My Journey

I belong to Punjab Pakistan this is a very beautiful country full of natural beauty and sources. A male dominated society where 50% population which is based on men is using all sources to protect 50% population which is based on women from other men.

In my community women live a same life like most women of the third world most women live in their houses, produce children, do house hold and obey the men.

We are four sisters I am on 3rd number among sisters, my father is a Taylor Master and my mother is a house wife, my father is literate but my mother learnt to read and write at the age of 60 from my own school

My grandparents forced my mother to leave their home and she was beaten in her head by my uncle because she produced four daughters and not a son, the sign of her wound can still be seen after 25 years of the injury

Since eighteen years when I was a thirteen years old girls I am teaching girls of my area I provide them free education and skills but still have to face a big challenge, that still it is very hard to convince parents to get their girls education , sometimes it takes me years to bring a girl into school.

I think if we want a better future of our world we must stop child marriage because it is base a of many problems and I want to resolve it

The biggest reason why child marriage is common because parents think a girl is a burden on them and as soon they will get her married they will get free of this burden, they think there is no use of a girl for the family, most people are poor and illiterate and the purpose of their lives is to get food, shelter, cloths and they think girls cannot help them in earning all this

But I give education and skills to the girls, so they earn and help their family and they do not remain a burden but a blessing. This is a best way to prevent child marriage in my point of view.

I teach them stitching, bridle make up, hair dressing, self defense techniques, computer skills, English language, Arts like drawings, blogs writing, Photography, video making, health education, formal education etc to make them educated and empowered, I provide all this free of charge so that all girls can have an access to these opportunities without any hesitation of being poor and lack of sources

In future when I will have more sources I will get them more advanced skills, I will provide them pick and drop because security of the girls is also a big issue due to which parents do not allow them to go to school and force them to stay at home all the time, I want to produce jobs for the women and I want to expand my projects in all cities of my country so that women can earn equal to men, as a result they will be able to get equal rights

I am supporting girls and women who have been deprived of education, who are being forced to get married in early age. Who are being beaten and tortured by men, who are being discriminated for being not able to produce sons for the husband and they curse themselves for a fault which basically is not theirs but of the men, I support widows and those who think they are weak if no man is with them I make them know their own abilities

For 15 years I have been working alone in open air, but three years before I joined social media and world pulse and in 2014 I won the Lynn Syms prize so I was able to make a small building for my cause and started new projects with the prize money, also my friends on social help me they not only teach many subjects to my students through Skype but spread my word and sometimes support me financially too

It was a very difficult task to manage more than one hundred students in open air for 17 years. But now I have a small building it will keep us safe from rain, cold and in summer and from threats of those who are against girl’s education and empowerment.

But now I have more projects so I need more financial support, Like I need more computers, chairs, fans, electricity, projector, security cameras and I have to pay salaries to the teachers every month which is not an easy task because I was in 9th standard as private student since when I am doing a full time job to meet expenses of my projects before it was possible to manage with my own salary but now it is not possible to do it all alone so I need financial support

I want to tell the world, I have devoted my life for women education and empowerment, this is my goal and I will do whatever I can to achieve this goal.

We women have to become a power of each other if we want equality in this world, nobody will come to help us we will have to help ourselves and each other as women.