BUILDING HOPE
Help CAI build a bridge to tomorrow:
Even as a little girl, Jahan, now 30, knew full well what her future would be without education.
Growing up in the remote village of Korphe, in northern Pakistan, her destiny mirrored that of the generations of women who came before her: fieldwork, domestic chores, and“ making babies.” Like so many other women in these impoverished and isolated mountain communities,
Jahan’ s own mother had died giving birth to her. She wanted something different.
When the first school in her village opened in 1996, Jahan demanded her father give her permission to attend. She worked hard. She completed middle school and convinced her father to allow her to attend high school in the regional capital, Skardu, with the help of a CAI scholarship. After high school, she
2 | Footsteps CENTRAL ASIA INSTITUTE