The UNSTOPPABLES!

The social crusader

Sana Khan works for an NGO called Aahang. They work on issues related to sexual and reproductive health, which are considered taboo in our society. Child sexual abuse, domestic violence, gender relations, puberty, and hygiene are some of the areas that Aahang focuses on.

For Sana, the nature of the work itself brings up the biggest challenges. Along with Aahang, there are several other organizations lobbying with the government and trying to advocate institutional change. “We had the Kasur scandal, and now dramas are being shown on the topic of child abuse. I think the government is ready to accept talking about these issues. We have done a lot of advocacy with the provincial government to integrate relevant content into school curriculum,” shares Sana.

Sana feels strongly about the state of gender inequality in Pakistan. “The opportunities, systems, and infrastructure that enable gender equality don’t really exist in Pakistan. These issues are important because it is this very imbalance of power that eventually results in domestic abuse of women.” While working on the social issues plaguing the Pakistani society, organizations like Aahang are steering the country in the right direction.

The ambitious educationist

Asma Tughral, has been running her own school - SAYA - in the suburbs of Islamabad since the past 10 years. Starting a school is not an easy job and Asma, too, had her share of difficulties. She started off by teaching poor children under the shadow of a tree. “Gradually we got a ceiling over our heads, then one room, a second, and then a third. First we had to convince the parents to send their daughters to school, then we had to find capable teachers, the likes of those teaching in reputed schools of Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. We had to train those teachers, find volunteers, raise funds and make a proper teaching system,” she shares.

Running her own school has taught her that the key to personal happiness is spreading happiness. “All educated girls are responsible for the education and health of their supporting families, maids, servants. Pay back to the society, it doesn’t always have to be just about yourself,” points out Asma. And with Miracle Women like Asma Tughral, we cannot help but hope for an educated and moving forward Pakistan.

The passionate veterinarian

Isma  Gheewala, a veterinary surgeon, is currently running Animal Care centre in Karachi. When Isma started out on this path, she was told that this was one of the lowest professions in the country related to the field of medicine. However, she always loved animals and felt that there was a dire need of veterinarians to treat animals. “Since then, it has been my goal to bring up this profession to the same level of respect as it has in the West. There are no facilities available in Pakistan to get a CT scan or an MRI conducted for animals,” laments Isma. Isma faces quite a few challenges being a Veterinary Surgeon in Pakistan. Initially people did not take her seriously. “It has taken me years of hard work to prove that I do have the knowledge and have finally earned the respect that I set out to achieve for myself,” says Isma. With such veterinary surgeons leading the way in Pakistan, the standards of animal welfare are sure to rise sooner than later. Isma is an inspiration for all women who lack support in pursuing the profession of their choice and she shows by example, how, with patience and hard work, success and respect are bound to knock at your door.

The indigenous ambassador

Sadiqa Hussain is the owner of ‘Tali’, a handicrafts store that sells unique souvenirs for foreigners to take back from Pakistan, especially Karachi.

About ten years ago Sadiqa decided to bring together craftsmen and artisans who will create high quality souvenirs for foreigners to take back home and have a positive memory from Pakistan in their homes. “When people came to Pakistan from abroad there were no readily available souvenirs, apart from Zainab market. I tried to fill that gap by ‘Tali’. The initial challenge was to find good people to work for me. There was nothing like ‘yellow pages’ for these sort of craftsmen so I had to do my own hunting and negotiations. First I would buy whatever they were selling, incorporate the design and make something new. I was able to gain their trust that way,” elaborates Sadiqa.

“As first generation Pakistanis it is our responsibility to take ownership of our country, project a positive image, and support local craft,” she adds. Women across Pakistan can learn from her journey that beautiful things happen when you distance yourself from every kind of negativity.

The visionary

Hiba Masood is the founder of ‘Veritas Learning Circle’, Karachi’s first alternative progressive learning space, and an after school enrichment centre for children called ‘Happy Place’. She also started blogging under the pseudonym ‘Drama Mama’. So amazing was her experience of home-schooling her son that she decided to continue doing the same with her two younger daughters as well. Now, with more than 20 thousand followers on her ‘Drama Mama’ page, home-schooling three kids under the ages of 7, running ‘Happy Place’, and being a consultant for Liberty Books, Hiba Masood is living what most of us can only dream of - a self-actualized life.

Hiba, while qualifying that home-schooling may not be for everyone, is a big proponent of breaking the shackles of a rigid syllabus. “My decision - not to send my children to a regular school has been one of the best. It’s liberating. My kids are learning, reading, writing, and it doesn’t matter at what age they do it. I’m just happy they are exploring their love for learning - something that schools talk about but miss out on.”

The dedicated doctor

Dr. Shaista Effendi is a Consultant, Reconstructive, Aesthetic and Burns Surgeon in Karachi. Trained at the DOW Medical College in Pakistan and then in the United Kingdom and United States, Dr. Shaista was very clear about her aims and objectives since she was a young girl. Trained under the guidance of some of the best consultants from across the world for reconstruction, Dr. Shaista returned to Pakistan to help her own people. She joined DOW University and helped to revamp and renovate the system there from the hiring and training of teachers to the examination systems for students. She also helped to develop the Burns Centre in Civil Hospital, Karachi. “The Burns Centre is the largest in Pakistan and we treat a variety of patients including acid and flame burn victims,” elucidates Dr.Shaista. When we have doctors such as Dr.Shaista in Pakistan leading the field of medicine, the poor health conditions of the country are sure to improve soon.

The committed coach

“My aim in life is women’s empowerment in Pakistan and I plan to do it through football,” says Sadia Sheikh, the football pioneer in Pakistan and coach for Diya Women’s Football club. She is also the only FIFA administrator in the country.

Sadia trains in Lyari, Karachi, where she has already coached about 2000 girls to date. “Fighting people’s cultural beliefs is hard. When I go to Lyari to train, the families feel that I am going to ‘spoil’ their girls but once they get to know and trust me, they stop creating issues. They know I am there to help,” illustrates Sadia. In these coaching sessions, girls are not just taught football; they also learn how to speak English, how to eat at a table and how to communicate with other people gracefully. So, what is offered to them is complete grooming along with acquiring the skill to play a sport professionally.

Raising funds to run a football coaching centre is yet another challenge faced by Sadia. As it is, very few organisations in Pakistan want to support sports, Sadia has to do with the support she gets from her family and friends. With women like Sadia leading the way, the day is not far when Pakistan’s female football team will bring the world cup back home.

The wellness guru

Mantahaa Maqsood is a lifestyle and wellness coach. Mantahaa’s unconventional profession often has people confused about her being a fitness trainer or a psychologist. “We aim to transform people’s lifestyles and for us to do that we have to work from their mind down to their heels. We know our client inside out through various tests and check-ups and we become our client’s BFFs,” says Mantaha. She claims that her lifestyle and wellness program aims to create a ‘tribe’ for the modern woman, where she has a whole team of women to push her towards goals. She’s had a particularly gratifying moment when she helped a breast cancer patient, who was struggling to accept the changes in her body post-surgery, regain her confidence with the help of lifestyle and wellness coaching.

When commenting on her challenges, Mantahaa compares life to an ECG monitor, saying that “when there are no ups and downs on those lines then it means you’re dead! What is life without ups and downs?” Like many women in the country, she finds the overarching misogynist mindset of our society to be a huge challenge. To fight off these biases, Mantahaa urges women to showcase their inner and outer strength with a fighter spirit. “We (women) have to get up and fight. You have to roll up your sleeves and leave all issues at home before you walk out the door,” she asserts, advising other women to “think like a man and feel like a woman!”

The die-hard fighter

Dr. Ruby Abbasi is the founder and CEO of Al Umeed Rehabilitation Association (AURA) for children suffering from Cerebral Palsy. The NGO runs on donations, fundraisers, and sponsorships. The organization began in 1985 in a two room premises in P.E.C.H.S. Bilal, (her own son) along with two other children were the first patients. It has come a long way since then.  Overall, more than 2000 children have gone through her foundation. Currently they are located in Gulistan-e-Johar and have 122 children including 43 street children.

There is no doubt that Ruby has had her fair share of hardships. But for her the biggest hurdle has been trying to change the mindset of people. She used to take Bilal everywhere on his wheelchair to make his life as normal as possible, but people would stand and stare. Even in Karachi she couldn’t find a place for children suffering from Cerebral Palsy. She had done a world renowned course from England and could have stayed home and worked with her son. But she decided that the best use of her knowledge and experience would be to open a centre that could not only give care to children but also work on awareness of this crippling disease.

Today, Al Umeed is Ruby’s miracle. The way it was made and where it is now is all miraculous. Bilal passed away when he was 32, yet his legacy continues to live on through his mother, inspiring us and helping more families and children every year.

The street smart

“Social work, is by no means easy. The children on the streets include orphans, children who have run away from their homes, those who beg, and to top it all, there are mafias who don’t allow these kids to study. You have to fight a war to educate these children. I like to be challenged which drives me to do more,” says Anfas Ali Shah Zaidi, who is running the Ocean Welfare Organization in Karachi.

Before educating these street children, Anfas became friends with them in order to gain their trust. To run this organization, Anfas seeks only the help of her family and friends.  “I pay them to study, Rs.50 per child, and give them food and groceries. I also give them clothes for events. That way, I can compensate their loss in income when they come to me to study.” Asking the government for help is out of the question since “if they can’t manage the public schools, what help can they extend to me and my cause?”  Starting with 2 children, Anfas’s Miracle Moment was when within 2 months of the beginning of her project, she had 450 street children to teach. Her journey shows that successful people keep taking action - they make mistakes, but they don’t quit. And with this motto, she is indeed leading Pakistan to a brighter future.

The go-getter

Rabia Aziz is the pioneer of  ‘Special Needs Pakistan’, an online support group for families and mothers who are raising children with extra needs, and invisible or visible disabilities. Rabia’s work involves going to schools and communities to raise awareness about these issues. She knows that parents try to keep their children away from children with special needs. So it is of utmost importance that both parents and children are educated on this topic. It is her mission to ensure that all children are able to walk the corridors of society as strong and free willed human beings and not worry about hiding behind walls.

Rabia’s life changed when three and a half years ago she was blessed with a daughter but with Apert Syndrome. The syndrome causes fusion of some skull bones and prevents the skull from growing normally which affects the shape of the head and face. Rabia soon found out that there is no medical, physical, or emotional support available in Pakistan for parents in her situation. Rabia’s commitment to herself that she will raise Alia to be an independent and emotionally stable member of society is what eventually gave birth to her online support system. 

Rabia is waiting for the day when as a nation and as a society we are able to raise compassionate children who will in turn become compassionate adults, giving everyone an equal opportunity to shine.

The bohemian worker

Sharmeen Khan, a clinical psychologist by profession, is also a hardcore social worker. She is the board member of an organization called ‘Resettling the Indus’. Her private practice keeps things going, but the voluntary aspect of her work is extremely rewarding. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” she says. Her goal is to resettle the Indus Valley Civilization to its former glory.

Funding is one of the primary challenges ‘Resettling the Indus’ has to face. Sharmeen has been working on emergency disaster relief for six years now and says that the real work begins once the emergencies are over. In 2010, 20 million lives were impacted by the floods and six years later, people are still working for their rehabilitation. “In the acute phase, it’s just a bandage. Restoration of life starts after the wound has healed. Therefore the need for money continues even after the passage of so many years,” Sharmeen proclaims.

The philanthropist

“My grandfather was instrumental in setting up National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases so when I was approached for a position on the board, I thought it’s something he started and that I should carry it forward. I felt it to be my purpose that I have to give back to the society that God has so kindly given me,” says Zareena Asghar Khan, who is a founder trustee of this foundation, which treats patients free of cost and helps them to get back on their feet.

At institutions such as NICVD the need for funds is constant. To support such a foundation so selflessly is a great act of charity and as long as humanitarians like Zareena Asghar Khan continue to exist in Pakistan, who love changing lives, our country will always remain to be a warm, beautiful place.

The multi-tasker

She paints the walls of Karachi, she is an educator at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture and she caters from home under the label of Handmade by Nurayah & Shabbo. When it comes to multitasking skills, one must learn them from Nurayah Sheikh, also a mother of two teenagers.

What she enjoys at Indus Valley is to work with the capabilities of young artists and especially those who have special needs. When working on her community projects, there is again a different set of challenges that she faces along with her female students. “We paint on the walls in different areas of Karachi to beautify the city and spread messages of peace. I make it a point to take my female students with me so they know how to cope with different comments that people make and to make them street smart. Men passing by in cars and buses sometimes whistle, sometimes pass unpleasant comments but as women living in Pakistan, we must know how to deal with such remarks and situations,” summarizes Nurayah.

The dynamic professional

“Within seconds of the 2008 earthquake, more than 750 women and men got spinal cord injuries and were paralyzed. People with disabilities are mostly unheard and unseen in Pakistan, so working for them is a rewarding feeling. It has become my passion,” says Maryam Mallick, the Technical Advisor Disabilities & Rehabilitation at World Health Organization. After the earthquake, her first and foremost objective was to empower individuals with disabilities and with the support of the government, she has been able to achieve it. Maryam established a community based rehabilitation programme in the earthquake-affected areas, which was the greatest government funded project in Pakistan for people with disabilities.

Currently, her focus is on empowering the disabled women in southern Punjab by linking them to skill development and mainstreaming them in society.

The textile expert

An advocate of women’s empowerment and with a successful career in textiles for almost 2.5 decades, Shehnaz Basit Ikram, the COO at Gul Ahmed, is a source of sheer inspiration for women in Pakistan. She began her journey right after her graduation from the National College of Arts in Lahore and has been with Gul Ahmed since then. “When I started, I wanted to bring about a change in the history of the textile industry in Pakistan. 25 years down this road, I am very glad and satisfied about the fact that we were the spinners of the change that has allowed our textile industry to reach this level of recognition and respect today. New technology helps a great deal and female textile designers are in demand,” observes Shehnaz.

Shehnaz advises women to step out into the workforce since it is the need of the hour. “A woman’s income can contribute to the education of her children. At work, a woman also learns management skills which further help her in life, allowing her to be a better spouse and mother,” she concludes.

With such dynamic women leading the wave of social change, Pakistan is sure to become a more tolerant and progressive society sooner than later!