Footsteps Faces of the Future Summer 2016 | Page 5

Future
Pharmacist
Overcomes
Poverty
Harmeen

H

armeen, now 22 years old, grew up
in the village of Deranee in northern
Pakistan. She calls it “a backwards
area” with no industry except agriculture and a
limited access to education. What educational
opportunities there were tended to be of poor
quality, according to Harmeen.
“There is no[t] proper system of studies
after primary level…There is a middle school
run by community. Two unqualified teachers
are nominated to teach there.”
After completing primary school, to supplement her disappointing middle school classes
at the community school, Harmeen took to
learning from her cousins who were enrolled
at the Aga Khan School in Sher Qila. She even
moved in with them on the weekends so she
could work on her English, science, and math.
When she had finished grade 7 she applied for admission to the Aga Khan Higher
Secondary School in Sher Qila and was accepted, but couldn’t attend.
“My father denied to admit me in that
school because he has no any resource to pay
my fee.”
Harmeen’s family is poor. With seven
siblings, two aunts, her grandparents, and her
parents all living under one roof, money was
tight. Luckily, Harmeen scored high on her
entrance exam and the school was able to offer her a scholarship. But her triumph was not
without obstacles.
CentralAsiaInstitute.org

“Every day I was walking 10 kilometer to
the school. During that period I faced many
difficulties.”
And in 2013 things got worse when a flood
destroyed the family’s home. They moved in
to a shelter, but there was no money to allow
Harmeen to continue with her studies.
I wanted to study organic chemistry to be a
pharmacy doctor.”
Her grandfather decided to support her
at any cost. He took out a loan from an agriculture bank and paid her admission fee to
university.
“At university I was in search of any financial
support who can fulfill my dream to complete
my master degree of four year…Aga Khan
Welfare Board Gilgit they suggested me for
CAI scholarship.”
CAI agreed to pay tuition, lodging, and transportation fees for the promising young student
who had been top of her class in university and
always received good marks in school.
“My future plan is to study pharmacy
medicine…I am really thankful to Central
Asia Institute Gilgit and their donors for
supporting me and supporting hundreds of
helpless and needy students like me. I think
this institution is the only helping hand which
provides educational opportunity to the poor
and talented students of the far-flung areas of
Gilgit-Baltistan, Chitral, and other areas of
Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan.” n
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