PHWO in Larkana: Our Home Town and Only Office

Registered in Lahori Muhalla, Peace and Humanity Welfare Organization (PHWO) runs entirely on volunteers as an NGO in Larkana, one that belongs to no party and no sect. Our head office is here in the city, at house 704/C in Lahori Muhalla, beside the Government Girls High School. It is the only physical office PHWO has anywhere in Pakistan, so if you live in Larkana you can walk in, sit down and talk about your problem face to face.

Everything we do is free. A family from Rehmatpur, a student from Naudero or a widow from Dokri can ask for help with ration, a laptop for study, school fees, medicine, rent, debt or a family court case. Each Larkana request is checked and considered, and support follows only once a Larkana volunteer has confirmed the need and PHWO finds it can meet it. We do not promise an outcome, and nobody may ever charge you money in PHWO’s name.

Why Larkana matters to PHWO

Larkana is not a branch for us. It is the town where PHWO is based and where many of our volunteers live. Many of the people who fill our volunteer form write “Larkana” as their city, and that local circle is what lets us check a request quickly: a volunteer can often confirm an address in Lahori Muhalla, Shaikh Zaid Colony or Bakrani without a long journey.

PHWO’s registration is still being processed under the 1961 ordinance that governs voluntary social welfare agencies. We say this openly because people in Larkana rightly ask who they are dealing with before they share a photo or any personal details.

Larkana District by the census

According to the 2023 Census, Larkana District has 1,784,453 people on 1,948 square kilometres, which makes it one of the most crowded districts in upper Sindh at about 916 people per square kilometre. Around 45 percent of residents live in urban areas, and the population grew from 1,521,786 in 2017, an average of 2.7 percent a year. The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics places Larkana among the five Sindh districts where literacy falls between 50 and 60 percent, better than much of the province but still far from universal.

Sindhi is the language of the home for most families. Urdu is common in offices and bazaars, and you will also hear Seraiki and Brahui among families with roots across the Balochistan border.

Free legal aid in Larkana for family cases

Most of the legal requests PHWO receives are family matters: khula, maintenance for a wife or children, and custody. In Larkana these are heard by the family courts at the district court complex, and appeals can go to the Larkana circuit bench of the Sindh High Court. If you cannot pay a lawyer, use the free legal aid form. Volunteer advocates read custody cases and matters with an urgent hearing date first. You do not need an FIR to ask.

We cannot promise that a lawyer will take every case, and we never promise a result. What we can do is read your papers, explain the next step in plain Sindhi or Urdu, and try to match you with a volunteer advocate who practises in Larkana.

Help people ask us for most

• Devices for learning and earning. Students at colleges and at Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University often cannot attend online classes or finish assignments without one. Tell us what course you are on and what you need.
• Monthly ration. Daily-wage workers from the rice mills and the guava orchards around the city lose income for weeks when work stops.
• Debt. Many families borrowed from shopkeepers or relatives after the 2022 floods and are still paying.
• Medicine and hospital costs, school fees and rent.

Start at Request help. The form asks for a live photo of you and for you to describe the problem. This protects donors and it protects you.

Floods still shape family budgets

The monsoon floods of 2022 reached 68 union councils in Larkana District and damaged 192 kilometres of road, according to the PDMA Sindh situation report of 13 September 2022. Houses in villages along the canals were cracked or lost, crops failed, and many families sold livestock to survive the winter. PHWO accepts requests linked to disaster losses, and our programmes list emergency relief as one of eight focus areas.

Volunteer, donate or give Zakat from Larkana

If you live here, you are our closest helper. Volunteer to verify cases in your mohalla, help older people fill forms, or raise funds among friends. Law graduates and practising advocates at the Larkana bar are needed most. Larkana volunteers are recognised with a certificate and with two letters, one of thanks and one setting out their experience.

To give, use Donate. Money or goods are welcome, and Zakat and Sadaqah go 100 percent to people in need. Unsure how much Zakat you owe on gold, savings or crops? Try the Zakat calculator. You can also sponsor a case directly.

Rishta Desk for Larkana families

The Rishta Desk costs nothing and welcomes every faith. Profiles are checked with a live selfie and reviewed by PHWO staff. Families in Larkana decide everything for themselves, and nothing is guaranteed.

Public services in Larkana you can also use

• District & Sessions Court Larkana and the District Legal Empowerment CommitteeFamily, civil and criminal cases; the committee can fund a lawyer for people who cannot pay.
• Sindh High Court, Larkana circuit benchAppeals and writ petitions from the region.
• Chandka Medical College Hospital (SMBBMU)The main public teaching hospital for Larkana and nearby districts.
• BISP tehsil office LarkanaBenazir Kafaalat registration and payment queries; helpline 0800-26477.
• Emergency numbersPolice 15; ambulance and rescue 1122 (Sindh Emergency Rescue Service); Edhi 115; women's helpline 1094.

These are public or independent services, listed to help you. They are not part of PHWO.

Frequently asked questions