By Rimsha Ali Shah.
With a pen and paper in her hand, Maheen curiously looked around at the 24 unfamiliar faces seated at the School of Leadership with her. Their trainer had asked them to break the ice with a simple question and answer routine and learn more about the people they would be spending the next two days with, learning the art of leadership through workshops, projects, and motivational speaker sessions.
By the end of the activity, Maheen had met 24 other young champions like her, learned about their communities and their strengths. The nervous energy in the room had been replaced with a promising enthusiasm. “It was a very useful activity for me. I learned how to overcome my fear of networking and communicating with strangers.”
Maheen was part of the 50-member group attending “Crazy Youth Champions,” a leadership camp envisioned and organized by English Micro-scholarship Access Program alumnus Faiz-ud-din. The participants, aged between 18 to 25, hailed from all over Karachi including Malir, Korangi, North Nazimabad, Lyari, and Gulshan. The camp was held at School of Leadership, Karachi from May 25 – 30, 2016. This was made possible with the help of an alumni small grant from the Pakistan-U.S. Alumni Network (PUAN). All alumni of various U.S. government-sponsored exchange programs in Pakistan are eligible to apply for the grant of up to $5,000 USD to enable them to give back to their communities.
Workshops Help Boost Confidence of Participants
“Attending the leadership camp has helped me realize my potential. I feel more confident and groomed for the challenges that await me,” stated Shagufta. “Waqar Ali’s session was particularly engaging and taught me how important teamwork is.”
Sessions were structured around the key needs of the participants including teamwork, communication skills, decision-making and leadership, digital media, interpersonal skills and time-management skills.
Gufran Khan who conducted the session on “power of spoken words” believed in incorporating the understanding of emotional intelligence in individuals. “In Pakistan, we don’t place enough importance on emotional intelligence. This is why I have conducted many workshops on the same topic in different universities and institutes so that the young generation can be made emotionally aware of their surroundings.”
Maalik Khaskhali’s session on enhancing critical thinking skills helped participants polish their analytical abilities. “I designed the visioning exercise keeping in mind that the participants should have long-term thinking in their minds about their communities,” he added.
Fatima believed such pieces of training constituted the best way to exercise the brain and “learn more about ourselves and our surroundings.”
The workshops spread over two days concluded with a special keynote by Umair Jaliawala, Chief Executive Officer, and Director at School of Leadership and a motivational speaker. His motivational talk inspired participants to take action in the form of community development projects through collaborative efforts. One such example was of Tahira’s project “Aware Yourself” geared towards skill development of students in local schools. “The session with Umair Jaliawala really helped push us to give our best shot for a brighter future of our country,” she added.
For Faiz-ud-din, this project was a stepping stone in his quest to continue with projects that help youth become confident, aware and responsible global citizens.
