School for Everyone – Let’s not waste another mind

Irfan Karim

I had always dreamt of doing something meaningful, getting involved in something which would give me real happiness. I am blessed to have enjoyed the luxury of education even though my family had not enough means to send me to a university just like several other families in Hunza where people have humble financial backgrounds. But institutions like Hashoo Foundation & USEFP came to my rescue and I was lucky enough to have been able to go to a college.

Life took a turn for good and I ended up going to a College in US on an US State Department Scholarship. A year-long stay in US further aspired me to do what was more meaningful to me. So I decided to come back to US and pursue my further studies to play a positive role in the development of our community in general and to make education easily accessible for less privileged in particular.

My father struggled throughout his life to get us to a better place. He taught us not only to stand tall when facing a challenge but also to struggle in order to make our lives worth living. He always believed in working hard to provide for his family and to split whatever we have with the ones who need it more. So I rebelled the idea to live my life without a cause. I always wanted to make best out of opportunities not only for myself but also for people I care about.

When I had hard time getting Education organizations like Hashoo Foundation and USEFP helped me and gave me the opportunity to go to college which always inspired me to grow up to be a person who could help others in getting education and make a difference in their lives just like these institutions did in my life. These inspirations finally put me in to action and I decided to launch a campaign called “School for Everyone”

School for Everyone – Let’s not waste another mind

An idea which aims to help young people realize their dreams through education. The kids who can’t afford to go to school or quit school often have to suffer a miserable future especially in parts of underdeveloped countries where people often live their lives below the poverty line. Education is the only tool which can help a young boy or a girl achieve a better future and a successful life ahead.

Investing in educating young minds is a great asset. Education can bring about the social change we want in our societies and can uplift our standard of living as a society. Education is a powerful tool for development and one of the strongest instruments for reducing poverty and improving health, gender equality, peace and stability.

To put this idea in to practice I have decided to initiate an organization which I will be registering here in US as a Nonprofit in coming months but I have already put my words in to action and have decided to help about 8 to 10 students right away who are pursuing junior high or high school in addition to few college students. The criteria for the reward is purely need base. An ideal candidate should have a very strong passion to pursue his studies irrespective of his financial hurdles. Candidates will not be assessed on their past grades because I believe grades can’t exactly determine how high one can fly with a little motivation especially in this young age where one’s journey towards maturity has just kick started.

I hope you all assist me in realizing this dream which means so much to me. I will appreciate your feedback and I will try to instill your meaningful suggested ideas in to my actions to make this campaign a success and benefit Hunza in every possible way. I am hoping by the time this writing gets published I will be in Hunza doing what I always wanted to do but until than I am excitedly wrapping up this piece of writing in Chicago since I am taking off for Hunza tomorrow.

Pamir Times

administrator

Pamir Times is the pioneering community news and views portal of Gilgit – Baltistan, Kohistan, Chitral and the surrounding mountain areas. It is a voluntary, not-for-profit, non-partisan and independent venture initiated by the youth.

See author's posts