JEDDAH, 30 April — Over 30, 000 riyals were raised here Thursday by Pakistani women’s groups to pay the tuition fees of needy students of the Pakistan Internatioanl School, Jeddah (PISJ).

For this noble cause, the Anjuman Khawateen-e-Pakistan and a number of other women’s groups, under the supervision of Shahnaz Chaudhry, wife of Consul General Nawaz Chaudhry, organized a successful bazaar at the premises of the consul general’s residence.

The bazaar drew an unexpected crowd of about 2,000, including some enthusiastic visitors from Arab and Western countries. The colorful and lively evening had a soothing effect on the crowd which enjoyed every bit of it. Specially the younger lots were very excited.

About 48 stalls were erected on the occasion. A few of them offered Pakistani delicacies.

Others sold artificial jewelry, clothes, handicrafts, artifacts and decoration pieces on discounted prices. A few of the stalls offered some interesting skill games and attracted good crowds.

The bazaar also proved to be lucky for 20 participating women, who won lucky prizes in a raffle draw at the end of the evening.

One of them, Mrs. Rauf, was the winner of a two-way ticket from Jeddah to Islamabad, sponsored by the country’s flag carrier the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). Two TV sets and some other attractive prizes were also given to the lucky winners.

For the first time, the PISJ and the consulate had opened their stalls in the bazaar. While Salma Khan, headmistress of the girls’ section of the school was managing the PISJ’s stall, Ayesha Suhail was busy catering to the visitors at the consulate’s stall which was buzzing with activity.

Salma also performed the job of announcer with professional finesse. The school had also provided free bus service for the evening.

At the end of the day Shahnaz, who had inaugurated the bazaar, highlighted the role of the various participating groups in the community service and lauded their efforts.

Shahnaz attributed the success of the bazaar to these groups. She also thanked the PIA and all others who helped in making the bazaar successful.