Masters of Our Own Fate – Waseem Yousaf from Pehli Kiran School 8

Waseem Yousaf narrates, “Despite every hardship, life is far better than we could have ever imagined as children. The feudal system in our village would not have let us make any choices in life including getting an education. At least now, we struggle for ourselves at our own will for a better future. Had our parents not moved us, and by getting free education and grooming at PKS, we would have never known this freedom; we would have been slaves to our destiny and our masters’ fancies.”

We used to live in a village near Sargodha where my parents were indebted to the local feudal lord. We all worked on his farm while our wages were withheld as part of debt repayment. Life of a bounded laborer is probably the worst kind – you are a slave to the whims of your master and the bondage carries forward from generation to generation as the debt keeps growing. My parents saw no way out of it and could not foresee a future for us.

Once we reached Islamabad, we had nowhere to go and no way to earn. But my father, ever the strong-willed man, didn’t let it be a problem. It took us two months to settle down in a makeshift community, but one of the first things my parents did was enroll us in the Pehli Kiran School, which had just opened in our area. I was always a good student, standing first or second in my class. But school taught me a lot more than basic education.I had always dreamed of going to medical school, but I got 3% less than the required score in FSc so I had to abandon that aspiration. However, instead of giving up, I decided to enroll in a Pharmacy diploma.  I study in the morning, work at Pehli Kiran office in the afternoon, and do community work by teaching young kids.

In short, life is hard but we choose to toil for a better one instead of being forced to do someone else’s bidding.Education is given in all schools but personality development is rare. In a city where private education is extremely expensive and the public one is mediocre. PKS was a ray of hope for us, getting a free education at the primary level helped pave the way for us towards a better future.