KARACHI: Students gathered at a talk and panel discussion on ‘Volunteerism: fostering empathy for social harmony’ organised by The Citizens Foundation (TCF) Ambassadors at the Institute of Business Management (IoBM) on Saturday gained much inspiration from economist and academic Dr Ishrat Hussain and architect and town planner Arif Hasan as they spoke about their personal efforts for the betterment of society.

TCF Ambassadors are university students who in their spare time teach other students from less privileged backgrounds various subjects to help them get admissions in major universities. The purpose of holding the talk was also to spread awareness about social work and how it can become a part of one’s life as a hobby if not the main job.

Riaz Kamlani, the moderator for the panel discussion, said their topic of discussion was less about volunteerism and more about the volunteering spirit. About the guest speakers, he said that both started their careers back in the 1960s and asked them to share what influenced them then to take the path they did.

Dr Ishrat Hussain said he joined civil service back in 1964 when the country was less than 20 years old and the world was watching it, expecting it not to survive. “I thought that civil service was the way to personal growth for me as it gave me the chance to help people,” he said, adding that his first posting was at a place in East Pakistan where one could only reach through a water route and he didn’t know how to swim.

‘Young people need to get involved in campaigns’

“I was 24. I would be there every day, listening to people’s problems and solving those problems then and there. It was my positive attitude that helped me do this,” he said before directly addressing his audience. “There are many who don’t care about their country but your positive attitude can help change the attitude of others as you go about establishing healthcare services, education possibilities, solving people’s utility issues,” he said. “You are privileged, you have access to high education. You are in a position to help,” he added.

Going back to his early days, Arif Hasan said he as a child lived in an area of Queen’s Road that fell near a katchi abadi. “I used to play street cricket with the boys there. Years later, after I had completed my education and had an architecture practice, my old friends paid me a visit. They informed me that the KMC was about to demolish their homes and wanted to uproot and resettle them in Baldia, which was barren land then with no amenities,” he shared.

“I went to the IG police who was my client to do something for my poor friends but instead he advised me to forget about them as they were useless illiterate folk. I was so disappointed that I did not design his house. The incident also led me to the study of land and land management,” he said, before sharing another incident when he heard about an entire village of poor boatmen and fishermen about to be relocated to an area where there was very little fish to catch.

But this time Mr Hasan was successful in helping them as he found a sympathetic man willing to listen to the problems of the villagers in the late Ali Hasan Mangi. “I had already changed my future plans of designing and building houses for the elite. I wrote a book Alternative Role for an Architect and also started teaching at Dawood College,” he said. “There were no NGOs then but there were people who wanted to bring about change for the better,” he said before coming to the legendary Akhtar Hameed Khan and the Orangi Pilot Project.

“Later when students’ movements started falling apart and with that political space gone, social work offered an alternative route to them.

“At Dawood College we changed the curriculum and combined it with practical work with katchi abadis and teaching them about construction and sanitation. Perween Rahman was a product of that,” he said referring to the slain OPP head.

For the benefit of the audience, the moderator then asked both individuals about social harmony and what it meant.

Dr Hussain said that divisions on the basis of language, religion, class, education, were a big problem in our society. “We need to find a way to cement the gaps, which require equal opportunities for all. Access to education, especially higher education, can help,” he said.

“If only the children of the elite get to study in big universities the divisions will continue. But give them [students from less-privileged backgrounds] a chance to study in your university and see how their lives change. Social harmony will have a kid in Awaran, for example, believe that if he or she works hard he can get into the best universities here and will get equal opportunity anywhere he goes,” he concluded.

Mr Hasan, meanwhile, said statistics over the years pointed towards big revolution in cities. He said that in katchi abadis, earlier, women were almost invisible but at present they were seen leaving homes every morning to work in factories and people’s homes. “They also marry late now and their coming out of their homes has changed gender relations and family structures. One should also understand these trends to understand social harmony and where it is leading us,” he said.

At present, young people came to NGOs to get involved in causes, he said. They should also get involved in campaigns so there is a need for good networking to get them involved in good causes.

Dr Hussain said he found discontinuity of projects and programmes a big problem. “One government comes along to start a project but then the next government kills it to start another new project and the cycle continues in the name of self projection and publicity, which is wrong,” he said.

Prof Dr Irfan Haider, dean of the College of Business Management and College of Engineering and Sciences at IoBM, also spoke.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2017