Pakistani HUm: Providence Has Many Faces

There are singers who sing, and then there are singers who sing for a cause. Almost a year onwards from being awarded the 2009 Patricia Koldyke Fellowship on Social Entrepreneurship by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, I feel very proud to say Shehzad Roy is definitely one of those brilliant artists who sing for a cause. Amidst all the murkiness surrounding Pakistan’s image, he has definitely been one pinnacle of pride for all of us. He is amongst the first Pakistani celebrities to add philanthropy to his portfolio, and focus not just on singing great songs, but becoming the voice of thousands of young kids.

The fellowship recognizes Roy’s commitment to providing better learning opportunities in government-run schools, and honors his goal of encouraging Pakistan’s youth “to value education and provide them with the knowledge and opportunities they need to realize a peaceful, democratic political future.”

Shehzad Roy started off young with his musical career, back in 1995 while he was still in grade 11.His project of empowering thousands of Pakistani children with education through his Zindagi Trust came in 2002. But the seeds of this project were there in his minds well before 2002. Even before he began writing music professionally. In an interview to the Chicago Tribune a few months back, he was asked about his interest towards humanitarian projects, specifically in the educational sector.

“The discrepancy between rich and poor in Pakistan has always pricked my conscience,” he said. “In my childhood, I remember it was always an exciting ride to the airport, in anticipation of my cousins who were visiting from abroad. However, the way back from the airport was an anti-climax as our cousins would pester us with questions on why the beggar boys at traffic lights weren’t in school. I was always dumb-founded!

His I-Am-Paid-To-Learn project is brilliant to say the least J. It focuses on finding those kids who are hired for menial work as apprentices to tailors, mechanics, carpenters etc or hired at tea stalls. They rake in small income pools, for the sake of which their parents wouldn’t let them attend school. With this project, Shehzad Roy and his team would different areas and ask the employers if they would spare the children for around 3 hours. The kids would then be taken to schools and paid Rs. 20, roughly what they would manage to earn in that time. With this system, their parents still got what they were after and “the same parents who used to stop their kids from going to school (so they could work), were checking up on their kids to see if they were attending classes.” This was an important initiative in a country where more than 10.5 million children under the age of 15 work menial jobs to support their families.

We tried to compensate them for what they were making outside. These were street-smart kids, so we used to assess them to see if they went to school and studied hard. Only then, we’d pay them. This program was really successful, and we still have about 3,000 students in the program.

However he realized that this wasn’t enough. Everyone is worried about the millions of children not going to school, but I’m just as worried about the millions of children who are going to public schools!” Out of the almost 28m children in school, nearly 19 million, or two-thirds, attend public schools. We all know the standard that these schools have fallen too. There isn’t actual learning to encourage the students. They probably bring the same textbooks that their parents used to! The environment is dull, authoritarian and encourages ratta. It is no surprise that after spending 10 years in a public school, they have no critical thinking skills and often cannot even write a letter in proper Urdu, their own mother tongue!

So in 2006, Roy became an advocate for quality government education in Pakistan. The task was daunting to say the least. But this mission of reformation was a test of wills, and looking at the changes wrought in the past few years, we can certainly say that this young man is indeed one with a strong will.

Along with Bookgroup (a partner organization) they started off with taking over Fatima Jinnah Girls Government School in Karachi from the government. The idea was to turn around this public school into a model school and then push the government to replicate it in all public schools of Pakistan. The school grounds were being rented out in the evenings for private parties and other functions. The food remains would, in turn, attract dogs and rodents. In fact, when the trust went for its initial inspection, they found a decaying dog body in the kindergarten room. The school water lines were mixed up with the sewage line. There were heaps and heaps of garbage and some walls were on the verge of collapse. He not only renovated the existing structure but also went on to add more facilities such as a library, cafeteria, computer lab, health room, audio-visual room etc that did not exist before. How this school was considered to be one of the ‘city’s best’ is beyond me!

If words didn’t do much for you, I would urge all of you to take out 30 sec and just have a look at these pictures to gauge the amount of tremendous effort being put in these reformations.

Fools couldn’t keep quiet and criticized Shehzad Roy for ‘trying to bring Pakistan’s outdated school syllabus into the 21st century. “Trying to alter the mind-set of the people is the most grueling task.” Wise words indeed. But his efforts bore fruit and for the first time in the history of Pakistan, the syllabus in public schools was revised, new textbooks with attractive layouts were brought in and apart from pure academics, arts and sports were also emphasized. It goes without saying that there a positive nudge to the students’ results and critical thinking skills.

Over the years, with a shift in his lyrical taste and career objectives, Shehzad Roy has been lauded with numerous accolades. I’ve already mentioned the latest one in the beginning, but apart from that, he is also the youngest ever recipient of the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (June 2004)—one of the highest Civil Honors awarded in Pakistan for excellence in serving humanity; the Sitara-i-Eisaar (Star of Sacrifice) in 2006 by President Musharraf, in recognition of his relief efforts following the 2005 Kashmir earthquake (remember when Bryan Adams came and like seriously tons of money was collected to help out the victims? Guess who was behind the whole thing!) and he was also selected to be the 2008 Beijing Olympics torch bearer as the pride of Pakistan.

With his music too, Shehzad Roy is out to bring a change. In 2002 he collaborated with Sukhbir for a track promoting peace between Pakistan and India. 2005 saw him working with Bryan Adams to raise funds for the people in distress in Northern Pakistan. In 2007 he worked with Abida Parveen on the track Zindagi, which sent out the message of Equality in Education and then 2008 saw the launch of his album ‘Qismat Apne Haath Maein’ in front of Karachi Juvenile Prison at Central Jail. He underscored the need to rehabilitate Pakistan’s justice system that ignores the pitiable conditions of many prisoners, most of whom have spent many years in jail just waiting on their court hearing. And the most loved track on the album, ‘Laga Reh’ that took a hit on the so-called governance of our government.