OLAAT is a great initiative started by @inthenow and @michellecarter to find missing children in the U.S. and it plans to spread its wings to other countries of the globe too so they can help find missing children all over the world. I think it is a great initiative and the creators behind OLAAT are really working hard to help the many missing children get back to their families.
Recently, it posted information on two missing children and that reminded of a case of a missing child here in Pakistan. Zanrish Naveed is a 7 year old girl who lives in Bahria Town, Rawalpindi, Pakistan with her parents. She got kidnapped on 27th July around 10pm from outside her home. When she got kidnapped, her parents informed the authorities and also reached out to everyone they could on every social media platform they could get their hands on but mainly on Facebook. Below is the photo of that sweet girl.
Credits
Although, it was a kidnapping case and the girl eventually returned home after about 2 weeks, social media played a huge role in her returning home. It isn’t clear whether her parents paid a ransom to the kidnappers or not as the details of her story aren’t available online; nonetheless, I strongly believe that reaching out to people on social media and sharing her story with others did help her get back home.
Here are a few ways I believe reaching out to people and sharing stories of missing kids on any social media platform helps increase the likelihood of them being found.
Firstly, the more people find out about a certain story, the more likely they are going to spread it which increases the chances of the story reaching to more people and even authorities that can help with the case.
Secondly, when people find out about such stories, they pray for the missing child and his/ her family. Prayers work wonders in helping you achieve your goal. So the more prayers you have for a certain child, I strongly believe the higher are his/ her chances of returning home.
Thirdly, when you share your story, you are likely to get connected with people who have similar experiences to share. Some of them maybe bad but some of them may be good and hopeful. Coming across the positive experiences increases your hope that your child will return home.
Fourthly, you connect people to come together for a good cause and encourage them to do whatever they can to find a certain child. People can advertise, write blogs, spread the news etc. and together play some role in bringing that child home.
These are all the reasons that helped Zarnish return home to their parents. Her story has inspired me to spread the news of every child gone missing as much as possible so I can play my part in bringing him/ her home. This is why I request you all to please check out @olaat and resteem the posts related to the children gone missing and share it on Facebook and all the other social media platforms you use. Your support would mean a lot to those kids. Also, if you can donate for the cause, it would be fantastic!
My heart goes out to all those who are missing from their home and to their families for going through this trauma. @olaat is with you in this and is going to help you.
Lots of love,
Sharoon.
