Hopes and dreams of under-privilege youth

                Hopes and Dreams of Under-Privilege Youth

                        By Sadia Wali

"Our youth are not failing the system; the system is failing our youth. Ironically, the very youth who are being treated the worst are the young people who are going to lead us out of this nightmare."  Rachel Jackson

In this era of globalization and technological revolution, education is considered as a first step for every human activity. It plays a vital role in the development of human capital and is linked with an individual’s well-being and opportunities for better living (Battle & Lewis, 2002). It ensures the acquisition of knowledge and skills that enable individuals to increase their productivity and improve their quality of life. This increase in productivity also leads towards new sources of earning which enhances the economic growth of a country (Saxton, 2000)

 The future of youth is directly related to the educational opportunities, economic conditions and sustainability of the individuals in our country.  Young people of well-off families have resources and means to avail the best opportunity to enhance their learning. But have we ever thought about the plight of the young people of low income families, residing in the underdeveloped areas? The talent of these youth has been crushed due to limited resources, inequities in social, economic and political conditions; gender discrimination; unemployment; armed conflict and confrontation. Due to prevailing injustice, young people living in underdeveloped or remote areas have been indulged in anti- social activities. They often become disillusioned, indulge in drug usage and even resort to criminal activities. 

 “Deep resentment built up in me when I was deprived of a job opportunity for the third time when I disclosed that I dwell in one of the under- privilege areas of Karachi .i.e.  Lyari. As I began job hunting, I felt all my hopes shattered and crushed, I have no faith in the justice of this country. Wide spread racism and discrimination has created despair, defeat, despondency and hopelessness in young people, young man grumbled.  

During the last decade, there has been an unprecedented increase in the crime, violence and terrorism activities; majority of these activities are carried out in underdeveloped areas. One of the major reasons for this growing deterioration in law and order situation in Pakistan is the disengagement of young people.

To engage youth in constructive and productive tasks, Non- profit organizations in Karachi have taken initiatives to impart skills and knowledge to youth of under-resourced areas such as Lyari and Korangi. They have empowered youth by engaging them in inventive projects to develop values and beliefs and develop a positive frame of mind.  Their aim is to train youth in conflict prevention and management, civic engagement and community mobilizations.

 The urgent need of time is to facilitate our youth; Karachi Youth Support Network in collaboration with other NGOs and private organization started facilitating youth from Korangi, Saddar and Kemari and now they have expanded the scope of its activities to Lyari and Sultanabad. They also plan to execute their plans to other under- resource areas of Karachi. Up till now more than 300 energetic youth of Lyari, have been provided opportunities of their interests by KYSN.

“Learn, Lead, and Prevent opines a young teacher, residing in Lyari (Karachi) .He thinks that from the tender age of eight to ten years, our children see anger and violence all around and think violence is the only way to survive. On grounds of gang allegiance, language, ethnicity or religion, what they do best is fight! Since we have no prospect of getting good quality education, our youth remain disoriented.” I believe that through better employment opportunities and community service, the youth have the power to bring a real change in the impoverished and strife-hit neighborhood of Lyari”

Young people of Lyari, Korangi and Sultanabad are extremely talented and have capacity to improve their lives. Being part of the facilitators at a training workshop, titled ‘Peace and Tolerance ‘conducted by KYI and Teachers Development Centre, I got the opportunity to interact with the dynamic teachers of those areas. The aim of the workshop was to cultivate positive aspirations in young people; young teachers felt a unique and life-changing experience which paves the way towards improving their professional skills.

It was heartening to see young jubilant and energetic individuals attending the workshop. Young boys and girls aged  between 18 and 30 are passionately coming forward to act as agents for social change, economic development and technological innovation and  I really felt young people’s participation is valuable to raise up the standard of education.   

My conversation with the teachers regarding their participation in peace-building training initiative showed that they had high purposes in life. Mostly young teachers especially women face hardships and problems such as limited transport options, family restrictions and other social norms yet; it is encouraging to see them determined and firm. 

As one participant in the workshop said, “Work hard, aim high and stay committed to your goals!”

Another opined, “It is our right to get exposure to activities that encourage our imagination, ideals, energy and vision to flourish to the benefit society and our educational institutions.”  

“I am very much impressed by this session and had good learning. This type of innovative workshops should be conducted to build up the better future of our teachers. Thank you for creating awareness and waking up us and put us on a right direction” an enthusiastic comment of a participant.

Another reflection that touch my heart was, “Our area is portrayed by media as a place where criminal gangs roam the streets, and it is the reason that it is backward and regressive as compared to other sections of the city. With NGO’s support, we intent to get engaged in constructive tasks that mobilize young individuals, instill a passion to excel and achieve excellence.”

These are the desires and aspirations of our future torchbearers. Youth of under – privilege areas are exceptionally talented, they are capable of working wonders; the need is to channelize their talent into right direction.

The young blood of underprivileged areas needed a platform to learn necessary skills for standing parallel in the society. Engagement in constructive activities will empower them and ultimately leads this young energetic blood towards achieving their positive aspirations

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It is an irony that we as citizens do not seriously think about facilitating young individuals of low income families also the, government has turned a blind eye to their needs and to their problems. Our politicians and policy makers have no understanding about the consequences of ignoring young people. If there are any efforts underway, they are merely up to organizing seminar or workshops or passing rules, practical steps are always missing from the government's strategies. Private sector and NGO’s have undertaken target oriented programs for youth development, providing opportunities to young people to explore and realize their potentials, educate and guide them against terrorism and inhuman activities.

 We cannot think of any development, prosperity and progress without the engagement and contributions of young people .Time has come for us to seriously ponder over it.

It is rightly said,

‘The Youth of a Nation are the trustees of posterity’ (Benjamin-Disraeli)     

The article has been written by Sadia Wali while attending the training program titled, ‘Training for Peace and Tolerance’ a program organized to train teachers of three areas of Karachi (Lyari, Korangi and Sultanabad).The training workshop was organized in collaboration with Karachi Youth Initiative (KYI) and Teachers Development Centre (TDC) The workshop was attended by 304 teachers of these three areas. The workshop had eleven training sessions which began from 23rd of February and successfully concluded on 22nd of April 2015

Sadia Wali is a Research Assistant at Teachers Development Centre. She can be contacted at sadiawali@hotmail.com