The trust is named after late Mr Ali Hasan Mangi, for whom poverty and deprivation were deeply personal. He was born in 1913 to Muhammad Ibrahim Mangi in Rato Dero, a small town near the city of Larkana in Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh. Orphaned at the age of five, he was taken to the village of Khairo Dero by his maternal grandmother where he was cared for by extended family. He matriculated from Bombay University and was appointed as a teacher at a government school.
He then worked several different postings in the cities of Larkana, Sukkur, Rohri, Jacobabad and Shikarpur. He started by opening a small Public Complaint Office where ordinary citizens could bring their problems. This helped him become well acquainted with people, their needs, and aspirations. During the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, he set up a refugee camp in Sukkur’s famous Lucas Park, providing immigrants with food, shelter, and clothing. Later, a colony for immigrants in Old Sukkur was named “Mangi Colony” in acknowledgement of his contribution.
Eventually, he got into business, opening factories making wool, silk, hardware, fans and carpets. He started the first transport company in Sindh, a bank, and got into ship-breaking and commodities’ exports. He then went on to enter politics; and those very people elected him to Parliament time and again for over forty years. When he moved to Karachi in the sixties, he allocated rooms in his house for travelers who would come seeking his help. He always ensured they were fed, had a warm place to sleep and fare to travel back home after their problems were sorted out.
Ali Hasan Mangi passed away in 1994. To this day, decades after his passing, people remember him for his kindness and generosity; as a true friend to the poor. The Ali Hasan Mangi Memorial Trust aspires to take his mission forward, working toward the development and uplift of the poor.
Mission:
Ali Hasan Mangi Memorial Trust’s mission is to help uplift the lives of people in disadvantaged villages in the Sindh Province, Pakistan through cohesive rural development. They began their journey in the Village Khairo Dero in District Larkana in 2008, aiming to create a model community where families have access to basic facilities such as water, cooking gas, shelter, toilets, built-up kitchens, and electricity. They also provided the families with small loans to improve income as well as community infrastructure such as a sewerage system, education, free healthcare, a public library, a playground, and skills training. Now, they have worked in over 350 villages in four districts of the province.
For more information, please visit: www.alihasanmangitrust.org