The media’s perceptions in regard to Pakistan are very negative in the UK. However, since I have been here it has been the complete opposite. The hospitality that we have gained from Pakistan will be remembered always. This allowed us to feel comfortable, safe and eventually somewhere that we will definitely, without a doubt re-visit.
My experience during our stay in Pakistan has been unforgettable. The amount of knowledge, skills and inspiration that I have gained will influence my actions and change what I would like to portray within the UK. The most memorable moment for me was the day in which we learnt about child labour at the EDIC school. The time I spent with those children from the streets, in poverty and those who work to provide for their families was magical and unforgettable.
In regards to this I have been moved and encouraged to help those of a younger generation in the UK, allowing them to have an equal education, build skills and confidence to better their lives.
I will be contacting difference schools, youth communities/workers and introducing them to the knowledge I have experienced within Pakistan. In terms of my fashion career, Pakistan will have a big impact in the colour, textures, dyes and fabrics that I use to recreate my thoughts and ideas into a Pakistan Inspired Collection.
Pakistan has changed me as a person. Pakistan has moved me emotionally. Pakistan is Beautiful!
And how do you perceive children in Pakistan?
EDIC – the Educational Development of Inconsidered Children is an amazing and heart warming project run by the Active Citizens group in Mirpur whose aim is to give an education to children who are in poverty (street children), and those who have to provide for their families at such a young age.
These children have aspirations, dreams and a right to get an education. The EDIC project started off with one boy who was found on the streets and was given an education. That’s where it all began. From educating one child to now having space and funding for 30 children is a moment to celebrate for the Active Citizens due to how much they have achieved within the space of one year.
These children have dreams to become either police officers, doctors, nurses or even army officers. Who am I to take this away from them? In fact who are we to think that children don’t have hope, dreams or even aspirations to become somebody in their bright future?
The children had their own unique way of thanking and illustrating a sense of appreciation for our visit by saying shhhhhh! Clap! We then all did it together and the faces of joy, the laughter and happiness in these children’s eyes emotionally was too much for me as I started to get tearful and left the room.
The energy and joyfulness within the room was remarkable and unforgettable and I will never forget that moment.
EDIC paves the way for children in Mirpur!
This has inspired me to engage with the younger generation of the UK with my experiences I’ve taken and learnt from Pakistan, and hope that one day these children share the same passion as the kids in Mirpur!
As a Muslim myself I have never felt so uncomfortable in religious surroundings ever before. When we first entered the beautiful mosque we were taken into their office where the principle of the school introduced himself and shook everybody’s hands. However, this was not the case with the females in the room; in fact the women didn’t even get acknowledged whatsoever. With regard to the reciting of the Qur’an the speaker was shouting very powerfully into the microphone to which we were all taken aback slightly. Even though I know how passionately religious speakers can get about what they are saying it was fairly uncomfortable as there were no translators for us to understand what he was being passionate about. This continuous reciting lasted for about one hour in a language I did not understand.
Do women exist? Or do we not have a voice?
Rawalpindi: a place of architecture, history and fashion. A gentleman named Aasim took us on a tour around ‘Pindi.
We were shown all of the different historical areas and how the city may have changed from years ago. It was evident to say that nothing had changed and the city hadn’t progressed forward into a better or more modern place. The historical buildings looked beautiful, however, it looked as if it hadn’t been touched or taken care of. To a certain extent I believe that it is nice to keep the identity of ‘Pindi with these buildings, however, it should at least be taken care of and to have the surrounding areas looking presentable and child friendly. There were loads of cable wires hanging from building to building as well as an untidy environment.
We were then shown the behind-the-scenes of the textiles beading work as Aasim got us access to the rooms in which the bead work is hand sewn onto the fabric. This was inspirational & incredible as the bead work looked so intricate and detailed – as these men grafted hard to keep to the standards of the design.
Today was very informative as Khurshid Nadeem talked to us about faith and Islam. I feel that he definitely touched on points about Islam that I have been questioning which was very useful for me. The accentuation of his quote “everybody is the same, as we are all different!” was very touching. It was very powerful and an important statement for the Islamic culture. Also, he stated that some strict Muslims believe that they should not be associated with non-believers; however, the Qur’an was the last holy book to be written so Muslims have to know about the other holy books and respect them as their own as everyone is equal.
The conversation we had with him made so much sense to me as we were kind of on the same wavelength in regards to religion and different cultures mixing etc.. Afterwards we then travelled to St.Mary’s Academy where we interacted with the Christian students which was interesting to see and hear about, as our main focus for the last couple of days had been heavily on Islam.
