What I’ve learned about impacting the world.
Anything you’re repeatedly exposed to never stands out for itself. These things become such a fundamental part of your life that you overlook the magnitude of their existence. I grew up seeing a welfare school my father had built in our village. Every trip to my village involved the school to some extent. It was a place where my younger sister and I could pretend to be teachers, a place to host family barbecues because of the expansive playground, and the only place where, as if like royalty, we could get away without paying for the food from the cafeteria. Unbeknownst to us that my father would later balance the payments.
And for the longest time, I was blind to its impact. I had never thought of the ripples it was creating in the local community, characterized by poverty and illiteracy and a place where education was still a luxury.
Seed for change
My father experienced life on both sides of the spectrum. He lived the story all us brown kids hear about; our parents having to walk miles every day to reach their school. Despite great challenges in acquiring an education, he earned a full-ride scholarship to one of the top cadet colleges in Pakistan, Petaro which paved his way to becoming a high-ranking official in the Pakistan Navy. Substandard training in Urdu-medium schools gave my father a tough time competing with students from other urban areas in Petaro. Realizing from his example that talent is universal but opportunity is not, my father set out to create opportunities for the youth of his village by setting up an English medium school, Marine Public School (MPS). He wanted to make sure the problems he faced were not encountered by anyone in his community.
In May 2000, during his morning walk in our village, my father came across a deserted campsite with numerous single-story buildings in extremely poor condition. Curious, he investigated and found out that this camp was built by an Italian road construction company for engineers during the construction of the Jhang-Kabirwala road. After the completion of this project, the place was abandoned. Envisioning a school on this site, he took all possible measures to get the lease of the land and encouraged Pakistan Navy’s welfare department, Bahria Foundation to set up a school. However, Bahria Foundation refused to initiate this project based on their findings from a feasibility study which reflected a huge investment with low returns in the future due to the non-availability of faculty and low paying capacity of people.
He didn’t let that stop him from believing in the project and continuing on his own. He decided to lease the land from the Navy to construct the school through personal funds. But, acquiring the lease lagged for a full year because of the opposition of the area’s MNA. (A reality in Pakistan is that people in power are reluctant to invest in the development of the common man. Educating them and making them aware of their rights would become a hurdle in their exploitation of the locals and prevent them from winning votes based on mere lucrative talks).
After getting the legal affairs in order, the construction finally began in 2001. The school welcomed its first batch of 30 students in 2003. Named Marine Public School, it established itself as the first English medium school with an oxford syllabus in the Kabirwala tehsil.
Impacting people: a few or a million
At the time when the school was inaugurated, the norm was to focus on boys’ education only. The locals believed investing in boys had a higher ROI (return on investment) as they would grow up to be breadwinners and will support the parents, where as girls will be wedded off. To change this reality, the school administration conducted 170+ campaigns in the district to spread awareness regarding the importance of girls’ education.
During a very recent trip, I learned about how MPS was changing lives. By continuing to promote girls’ education and creating an environment where parents felt comfortable sending their daughters, it took eight years to reach a gender ratio of 1:1 in classrooms. Parents were finally opening up to the idea of sending their daughters to school. And later on, to colleges in the city as well. The curriculum my father designed, instilled unwavering confidence in the students which helped them pursue careers in the city and compete on the national level.
In conversations with alum, school achievements manifested themselves in physical stories. One of the alumni we talked to set out to be the first vet in the area where livestock farming was a prevalent commercial practice.
“MPS equipped me with knowledge, personality, and confidence to compete at an equal level with students from other cities at the University of Veterinary Sciences.”
— Dr. Abdul Wahab, MPS Class of 2009, Practicing Veterinarian
Built on a unique business model of no profit, no loss, MPS maintained a high quality of education, unlike any other school in the region, hence attracting the kids of wealthy and poor alike. Three sisters, alumni, commented that while their father could afford the expensive private schools in the district, he chose MPS because his hunt for schools showed him that MPS was different from all those schools in the region that had commercialized education.
“MPS’ safe and conducive learning environment for girls, high focus on extracurricular activities and personalized attention from teachers helped us to develop a strong foundation and a holistic personality.”
— Ayesha Iqbal, computer scientist
People behind the scenes: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”.
MPS not only filled the gap in the education sector but also employed many local individuals. And these people became the biggest asset for MPS.
Working in a distressful situation in the village is no easy task. However, there have been two people who have put their blood and sweat to make this school a huge success, including M. Ahmed and Azam Sargana.
The way they mobilized everyone on campus and brought them together through the days when the school couldn’t give out paychecks seems incredible in hindsight. It was the jolly personality of M. Ahmed that won the hearts of the employees, students, and parents. He was one of the reasons parents felt comfortable sending their daughters to school.
His leadership and determination have (always) made sure the school sees through the bad days. He so firmly believes in education that he remained headstrong when even my father would lose hope. In a conversation, he told me that when my father would talk about shutting down the school, he would reply, ‘Yeah, next month.’
He went on to say my father would ask him, ‘Aren’t you tired of the school yet?’ To which Ahmed would reply, ‘No, mouths are being fed and children getting educated..’
Lessons Learnt
- Changing the world should be more meaningful than the way it is conventionally used. It’s not about solving all the world’s problems, it’s solving someone’s problem.
- Do with what you have. Share your blessings. Sometimes that will be some of your time, money, or expertise. My favorite theme I have seen dissecting the history of the school is how my father has made it a point to give back to his home place as he progressed in his career in the city. No matter how big or small his contributions are, he just does what he can do.
- People make everything. ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”.
- Individuals don’t make progress, society does. My father has made a point to elevate others ever since he reached a point of elevation, i.e financial strength, and power.
- Beware, you always leave a legacy in your wake. My father’s work has inspired me to take action based on what I possess, i.e skills, time, or network. I am certain this is true for most of my family members who have seen my father in real life.
