in Asian and Pacific countries."
Accomplished and capable, Niaz is a modern daughter of a very old land, one of the earliest known. Pakistan ranges from the highest mountains, wildest waterways and deepest valleys of the dramatic north through the plains of the Indus Valley, where ancient, highly ordered civilizations flourished, to the Arabian Sea in the south. History left enduring impressions on Pakistan's faith, culture and languages. As well as her national Urdu and official English, Niaz speaks French and Turkish. She holds a master's degree in French.