Gul Bahao

Into the 21st century with new ideas from Gul Bahao

Third World Solutions to First World Problems

Third World Solutions to First World Problems

Help Gul Bahao’s “ENVIRONMENT MUSEUM” located in GULSHAN-E-IQBAL KARACHI

Showcasing Gul Bahao’s innovations developed during the last 19 years at a cost of more than 8 crore Rupees on a self help basis!

Chandi Ghar blocks : modular blocks which convert into 2 storey houses, household hold furniture (beds, sofas) water reservoirs etc.

Gardens In the Air: Converting organic waste into useful vegetation which are multitiered akin to multistoreyed houses

Kindly put your valuable 1,000 ( one thousand ) Rupees in First Women Bank, Gul Bahao account no 0007001857810001 or Allied Bank, Nargis Latif acc. no.0010032750390011( 0159 branch code )

Chandi block is modular, students of Fast University learn

Yesterday, Gul Bahao’s, Nargis latif addressed the students of the Fast University at their Karachi campus where its Head Dr. Manzoor Anwer Khalidi introduced her to the students. Nargis disclosed that her organization is in the process of putting up an Environment Museum at its site in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. The museum will be open to students and municipal authorities and will show case the different innovations of Gul Bahao.

Nargis said that the last nineteen years of Gul Bahaos existence have been highly eventful with the number of innovations growing manifold. These have in fact been ingenious solutions to the different environmental problems being faced by Karachi but in fact have resulted in bringing in new ideas ,cheaper products to change the economy of the country, she said.

Reporting the latest developments in Gul Bahao’s activities Nargis revealed that its research centre is converting clean plastic waste produced by factories into multipurpose chandi blocks. These in turn are being made into furniture, houses, swimming pools and now even a thick tarpaulin i.e. a good alternative to thin plastic sheets used for covering goods. Speaking excitedly, she went on “The blocks are modular; one item changes into another without any kind of destruction. In other words a Chandi Ghar can be converted into a swimming pool and vice versa. She revealed that her research centre is working on different kinds of moulds, yielding different kinds of products.

According to the Gul Bahao’s Head, the organization from time to time has been acknowledged/ visited by international organizations like the UNDP, ILO, German government, Clinton Foundation; multinationals like ICI, Lasmo Oils (it was funded by it for several years). It has been covered by Courier International (French newspaper), Voice of America, and BBC. She said recently CNN requested to do a detailed coverage of Gul Bahaos projects. She said the fact is that the fruits of Gulbahos work is not only for local consumption but also has international bearings.

Nargis said that Gul Bahao is looking for sponsors for its ambitious project of putting “Gardens in the air” which will be using organic waste and shoppers to grow multi storied plantations in the manner of high rise buildings. The thinking behind this is that land being unbearably expensive, horticulture (an excellent way of recycling organic waste) must also go highrise in any thickly populated metropolis like Karachi.

The students were keen to know details of the Safai/Kamai bank claimed to be a futuristic banking system by Gul Bahao. Nargis exhorted the students to do their theses on this subject which she said had won students of the IOBM accolades from LUMS.

Nargis concluded by saying that progress in the industrial world has not only thrown up new goods totally unknown hitherto but its waste too has given rise to new challenges and exciting propensities as well/

After a resounding applause from the students, the head of the FAST University Dr Manzoor Akhter presented a memo to the CEO of Gul Bahao.

Gul Bahao CEO conducts workshop organized by WWF

Yesterday, Gul Bahao Nargis Latif addressed a workshop arranged by WWF for about 400 youth coming from the best educational institutions of Karachi including Foundation Public School, Karachi Grammar School, Beacon House School at Hotel Regent Plaza. The students numbering 400 plus listened with rapt attention to Nargis’s talk. She said Gul Bahao’s research work can form the manifesto of any political party.

Nargis said that she has worked with hundreds of youth on a daily basis for years whose energy and enthusiasm combined with the academic knowledge she had gained right from school to university level has created wonders. Her entire speech was based on a CD which was shown on a screen. The pictures vividly showed the innovations made by Gul Bahao during the 18 years of its existence. The Fuel pack (cheap fuel for running power plants), Chandi Ghar, Paaki Paani as well as the Safai/kamai Bank kept the participants engrossed in the talk. The audience interacted with their questions and comments as well as participated in the well-known jingles of Gul Bahao “Garbage is Gold” in English and Urdu.

Refuting the notion that environment is an elitist subject Nargis said that Karachites living in a highly urbanized environment should know better. She said that if we consider the environment of the Karachi port on which the economy of this metropolis revolves, we are in for a rude shock. The garbage and sewage water of the metropolis that is being daily dumped into the sea is making it unfit for docking. Secondly it has all the potential for the worst kind of natural disasters like Tsunami. On the other hand solutions offered by municipal authorities are unworkable.

Gul Bahaos projects related to waste management are not only simple, affordable they address the issues in their totality Nargis said that the nexus of Environment and Economy is comparable to the concept of heaven and hell. “If we don’t solve the worlds environment problems we are in for Tsunamis and catastrophic floods etc. On the other hand if we manage to recycle (which is the best way to tackle our waste problems) municipal and industrial waste we will in fact be improving our economy and adding richness to our lives. There is nothing useless in nature”, she declared. She said that even human waste which by standards of human hygiene my be called the “Worst possible waste”, is in fact a resource as it is a rich source of fertilizer for plants. And just as electricity cannot be banned because it can kill human beings so human waste too may be regarded as a useful commodity using it in a scientific manner.

Nargis said that an important aspect of Gul Bahao’s campaigns has been its very close interaction with educational institutions comprising schools and universities. Referring to Karachi as a “City of Schools”, the head of Gul Bahao said that her organization plans to put “Research Centers” in the educational institutes so that the young children can enjoy their studies. She lamented that students dislike studying. She said that the Gul Bahao clubs would act as bridges between the theoretical knowledge of the schools and the real world where their theories would be applied. She said that her greatest joy were the time whenever a discovery was made though it took a lot of money and persistence.

Nargis Latif meets President of Federation Of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry

Yesterday, Gul Bahaos Nargis latif met the president and vice president of FPCCI, Haji Sherani and Mr. Shakeel Dhingra. Nargis said that Gul Bahaos campaign “Garbage is Gold”, “Employment – unlimited” and its famous innovation “Chandi Ghar” are set to have impact on the economy of the country. In addition, its other innovations costing millions of rupees are making inroads into education, health, power generation agriculture, industry including the construction industry right up to cleaning the environment. The president of the FPPCI immediately extended an invitation to address a forthcoming meeting of the ABAD (Association of Builders and developers).

In the meantime there has been intense interaction between students of Universities and Gul Bahao for extending internships for students in its scheme “Rozgar La mehdood” or “Employment –unlimited” . Recently groups of students came from Dawood Engineering University as well as Szabist . While the managing trustee of Gul Bahao addressed students of the Chemistry department of the Karachi University. Throwing a challenge at the Chemistry students, Nargis said manufacture of transparent pet bottles is the need of the hour. She said the potential market is the crores of Pakistani people who desperately need clean water. The manufacturers she said would only have to propagate the concept of the Paaki Pani (As researched by Gul Bahao) and which has been endorsed by the Dow University of Sciences which is simply putting bottles of tap water in the sun for an hour or so. This solar treatment results in water purification without destroying essential minerals.

Welcoming the students of Dawood college of Architecture Nargis likened the invention of the Chandi Ghar to that of the ubiquitous mobile phone which has changed the lives of the people. And just as the inventor of the mobile never dreamed of the multiple uses of the mobile phone so too the mobile house or “Chandi Ghar” will throw up avenues Gul Bahao never dreamt off. Showing the students around the Chandi Ghar plant Nargis said the Chandi Ghar (prefabricated house) consists of modular blocks which can be alternately used for making something as complex as a two storey house or as simple as a sofa or bed. Nargis said that scores of Chandi Ghars have been put up in both remote areas as well as the bustling city of Karachi.

Giving one instance where the Wastic blocks (component of the Chandi Ghar) could be used by factory owners Nargis explained Millions of rupees worth of goods lying under the open skies can now be secured from the impending rains by simply making a platform from these blocks and putting the goods on top of them . This is specially so for low lying areas. She said that recently the navy personnel were very keen to put up the Chandi Ghars in the coastal areas. Their contention was that in the coastal areas no construction material has been able to withstand the corrosive effect of the sea breeze which is why the Chandi Ghar (made of plastic material) would have an advantage.

The head of the Gul Bahao Organisation informed the students that recently a breakthrough came in the person of the the CEO of Bayer pharmaceuticals who installed a Chandi Ghar in his home and entertained his guests (who included personell from the diplomatic corps) in it. He kept insisting that the Chandi Ghar was ideal for marriage halls.
Gul Bahao is now actively conducting a recruitment program for inducting students in the Chandi Ghar marketing program which again is a part of its program of “Employment unlimited.”

Letter to Pakistan’s representative in the United Nations

Dear Sir,

May the peace of God almighty be upon you!  I hope this letter of mine finds you in the best of health and spirits. In the first place please accept my heartfelt gratitude for helping in promoting the cause of Gul Bahao through your esteemed TV channel before assuming your latest responsibilities at the United Nations. This letter is in fact an appeal to you to use your good offices to further the cause of this movement, one of whose objectives is conducting research into waste management. The results have been fantastic to say the least and must be shared with the international community considering that we as Muslims and Pakistanis are duty bound to share our knowledge for the good of mankind. Sir, let me pause here and recall how it became possible for Gul Bahao to come up with its two classic innovations-the Chandi Ghar and the Safai/Kamai Bank (known as Garbage N Gold Bank). As you are aware research demands money and a great deal of it for that matter. To date more than 8crore rupees have been spent (only in 2002,1 crore and ten lacs were spent according to audited accounts). This was the time when for an entire decade the world thanks to the aggressive policies 0f Mr. Bush and company was embroiled in the deadliest war of the world. As if to create a soft corner for this war millions and trillions of dollars poured into our country especially Karachi. Certainly, getting hold of the money was no joke, but the fact remains that it came and was wisely used by us for:

  1. A socioeconomic revival
  2. Controlling environmental degradation while allowing industrialization to flourish
  3. To attract the educated youth towards research activities.

No doubt Gul Bahaos innovations have been getting coverage in the press but the approach at best has been superficial. Both the Chandi Ghar and the Safai/Kamai Bank are totally in sync with 21st century requirements. In fact most of the material used in the Chandi Ghar is high tech material. Let me describe to you the “Kutchra do Sona Lo” campaign. For two years a fleet of vehicles including trucks and pickup vans carrying young men were meeting junk dealers and motivating them to trade in garbage by giving them cash and gold. So successful was the campaign that it brought into existence a new breed of businessmen who started providing cheap raw material to industries and despite the endemic violence that keeps taking place in Karachi its economy keeps growing. The impact of the Safai mein Kamai system can be gauged from the fact that its slogan “You give us garbage, we give you gold” is a household slogan in this metropolis of more than 15 million people .The Safai mein Kamai Bank is truly the bank of the future where the instruments of banking is waste material. It is difficult to say which of the two innovations Chandi Ghar or the Garbage N Gold Bank is going to have a greater impact on the international scene. Briefly the Chandi Ghar is a modular block whose uses are multipurpose. The same blocks may be used to make a double storied houses to making  a swimming pool, furniture including chairs sofas, tables etc. They are waterproof as well as strong enough to resist storms and gales. They are easy to put up and dismantle as well. As the name suggests they are splendid to look at. Sir, recent history tells us that a single innovation has been able to change the course of history, take the example of the steam engine, the computer and now the mobile phone. I am confident that Gul Bahaos innovations are going to do just that.

It may come as a pleasant surprise to you that there has been widespread recognition of our innovations. These include:

1. German nationals connected with the German embassy
2. Clinton Foundation and Ashoka (American NGO)
3. Articles written in Courier International (French)  ,Hindustan Times (India)
4. Supreme Court of India
5. UNDP, UNESCO, World Bank
6. BBC CNN ZeeTV StarPlus
7. Included as a scientific organization in the directory of the Pakistan Council for Science and Technology. It has been covered by the mainstream print and electronic media of Pakistan
8. Have been written about in school level textbooks in both Urdu and English
9. 600 people visit our website on a monthly basis
10. Local bodies (including Nazims and Civil Servants) coming for training
11. University Students doing theses and assignments on our work

No doubt most of the gigantic work mentioned above can be claimed by me and my organization but it would be unfair not to mention hundreds of people throughout the length and breadth of Karachi who gave moral and material support especially the latter. These include:

1. Professionals like architects, engineers, teachers, lecturers, professors
2. NGOs
3. Businessmen (including office bearers of Chambers of Commerce and Industry)
4. MPAS and provincial ministers
5. Universities, elite schools
6. Women who give zakat once a year.

In addition to this and the fact that Karachi has a peculiar geography(especially its arid climate ) has made  the program  truly unique and hence the slogan “Karachi’s gift to the world” Why use the word Karachi when people from outside Karachi as well as Pakistanis living abroad have supported it Answer one must  not forget the fact that Karachi is one of the  largest metropolises of the  world  and hence any innovation coming from here is bound to affect the world. At this stage when the country is going through a rough spell and people’s morale is at low ebb it is particularly important that the above slogan be raised. If these two innovations are publicized on the world forum they are sure to renew the country’s self-esteem and confidence. February 1 will the day when Gul Bahao will be completing 18 years of its existence. In other words it has taken a full 18 years for these innovations to develop and mature. And before I forget there have been claims by other organizations and persons to own these innovations. They have not been patented by us.

Sir, you have been putting your best efforts to project Pakistan’s case abroad. God willing you will also succeed in projecting Karachi’s gift to the World as well.”

With Best Wishes I end with the prayer “May the blessings of the almighty shower down on you”

Nargis Latif
(Managing Trustee)
An Open Letter to Mr. Hussain A. Haroon Pakistan’s Representative in the United Nations