MES Jeddah Chapter recently organized a farewell function to honor its senior member K.T. Hyder who left Kingdom after 42 years of service. Lauding the services of Hyder, MES President K.P. Abdul Salam said "He showed a great sense of dedication and commitment in completing whatever tasks assigned to him." Hyder has been associated with MES Jeddah from early nineties and has been a member of the executive for most of these years, albeit under different elected committees. He was Joint Secretary of the present committee and has also acted as its general secretary. Al Abeer Group Chairman Alungal Mohamed, the chief patron of MES, while offering his felicitations to Hyder, noted Hyder's leadership roles and urged him to remain active and continue his social work back home. "By associating with MES state committee, which runs many educational and social empowerment programs as a leading NGO, Hyder can act as a live wire connection between state MES and Jeddah district committee in future," he added. Mohamed Ashraf, former president and general convenor of MES flagship programs like ‘ESEL' (A talent hunt program administered to test the essay writing and oratory skills of students in association with Al Abeer Educity), highlighted the role of Hyder in organizing the event, that required elaborate preparations, both in academic and logistics areas. "Hyder always showed punctuality and commitment," Ashraf noted. Saudi Gazette Executive Editor L. Ramnarayan Iyer praised MES for its commendable work in the field of education & youth empowerment both in India and Gulf countries. He also noted the great humanitarian work MES was doing by reaching out to the Rohingyan refugee camps in Bangladesh in addressing their sanitation and safe drinking water problems. He hoped that Hyder will contribute to the community back home in every which way, as he did here. Salah Karadan, general secretary, in his welcome address recalled his long association with Hyder and noted his keen interest in serving the community and his leadership roles in organizing educational events for the youth. Saleem Mullaveettil, treasurer of the organization, and Hamza Seiko, vice president, also spoke on the occasion. They said, "Hyder can now act as our coordinator in Kerala for the MES Safe Drinking Water Project", which currently runs in Kerala and other northern states like Jharkand and Bihar. There are several NGOs working in various communities to address the problem of safe drinking water. Realizing the magnitude of the problem and taking into consideration the suffering of fellow human beings, the Jeddah Chapter of the Muslim Educational Society (MES) ventured into this field and help provide safe drinking water to people in selected areas by digging bore wells and traditional wells. A pioneer project of MES, the safe drinking water scheme was initiated in the year 2015. The project has completed 17 wells in various districts of Kerala, the last being at MES Mampad college donated in the name of late Vallanchira Mohamed Ali, by his children. We have also extended this project to states like Bihar and Jharkhand in the rural areas, where there is acute shortage of safe drinking water. Twelve bore well were provided in the northern states in addition to 6 wells provided at the Rohingya refugee camps, added Abdul Salam. Donors include MES members and other well-wishers who value providing drinking water as a major act of charity. Hyder, who arrived to the Kingdom in 1977, had worked in Attar Travels in various capacities before retiring as Airport Cargo Manager, Kuwait Airways. He now contemplates a retired life in his home town in Perinthalmanna, Kerala, with a continuation of his social work. Hyder, in his address, thanked the present members for their laudatory words while claiming that he did not whether he was deserving of such praise. A recitent and humble person, Hyder allowed his work to do the speaking. He promised to sustain the connection with MES and hoped that he would he able to continue doing social work through MES and on his own volition. Chief patron Alungal Mohamed presented a memento to Hyder for his outstanding contributions to MES Jeddah chapter. Other speakers V.K. Rauf (Navodaya), Musafir (Malayalam News), P. Shamsuddin (Madhyamam daily), noted Hyder's contribution in promoting football. As an accomplished footballer, representing Calicut university and Cochin Port Trust prior to his expatriate life, Hyder has been serving as the chief of technical committee of SIFF Jeddah which is an administrative body of various expatriate Indian football clubs in Jeddah. Jamaluddin (V.P), Sakkeer Hussain Kodungalllore, V.K. Mohamed, Abdul Aziz, Roshan Mustafa, and Rishad Alavi also offered felicitations. The program started with the Qiraat of Hyder and Saleem M.V. proposed a vote of thanks. — SG
