CHITRAL: The educated youth in the remote Garam Chashma valley have started earning through freelancing using the facility of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) hub established by Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, where all the related amenities, including electricity and Internet, are made available round the clock.
Some of the beneficiaries of the ICT hub run by the AKRSP under its Central Asia Poverty Programme, told Dawn that this mode of earning livelihood was quite unheard of here till last year when the facility was established. They said they were provided with free training on how to connect to the global market online using different platforms.
Irfana Aziz, an instructor at the centre, said last year a batch of youth was sent to Gilgit to get intensive training on ICT and freelancing, who became trainers on their return.
She said that they imparted training to hundreds of college students in the area and to those who had completed their education in universities recently and were seeking jobs.
AKRSP has set up facility under its Central Asia Poverty Programme
She said that the facilities of Internet and electricity were provided free to students. “The centre runs different shifts keeping in view the rush of beneficiaries.”
Irfana Aziz claimed the facility was first of its kind in the whole of Chitral as there was no purpose-built information technology centre to familiarise the youth with the latest mode of self-employment, ultimately aimed at poverty reduction.
Busy with her computer in cozy and serene environment of the centre, Irum Bibi said that after completing her master degree from University of Peshawar, she was wandering in search of a government job. “After getting training at the facility I am earning enough to support my parents,” she added.
She said that the centre had not only provided a perfect platform to youth to earn it had also sensitised them to the online avenue of self-employment, bolstering their sustenance levels.
Irshad Aziz, a student of a Lahore-based university and beneficiary of the centre, said that he was no more dependent on his parents to meet his educational expenses after he started earning through an online job for which he had got training in the centre last year during the summer vacation.
“I spend two to four hours daily doing my online job whether I am in the university hostel or in my village during vacation and during the journey from Lahore to Chitral for which I am indebted to the centre.”
“To reciprocate the organisation for this kindness, I spend many hours in the centre to train the youth whenever I came to the village from Lahore,” he said.
Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2024
