By Rimsha Ali Shah
Under the searing heat, a young boy sat before a counter laced with fresh fish that lay on a bed of ice. He called out to the pedestrians to come purchase the fish he was selling. As he wiped the sweat off of his forehead and looked around him, he wondered about his future.
A few days before, an opportunity presented itself for students like him facing financial hardship. Their teacher at Victor Public Higher Secondary School mentioned the English Access Microscholarship Program that was open for students who wanted to work on their language skills.
He knew enrolling in the program meant managing time far more effectively, so he attended his regular school classes in the morning after opening the shop, went back after school and, with support from his family, attended the Access classes in the evening.
Who is this young man? How did this transformation of knowing just the native language to becoming well-versed in a foreign language come about?
“I was born to be a dreamer, a speaker and Access helped me realize that I could be all that,” says Ayaz Ali Mirani, a young man from Jacobabad who turned his life around with the help of the English Access Microscholarship Program.
Initially Mirani struggled due to lack of support from his local community. “People used to make fun of me over my attempts at speaking English. That was when I understood the meaning of the idiom ‘Ignorance is bliss’ and went forward with my learning process at the Access center.”
A quick learner, Mirani became an ardent reader of books and learned about the cultural, political, democratic values and civic attitudes. His engagement in class projects and community outreach gave him the opportunity to polish his skills and put his learning into action. His communication skills improved manifold, and he was often actively interacting with foreign delegations during his Access program. Recently, he also won the third prize in the Inter-Divisional Declamation Contest.
What truly contributed to his transformation was the summer camp organized at the Beach Luxury Hotel in 2011. “The summer of 2011 was a refreshing experience for me. I learned about volunteerism, leadership skills, interpersonal skills and social media skills. I felt a renewed sense of confidence and came back to Jacobabad even more motivated to put the skills I had acquired into action.”
After he graduated from the Access program in 2012, Mirani was determined to give back to his community by empowering it with the same skills he had acquired. “I learned about the Pakistan-U.S. Alumni Network (PUAN) and the work that exchange alumni were doing. As an Access alumnus, I was eligible to enroll as an alumnus, and I did! There has been no looking back since. PUAN has continued to be a platform that I can turn to for support and guidance.”
Mirani has attended three international conferences including, Management Conversation Day 2015, PUAN Youth Activism Conference 2016, and Pakistan Access Alumni Reconnect 2016. “These exchanges at PUAN conferences helped me learn from the best minds of Pakistan. I came back to Jacobabad inspired and brimming with ideas and energy for outreach work in my community.”
As a member of the PUAN Sukkur Chapter, Mirani has actively organized events to support community development. He speaks regularly at schools and colleges and shares his story of success to inspire and energize youngsters.
“Saif Sarejo, the founding member of PUAN Sukkur Chapter, encouraged me to mobilize youth and put my skills into action through PUAN. He facilitated me in organizing my first event with PUAN, a career counselling session with students at Mehran University.”
From there on, Mirani continued to give back to his community. He gave a motivational talk at Civil Hospital, Jacobabad. “One of my most favorite outreach projects during the Access program was the session with Thalassemia patients at the Civil Hospital. I wanted to continue what we had started and that is how I organized this motivational session with them.”
He had also led plantation drives, cleanliness sessions with women, career counselling sessions at various schools and colleges and motivational talks on the importance of community service with youth. He is also a regular speaker at the Lincoln Corner in Khairpur and has delivered sessions to youngsters on the U.S. political system and Massive Open Online Courses for enhancing their technical skills.
He recently also conducted a teacher’s training program at Shah Abdul Latif University with 30 teachers from local schools and taught them about modern methods of teaching. “I felt there was a need to empower teachers with the latest methods of teachings so that students could be engaged in learning in innovative ways.” His training program included sessions on lesson planning, student engagement, and the true meaning and worth of being a teacher.
From not knowing the 27 alphabets to fluently speaking, writing, and reading in English, Ayaz impressed everyone with his untiring efforts to change his future. “The same people who used to mock me back in the day, started requesting me to teach English to their children. I realized my true potential.”
Ayaz Mirani is currently a student at Shah Abdul Latif University, Sukkur. He is also running an institute in his neighborhood where he teaches English to young boys and girls, based on his Access experience. To support his higher education, he is also giving tuitions to students in his free time.
