MAHAK Represents Iranian Civil Capacity in Presence of the President of the Swiss Confederation

The President of the Swiss Confederation, Mr. Johann N. Schneider-Ammann, visited MAHAK on 27th of February 2016 and witnessed a small part of well-developed Iranian civil capacities that has enabled MAHAK to achieve the impossible during the 25 years of its activities.

This ceremony, planned and sponsored by Iran-Switzerland Chamber of Commerce, was held with the presence of 300 attendees including high ranked economic, social and scientific representatives from Switzerland, members of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, members of Iran-Switzerland Chamber of Commerce, state delegates, and members of MAHAK’s boards of trustees and directors. At the beginning of his visit from MAHAK, an honorary member of Iran-Switzerland Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Johann N. Schneider-Ammann participated in the sole press conference held with his presence along with several international media representatives.

The gathering started with the President of the Swiss Confederation’s tour around MAHAK hospital which helped him to get familiar with MAHAK’s activities in the three aspects of charity, treatment and research relying solely on social contributes. During this visit he mentioned: “Here at MAHAK, I am very much impressed. It is a fantastic hospital based on a private engagement which is very close to what we live and what we think is good. That’s why I am absolutely and positively impressed.”

In one of MAHAK’s play rooms, Mr. President, visited MAHAK children playing and sat around their table to write the memorial sentence of “All the best with my warmest feeling” as the remembrance of his visit.

At the press conference, when he was asked on his opinion about MAHAK as an Iranian community-based, non-governmental and non-profit organization demonstrating Iranian civil capacities, he stated that: ”Social capacity for what I saw at MAHAK is a good word. In less than a few seconds I witnessed this capacity for supporting children with cancer and the fact that a non-governmental organization saw itself responsible for this issue, proves this capacity as well. The culture of humanitarian concerns can be noticed clearly, the Iranian society is eager to contribute financially or non-financially to those in need.”

Paying tribute to such capacity, he added: “I really did not expect to view such a capacity. This county can develop rapidly through various investments. I can say from my experiences that the chance of development for Iran is very high.”

After the press conference, the ceremony continued in MAHAK’s amphitheater during which the chairman of Iran-Switzerland Chamber of Commerce, the chairman of MAHAK’s board, the CEO of MAHAK and the President of the Swiss Confederation, Mr. Johann N. Schneider-Ammann delivered speeches.

Mr. Nezam-Mafi, chairman of Iran-Switzerland Chamber of Commerce (ISCC), started his speech with welcoming the guests and elaborating the reason ISCC chose MAHAK for this event. He said: “It is important to see the human face of Iran besides from business and official protocols. This organization which is fully funded by private business and individuals has been very successful despite all difficulties the society faced during the past years. MAHAK has always been able to provide services for the most vulnerable members of our society which are the children with cancer. Not even in Iran but in neighboring countries. MAHAK always makes sure that no child is left behind with cancer. We are proud of this organization as a shiny example of the Iranian civilization and culture of compassion.”

The second speaker was Javad Karbassi Zadeh, Chairman of MAHAK’s board of directors who welcomed the attendees and appreciated their interest towards MAHAK. Then he stated: “MAHAK, in line with its corporate social responsibilities towards the society as its core asset, is always eager to expand its international collaborations not only to share its knowledge and experiences with those in need while benefitting from their scientific and applicable knowledge to work toward a synergic relationship but also represent in a small way on the global scene the Iranian civil society capacities and commitments to deal with and solve critical social problems.”

Then Arasb Ahmadian, the CEO of MAHAK, presented a report about MAHAK activities, started by explaining the worldwide and nationwide statistics on childhood cancer, and stated: “MAHAK as an NGO has mainly focused on three crucial areas of ‘Charity, Treatment, and Research’ in vein of its vision and mission statements. By relying on the voluntarily supports managed by a systematic approach, MAHAK has emphasized to produce added value for the donations with establishing MAHAK hospital with comprehensive supportive services and performing research projects related to pediatric cancer. In fact, MAHAK has had a systematic approach in performing these activities and it has always avoided the philosophy of helping the people by merely donating money to them.” He closed his speech by mentioning MAHAK’s future plans which are comprehensive and integrated services across the country, implementing international standards of scientific researches, movement towards digital organization and being ranked as the 1st among all global NGOs by 2020.

The President of the Swiss Confederation, Mr. Johann N. Schneider-Ammann, as the last and special speaker, did thank representatives of MAHAK for introducing him different aspects of MAHAK’s hard working required activities. he stated that “MAHAK is a wonderful place of how one can make a huge difference even in the most difficult time and I was so impressed by the magnitude and professionalism of this organization’s activities with private initiatives.“ While congratulating MAHAK for being ranked 4th in SGS benchmarking audition, he mentioned that care for people and the provision of medical support are key concerns of Switzerland and at the end he did thank MAHAK for engaging in such an extremely humanitarian and important activity.

Saman Ehteshami, Iranian pianist, who always performs voluntarily in MAHAK’s events, played a classical Iranian piece accompanied by Mohammad Rafati, a young Iranian talented singer.

As a symbol of gratitude for the presence of Mr. President at MAHAK, Saideh Ghods, founder of MAHAK and Dr. Mohammadreza Rafii, vice chairman of the board, dedicated a plaque to Mr. Johann N. Schneider-Ammann painted by little supporters of MAHAK.

This visit happens to coincide with the 7th benchmarking exercise of Société Generale de Surveillance(SGS) in which MAHAK has been ranked as the 4th NGO in the World with the score of 95.5. We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to Iran-Switzerland Chamber of Commerce for choosing MAHAK to organize this ceremony. We believe that with your continued kindness and support, children suffering from cancer will one day be able to say goodbye to cancer and return to their sweet childhood days.