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  Brenda
and Said Yasin
(Pakistan - Ireland)
Women's Educational Foundation
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| Background |
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The Foundation is a tribute to the memory of a Dublin-born woman, Brenda Miriam Meredith (1921-1980) and a Punjabi-born man, Said Ahmed Yasin (1917-1998), two remarkable individuals whose lifelong partnership serves as a symbolic reminder of the values of tolerance, acceptance and cross-cultural understanding.
Brenda and Said first met in Trinity College, Dublin, where both were studying in the late 1930s. Her degree was in 'Mental and Moral Science', now called Philosophy and Psychology; his was in Veterinary Science. They married in Delhi in 1946 and moved to Pakistan following the Partition of India and Independence of Pakistan in 1947. Their daughter Rosheen was born the following year in Karachi, where Dr. Yasin worked as Deputy Animal Husbandry Commissioner in the Department of Agriculture and Science.
During the 1960s, Dr. Yasin worked as a consultant to the United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organisation and to the World Bank. The family then settled in Ireland where Dr. Yasin worked as a Lecturer in TCD’s Veterinary College. He was the Honorary Consul-General for Pakistan in Ireland from the mid-1970s until the mid-1990s, when he was succeeded by Mr. Patrick Rowan, a solicitor and later, a founding Trustee and Chairperson of the Yasin Foundation. |
Said and Brenda Yasin receiving MAs from Trinity College, Dublin, mid-1970s |
Founders and Trustees: Rosheen Callender (left) and Nausheen Ahmad at the formal signing of the Trust Deed of the Yasin Foundation in Dublin |
Following Dr. Yasin's death in 1998, the first Embassy of Pakistan in Ireland was established, headed by her Excellency Ms. Rifat Iqbal. Subsequent Ambassadors were H.E. Mr. Toheed
Ahmad (2004-2007) and H.E. Ms. Naghmana Hashmi (2007- present). |
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