the help of a CAI scholarship, she moved to a women’ s hostel in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, just outside Pakistan’ s capital city of Islamabad, and attended two years of college. When CAI reorganized its Pakistan scholarship program in 2011-12, she returned to the northern areas and completed her college degree in sociology, with emphases in education and Arabic.
PAY IT FORWARD Ever since CAI’ s scholarship program began in the Gilgit region in the late 2000s, Baig has emphasized that the students should find ways to give back. In the past it had been mostly a suggestion, he said, but now he’ s organized a program to make it happen.
“ The idea is to encourage our scholars to community service and give them some teaching experience,” he said.“ As you know, there are few job opportunities in these areas. In the past, we appointed a few CAI scholarship students who completed their education as teachers in different CAI-supported schools, but it is impossible to give jobs to all of our scholars. Some are getting jobs in different organizations. But many don’ t have chance.
“ So this year we thought it would be good to have internship program. In April, 25 students completed college graduation and offered themselves for service,” he said.“ I placed two at a government primary school
we support, three at CAI’ s Ganjabad High School and four at Majaweer Middle School.”
CAI provides a stipend to cover each intern’ s room and board in the village.
When their six-month service ends in November, Naseem and the other interns will return to school for master’ s-level( 16 class) education, he said.
And a month later, another 25 CAI-supported scholarship students will finish their master’ s degrees“ and we will choose a few students and send them to different CAI-supported schools as volunteer teachers for four to six months,” Baig explained.“ This will be continued for as long as the scholarship program is going on. It is a good time to start because now our scholarship students are in different stages. After every semester a few are completing graduation at different levels.”
ON-JOB TRAINING Naseem was posted to Majaweer School, in the Ishkoman Valley of the Ghizer District, where she said she has happily settled into teaching English, social studies, and science to middle school students.
“ I started teaching just after I finished my exam paper in April 2014,” she said.“ This area is more remote than the area where from I belong, but the school is good and there are so many students. But all of them are studying free of tension because CAI is supporting them fully: fees, books, and other requirements.”
But she’ s not just a teacher. She’ s also a role model. In 2013, all of the students in Majaweer’ s class eight said their mothers were illiterate; just one girl’ s father had a primary-school education. Coming to school and seeing female teachers with college and university degrees makes a difference for all students, but especially for the girls.
Girls’ education is not a new idea in the region, she said. Everybody knows“ education is important for girls because with education
“ I think CAI and Dr. Greg are the angels in our life who give us a chance to improve our life.”
— Naseem Parveen
we can do anything.” The girls who don’ t go to school, usually that’ s“ due to poverty,” she said. And,“ in the areas where there is no school and they can’ t get education, they are forced to marry in teenage, 14 to 18.”
She added that she is not married.“ I want to complete my education and my brothers’ education is also important. If I marry soon, then both of this will be incomplete.”
Her teaching experience, albeit minimal, has already shown her that too often teachers are underpaid and classrooms overcrowded. Both cut into the teacher’ s ability to concentrate, she said. And all teachers need training, no matter where they are in their careers.“ I need this training, too, because then I can teach better than I am.”
She will get that training, and much more, during her master’ s studies at Karakoram International University. After that? She plans to return to teaching.
“ I think CAI and Dr. Greg are the angels in our life who give us a chance to improve our life. Otherwise it would be impossible for me to continue my education and become a teacher even,” she said.“ Not only me. I know there are thousands of other girls whose life has been changed because of CAI’ s help. CAI is always in my prayers.” y
Naseem Parveen with fellow teachers and students outside CAI-supoprted Majaweer School in the Ishkoman Valley, Ghizer District, Pakistan. Photo by Saidullah Baig
With reporting help from Saidullah Baig and Dilshad Begum of CAI-Gilgit.
FA L L 2 0 1 4 Journey of Hope | 39