APPNA GC 6th Annual Fall Mushaira
Friday November 15 2019
APPNA GC Team worked tirelessly to make the 6th Annual APPNA GC Fall Mushaira an event in its own league. We had the biggest crowed in the history of these annual events, Mushaira was completely sold out and Auditorium was filled beyond its sitting capacity, extra chairs added to accommodate enthusiastic audience. Atmosphere was mesmerizing and ambiance was marvelous. This year our guest poets include legendary Javed Akhtar from India, Ambreen Haseeb Amber from Pakistan and Aalok Shirivastav from India. Poets from all over USA including Munib ur Rehman from Michigan USA, Dr Abdullah Abdullah from Washington DC, Dr Javaid Akbar from Wisconsin, Dr Hammad Khattak from Dayton, Shahida Naseem Malik from Cincinnati and off course Dr Ali Minai Cincinnati’s resident scholar and poet also grace the occasion. The 6th Annual APPNA GC Fall Mushaira started with the Opening remarks by APPNA GC president Dr Anwer Siddiqui and went on for almost 4 hours with Audience thoroughly enjoyed the poetry and scrumptious food including Kashmiri Chai and Pan during the break.
12th Annual meeting
April 12th 2019, Mayerson Jewish Community Center
The 12th Annual APPNA GC meeting started with the Educational Symposium conducted on April 6th at the University of Cincinnati, West Chester Hospital. The Annual Dinner & Musical Evening was held on April 12th. For the third year in a row this event was held at the JCC Mayerson Banquet & Event area with about 270 attendees.
The evening started with opening remarks by Dr. Ali Usmani the secretary & Dr. Khurram Bari, president elect, 2020. A summary of finances for 2018 was presented by Dr. Abid Yaqub the treasurer of APPNA GC. The guests rose up from their seats when the National Anthems of the US & Pakistan were played. Honorable mention of the BOT members was made and services of the past presidents were acknowledged. The new councillors were introduced including Dr. Nabila Babur & Dr. Raja Nazir. A report about future APPNA GC events for the remainder of 2019 was presented. An Annual Pakistan Day celebration for the Greater Cincinnati area was proposed, along with a Summer Tour of Toronto. A large group of guests attended the program from the Dayton area and a few guests visiting from Lahore, Pakistan also were there to celebrate their 25 years of graduation from King Edward Medical College.
This year we invited Pakistan Children’s Heart Foundation (PCHF) an NGO that is raising funds for the construction of a Heart Hospital in the city of Lahore. Misbah-ul-Haq, the former Pakistan Cricket team captain is currently a spokesperson for PCHF. He addressed the audience and got the fund raising process started along with his colleagues from PCHF. Misbah also led the Maghreb prayers for the evening.
After Maghreb prayers dinner was served which was catered through Chaska Grill and featured delicacies prepared by Chef Saleem, including roast leg of goat & Tava Chicken. During dinner guest were entertained with traditional songs from each region of Pakistan. With dessert the fund raising activities resumed. The PCHF representatives were assisted by Dr. Tahir Latif and Dr. Khurram Bari who conducted an auction of Cricket bats & balls. Autographed tee shirts were also made available & at the end of the day PCHF collected close to $40,000 for their noble cause.
To create an ambiance for this years APPNA GC musical extravaganza, the JCC Mayerson event space was lit up with mesmerizing special effect lighting. The star performer for the evening was Ali Sethi of Coke Studio fame. Him & his band of musicians entertained the audience with a combination of traditional songs with a sufi theme, ghazals and pop music. The audience danced to the popular tunes and the evening concluded with an energetic performance of the traditional “Bhangrah” by guests & students of the University of Cincinnati.
Anwer Siddiqui
President APPNA GC
Education Symposium 2019
Healthcare Challenges for the South Asian Community Settled in USA
Dear members of APPNA GC.
We recently organized our annual Educational symposium on April 6th, 2019. The meeting comprised of an educational forum held at the West Chester Hospital campus of University of Cincinnati Health, focused on the importance of Healthcare Challenges for the South Asian Community Settled in USA, an increasingly important healthcare issue in our community with significant increase in south asian population. . More than 40 attendees were present to learn from some of best- Dr Imran Arif, MD- Professor University of Cincinnati, Dr Mahmud Charif, Associate Professor University of Cincinnati. Dr Muhammad Aslam, Associate Professor University of Cincinnati. This educational forum was enlightening as emerging data about peculiarities of providing care to these patients was elegantly presented. We hope to extend this information to our community soon.
We want to thank our loyal and steadfast members, community members as well as our Indian practitioner representatives for attending the session, for the support as well as advocacy on behalf of the Pakistani diaspora. Several opportunities exist that may require our ongoing dialogue as well as support. We look forward to working with these emerging projects and NGOs.
Please continue to let us know of the needs, focus areas and potentially meaningful activities where APPNA GC can partner with these stakeholders.
Warm Regards
Anwer Siddiqui, MD
President, APPNA GC 2019
APPNA GC Fall Weekend 2018
November 16, 5th Annual Mushaira
November 17, Sham-e-Ghazal
APPNA GC Team worked tirelessly to make the APPNA GC APPNA GC Fall Weekend an event in its own league. We had a great mushaira the guest poets were Saud Usmani and Rehman Faris from Pakistan, Dr Nighat from Birmingham UK, Mr Khushbir Singh Shaad from Lucknow India, Mr Irfan Khalid (comedic poet) from Dallas Texas, Dr Javaid Akbar from Wisconsin, Dr Hammad Khattak from Dayton, Shahida Naseem Malik from Cincinnati and off course Dr Ali Minai cincinnati’s resident scholar and poet.
Wonderful poetry, great food and an enjoyable gathering made the evening memorable. Next day the crowed was even bigger to enjoy the Ghazal Night with Shakila Khorasani- amazing rendition of ghazals from the classic poets, like Ghalib, Faiz, Ahmed Faraz, Jon Ailia and many, many more.
11th Annual Meeting
May 05 2018
Dear members of APPNA GC.
We recently organized our annual Spring meeting on May 5th, 2018. The meeting comprised of an educational forum held at the Reading Road campus of University of Cincinnati focused on the importance of patient centered care as well as new value based care reimbursement contracts- both relevant and increasingly important paradigm shifts happening in the healthcare industry. More than 20 attendees were present to learn from some of best- Dr Robert Ernst, MD- Associate Chief Medical Officer-UC Health, Kevin Joseph,MD Chief Medical Officer - TriHealth and Shehzad Saeed, MD-Associate Chief Medical Officer, Chief Medical Officer, Dayton Children's Health Partners, and Physician Lead, Patient and Family Experience at Dayton Children’s Hospital. This educational forum was followed in the evening by a scintillating and electrifying musical evening featuring Ali Haider- of Purani Jeans aur Guitar- fame. More than 240 people attended this concert at the Mayerson JCC. Attendees sang and danced into the wee hours of the morning of Sunday. We will continue to advocate for ongoing partnership with others NGOs, both locally and at the national and international level.
We want to thank our loyal and steadfast members, community members as well as our Indian practitioner representatives for attending the session, for the support as well as advocacy on behalf of the Pakistani diaspora. Several opportunities exist that may require our ongoing dialogue as well as support. We look forward to working with these emerging projects and NGOs.
Please continue to let us know of the needs, focus areas and potentially meaningful activities where APPNA GC can partner with these stakeholders.
Warm Regards
Shehzad A Saeed, MD
President, APPNA GC
10th Annual General body meeting
May 13 2017
APPNA GC hosted a very successful 10th annual general body meeting on May 13th 2017. Evening started with a scrumptious dinner. Meeting proceedings started by Dr Shehzad Saeed, he presented treasurer report. Dr Aslam laid out the plans for hosting the Fall meeting of APPNA at West in Cincinnati from October 26th to 29th. Dr Shahid Sheikh from Columbus, chair of APPNA SWDRC presented the Muskan project. By laws amendments was also approved by the members unanimously. Dr Latif concluded the meeting proceeding by thanking all APPNA GC past presidents for their services and promise to continue to further the social welfare projects for APPNA GC.
Appreciation awards were presented by Dr Qureshi to Dr Tasleem Minhas, Dr Rasheed Ghani and Dr Farooq Mirza before Farhan Zaidi amuze the audience with his singing for hours.