home , finances , and education ,” said Fozia Naseer , CAI ’ s program manager in Pakistancontrolled Azad Kashmir .
Although Kashmir is a difficult place to work , and CAI has had its share of troubles there , “ the work of education is so important ,” she said . “ Education can create a sense of responsibility and a peaceful attitude toward others , a sense that life is worth living in peace . CAI ’ s hope is to develop this sense in the next generation and end the cycles of war .”
Even in Gilgit-Baltistan , the relatively peaceful area where CAI was founded and where it has 59 current projects , violence periodically rears its ugly head . Sectarian violence , in particular , has been on the rise , particularly on the Karakoram Highway , the only road connecting these northern areas to the rest of Pakistan . Gunmen have stopped buses and killed all Shias on board . Most recently , a passenger van hit a roadside bomb , killing at least three people , Agence France
Presse reported . A police official said plainly : “ It ’ s a sectarian attack . The passenger van was going to Haramosh , which is a completely Shia-populated valley .”
One attack that made international news took place in June 2013 at the Nanga Parbat base camp , where gunmen killed 10 foreign mountaineers and their Pakistani guide . The reasons for that attack were never spelled out for the public , but many believe it had something to do with extremists ’ migration deeper into northern Pakistan , pushed by Pakistan military attacks on their training camps and hideouts .
CAI has successfully worked to get out ahead of that migration . While extremist attacks in Gilgit-Baltistan are less frequent than those in other parts of the country , they create fear and anxiety , and certainly decrease the area ’ s tourist traffic , which has long been a major economic driver for the mountainous region .
To help one community prepare for a more peaceful , and economically diverse , future , CAI helped the people of Lasht village in Yarkhun Valley , northern KP province , open a new college this fall . Most of the students attending classes in the modest sixroom structure are girls , said CAI ’ s Gilgit-based project manager Saidullah Baig .
“ Many of the girls were at home for some years because their parents couldn ’ t afford to send them to some other city to continue their education ,” Baig said . “ Now they are able to do so right in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa . By grace of Allah we succeeded to keep our promise to girls in this remote valley .”
RELATIONSHIPS MAKE IT WORK Back in Afghanistan ’ s northeast Badakhshan province , Jaheed has had his hands full this year . Three districts where he works — Warduj , Jurm , and Yamgan — have been particularly hard hit by the Taliban .
Yarkhun College in Lasht , Pakistan
24 | Journey of Hope C E N T R A L A S I A I N S T I T U T E