Newsletter

OPENING THE GATES FOR YOUNG WOMEN IN PAKISTAN

Why are civilized, knowledge-loving women the target of the Taliban?   
Why are they not our pride, our strength, our might?

Seen on the back of a Lahore auto rickshaw
Photo and translation by Carla Petievich
 courtesy of the Hoshyar Foundation

Of all the news of violence out of Pakistan, nothing shocked the world more than last year’s shooting of Malala Yousafzai, a teenage schoolgirl who was targeted by militants for the sin of wanting to learn.

 In spite of efforts to terrorize them into silence, brave Pakistanis have continued to support their daughters, sisters, wives, and mothers in their struggle for the education that promises knowledge,
career opportunity, and a better life for their families and communities.

Friends of Pakistan USA has made the education of girls part of our basic mission. This year we take one more step by focusing on scholarships for young women aiming to complete the two years of intercollege required for entry into university or vocational training programs.

FORGING NEW PARTNERSHIPS:

Most of us have seen the dismal statistics—40% of Pakistani women over the age of 15 are illiterate,  giving that country the lowest female literacy rate in Asia.  We are glad to see the picture improving as more girls attend primary and middle school, but another barrier remains.

Secondary education traditionally ends at grade 10 and leaves the question of what girls will do with their schooling.  Both universites and vocational training schools require two more years of higher secondary school or intercollege just to apply.  At this point the doors begin to close for this is the time when girls under pressure to marry.  Intercolleges  for girls are few outside of the cities.  Education for girls in rural areas usually stops at age 15, meaning a great waste of talent as young women who might have served their communities as teachers, social workers, nurses, and midwives fail to make minimum qualifications for entry into either college or vocational programs.

With this in mind, Friends of Pakistan USA has this year decided to offer scholarships to young women from rural areas who would otherwise be unable to complete the 11th and 12th grades.

Plaque in the library at GGIC
Rerra, Azad Kashmir

Government Girls Inter College, Rerra, Azad Kashmir, The first of our partners in the scholarship program is the same school that received a set of books from FOPUSA to outfit its new library in the Library Challenge Project of 2010-2011. We were impressed then with the outpouring of enthusiasm from this school that had been completely destroyed in the 2005 earthquake, and we were encouraged by a letter of thanks from the principal. It was a relationship that we wanted to continue.

Liaison work by Jane Murphy Thomas, who developed the Library Challenge Project and the presence of a trusted contact in the community gave us confidence to work directly with the the School Management Committee.  We propose to award six scholarships based on need, ability, and motivation to complete the two years of intercollege. At a maximum annual cost of only $133 per girl this would allow us to develop a project model, one that could be implemented at other schools,  private or public, that meet our basic criteria for community support, accountability,  and promoting friendship between the peoples of Pakistan and the U.S.A.  Through a donation earmarked for scholarships we are ready to launch this project on its first year.

Hoshyar Foundation, Mansehra, Khyber Paktunkwa
This year we begin a partnership with  Hoshyar Foundation, a nonprofit based in Austin, Texas, focusing on empowerment of Pakistani women through education.  Hoshyar was founded by Dr. Carla Petievich, an American academic who is also an Urdu scholar with years of experience in Pakistan and India.  Hoshyar Foundation has for several years. worked with local people to build and operate a school on the outskirts of Lahore and to sponsor several middle and high schools in the mountainous Mansehra District north of Islamabad, where they work with a grassroots NGO based in the area.

Studying together at girls high school in Mansehra

On her annual trips to the region, Dr. Petievich has asked what is happening to girls who finish the high school program. What is their life like? Are their families and communities benefitting  as they should?

Unfortunately the picture is not always bright. Whether girls return to the village or move (usually through marriage) to urban areas, their lives will be blighted by a near absence of women’s healthcare. Pakistan has a desperate need for nurses and midwives, but even girls finishing  high school  with an interest in training in medical careers are unable to qualify for vocational programs unless they complete those two additional years of intercollege (11th and 12th grades).

With this in mind, Hoshyar Foundation has asked us to help them and their FWA partners operate a pilot intercollege program combining two villages. This is seen as a necessary preliminary to training girls as nurses and midwives—the next step in meeting the most critical needs of women and their families.

The estimated cost per student is nearly the same as in Rerra, Kashmir—only $15 to $20 per month—a small investment with a very big return.

Message from the President:
MAKING A DIFFERENCE AGAIN

 Reading today that relations between the United States and Pakistan are at their lowest ebb—the point where Pakistan has the lowest possible opinion of the U.S. and Americans have the lowest possible opinion of Pakistan— I am struck that need for outreach to the people of Pakistan is more urgent than ever. Friends of Pakistan USA needs to make the biggest difference possible in the perception the American and Pakistani people have of each other.

Our board member Ann Hartman of the East West Center in Hawaii is engaged in one of the most high-impact areas—changing the perspective of the people who report the news through a journalist exchange project. Ann is currently in Islamabad and Lahore, introducing a group of American journalists to Pakistan.  A group of Pakistani journalists are simultaneously traveling in the U.S. having real life experiences of the American people.

Friends of Pakistan USA is actively looking for ways that we as individuals and as an organization can encourage direct communication between Pakistanis and Americans. That is one of the thoughts behind our scholarship program with the Government Girls Intercollege in Rerra where our six young women scholars will know their grant comes from Americans and  actually send a report to us at the end of the school year.

Another FOPUSA board member, Millard Mott, has proposed a sister school project that would put American and Pakistani classrooms into direct contact through the Internet. Here a major challenge is posed by lack of Internet access and rolling blackouts in Pakistan, but we are looking for “out of the box” solutions.  We are even exploring text messaging as an easier means of contact. Anyone out there with an interest in working through these technical problems with us? It’s a brave new world out there.

50TH ANNIVERSARY PROJECT REPORT
—By Barbara Janes, Past President

FOPUSA is proud to announce that the completion of our commitment to raise $10,000 in recognition of the Peace Corps’ 50th anniversary contributed to the programs of two wonderful nonprofit organizations  in Pakistan. The two organizations, involving three different projects, are Design for Change and The Citizens Foundation.

DFC Students in Karachi demonstrating ways to
sort trash to help the environment

Design for Change is part of a global initiative that encourages school children to identify and find solutions to world’s greatest challenges. The purpose of this contest is to enhance creativity among children and teach them to take charge of problems around them.  To support DFC  in its mission by hiring two part time support personnel, FOPUSA donated $5000 to this important cause.

$5000 each was also donated to The Citizens Foundation for two important projects the Aagahi Literacy project and stocking a high school library. The Aagahi literacy project has provided basic literacy to thousands of TCF mothers and school ayahs who had not had an opportunity to go to school.

PHENGALI SCHOOL PROJECT IN FIFTH YEAR
At our first membership meeting in Ft. Collins, Colorado, in 2008, Friends of Pakistan USA voted to raise $2000 a year for five years to fund the secondary education of ten girls through The Citizens Foundation at the Phengali secondary school near Lahore.

BUT…. we still have $1107 left to raise by June 1.  We know we will succeed and go on to enable other girls to fulfill their dreams of higher education and a better life, but the time to fulfill our pledge is NOW.




OUR MISSION: AN ENDURING FRIENDSHIP

On October 8, 2005, the mountains of northern Pakistan (Azad Kashmir) were rocked by a 7.6 magnitude earthquake triggering the greatest catastrophe in the recorded history of that region.  Understanding that three million people were left without shelter with winter fast closing in, a few returned Peace Corps Volunteers and their friends sprang into action to send aid to our friends in Pakistan.

That was how Friends of Pakistan USA was born, and we have continued our commitment, raising funds for girls education, flood relief, and refugee work.  Our unique mission remains the promotion of friendly relations and understanding between the people of Pakistan and the people of United States of America.

We believe the mission of friendship is as urgent today as relief to earthquake victims was in 2005.  Our membership is not limited to returned Peace Corps Volunteers. We need the support of all Americans who care about Pakistan and believe that peace and friendship between our countries is essential to both nations and to the world.

Please consider joining our efforts in 2013. Our dues of only $15 can be paid by check in the name of FOPUSA and sent to our treasurer:

Sandra Houts
1305 Abbey Circle
Asheville, NC 28805

 

Friends of Pakistan USA is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Your dues and donations are tax deductible. Email us if you are ready to help make a difference or check our website at peacecorpsfriendsofpakistanusa.blogspot.com.


Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. —Margaret Mead