<p>This Sunday will mark another day observed as International Widows Day amid a special recognition for a Kerala-based young widow, Sifiya Haneef, who stood up against odds and refused to succumb to her ordeals. </p>.<p>The Neerja Bhanot Pan Am Trust has announced Sifiya Haneef as the recipient of the prestigious Neerja Bhanot Award to be conferred upon her on Neerja’s birth anniversary in Chandigarh this September. The annual award, which includes Rs 1.5 lakh and a citation, was founded in 1990 in memory of the Braveheart senior flight purser Neerja Bhanot who fought and saved hundreds of lives while losing her own during a Pan Am plane hijack at the Karachi airport in September 1986.</p>.<p>Sifiya husband died when she was 20-years of age, just four years after her marriage. By then she had two kids and a long daunting life ahead. Today, this young woman helps and touches lives of more than 300 families on the brink. </p>.<p>Sifiya, who lives in Palakkad in Kerala, helps families in getting shelter, constructing toilets in slums and colonies, medicines to the ailing a lot more. The award to Sifiya will be conferred by US-based Wendy Sue Knecht who was working with Pan Am and as a Neeraj’s trainer in the 1980s, Chandigarh-based Akhil Bhanot, managing trustee, Neerja Bhanot Pan Am Trust said. </p>.<p>The UN observes 23 June as International Widows Day to draw attention to voices and experiences of widows and to galvanize support they need.</p>.<p>Bhanot said Sifiya’s life is a representation of women embodiment, which is why she has been selected for this prestigious award. Sifiya picked up a part-time job to meets ends after she lost her husband and discontinued her studies, he said. Sifiya soon realised the magnitude of suffering of widows. On her Facebook page, ‘Chithal,’ she penned down and shared miseries and problems of widows, ailing mothers, elderly, cancer patients etc, garnering support for them through donations. </p>
<p>This Sunday will mark another day observed as International Widows Day amid a special recognition for a Kerala-based young widow, Sifiya Haneef, who stood up against odds and refused to succumb to her ordeals. </p>.<p>The Neerja Bhanot Pan Am Trust has announced Sifiya Haneef as the recipient of the prestigious Neerja Bhanot Award to be conferred upon her on Neerja’s birth anniversary in Chandigarh this September. The annual award, which includes Rs 1.5 lakh and a citation, was founded in 1990 in memory of the Braveheart senior flight purser Neerja Bhanot who fought and saved hundreds of lives while losing her own during a Pan Am plane hijack at the Karachi airport in September 1986.</p>.<p>Sifiya husband died when she was 20-years of age, just four years after her marriage. By then she had two kids and a long daunting life ahead. Today, this young woman helps and touches lives of more than 300 families on the brink. </p>.<p>Sifiya, who lives in Palakkad in Kerala, helps families in getting shelter, constructing toilets in slums and colonies, medicines to the ailing a lot more. The award to Sifiya will be conferred by US-based Wendy Sue Knecht who was working with Pan Am and as a Neeraj’s trainer in the 1980s, Chandigarh-based Akhil Bhanot, managing trustee, Neerja Bhanot Pan Am Trust said. </p>.<p>The UN observes 23 June as International Widows Day to draw attention to voices and experiences of widows and to galvanize support they need.</p>.<p>Bhanot said Sifiya’s life is a representation of women embodiment, which is why she has been selected for this prestigious award. Sifiya picked up a part-time job to meets ends after she lost her husband and discontinued her studies, he said. Sifiya soon realised the magnitude of suffering of widows. On her Facebook page, ‘Chithal,’ she penned down and shared miseries and problems of widows, ailing mothers, elderly, cancer patients etc, garnering support for them through donations. </p>
