LAHORE - No relative came to meet and console her even on the eve of Eid because she is an orphan and living alone in this world, said Sadia (13) while talking to TheNation on Monday. Having tears in he eyes, she said she celebrated Eid with other orphans who were like a family members. She said would that her parents would have been living and she would have visited different recreational places, parks and gardens with her family like other children. Extremely sorrowful, Sadia maintained that she wanted to go to the market for buying dresses, shoes, bangles, hina and other things on Eid like the children living with their parents, brothers and sisters, but unfortunately she could not do so because she was too young when her parents died and some relatives of hers left her in the orphan house. I am not able even to remember faces of my parents and when I grew up I just saw the faces of my fellow children only, she said, adding the administrators of the orphan house and donors were now like parents of the orphans. There are hundreds of bereaved children like Sadia who are living in various orphan houses of the City, and it is need of the hour that they too become an important part of the society and live like normal families so that they could also participate and celebrate different festivals like Eid. Muhammd Sadique, manager of an orphan house, said the persons having soft corner for the orphans were the patrons of not only the missionary and government-backed organisations and trusts but also of parent-less and shelter-less children of the society. He said on the eve of Eid a number of traders, politicians, social workers and well-to-do people not only donated big amounts for the orphans but also distributed gifts among the children. He said on the occasion of different festivals like Eid, such organisations would arrange functions for these children so that they could also get pleasure. Similarly, different organisations including Fountain House and University of Mental Health and Hospital also arranged different programmes in order to entertain the disabled and mentally retarded persons. On the occasion, a large number of family members and relatives of these handicapped persons also participated in the programmes.