Humaira Bachal
A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. (March 2019) |
Humaira Bachal حمیرا بچل | |
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Born | 1988 (age 35–36) Pakistani |
Occupation | Activist for female education |
Organisation | Roshan Pakistan Academy |
Known for | Activist for the right to education, especially female education |
Parents |
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Awards | Asia 21 Young Leader (2012) Women of Impact Award (2013) |
Humaira Bachal (
Early life
Bachal was born in 1988 in
Education
With the money earned from wood-selling business and sewing clothes, Bachal's mother started sending Bachal and her sister to nearby Islamia Public School.
Activism
In 1998, when Bachal was ten years old, one of her cousins died after taking an expired medicine given by his mother because his mother could not read the expiry date due to her illiteracy. This inspired her to launch a campaign for female education.[6][9][3] In 2001, When she was in sixth grade and only thirteen years old, she asked her school-going friends to donate their old books and stationery. She started teaching her neighborhood children with that donated learning material in a makeshift classroom in her home. Ten of her friends who were not enrolled in a school were attending that class.[2][3][4]
In 2003, Bachal's resolve for education advocacy further strengthened when she passed the 9th grade exam and she started paying close attention around her neighborhood. It struck her that most children just spent their days playing in the streets and none of them attended a school. Same year, she opened a small private school from her home.[2] She started knocking at people's doors and requested the parents to send their kids to school.[1][5][7] Bachal visits fathers at their job locations and tries to convince them to send their daughters to school while she warns mothers to educate their girls if they do not want their daughters to be treated in a similar fashion in the society and home as they are being treated.[5] One of the tactics she used to convince the parents to send their girls to school was that she offered an incentive of getting two sons educated for free for sending one girl to school.[8] During this endeavor of going door to door to advocate for education, her life was threatened several times.[5]
The efforts resulted in the school growing into 150 students and five teachers.
On 28 March 2009, Shirkat Gah launched a documentary on her work at
In the afternoon, a two hour religious class is offered to lure parents to send their kids to the school.
There are many government schools in the neighborhood which has become "ghost". She is working to revive those schools through her trust and has revived couple of them so far.[4]
Career
She worked as a mobilizer for a micro-finance project then she began exporting beauty products to Iran but when the border was closed, she started giving leadership training.[4]
Media portrayal
She was portrayed as one of the extraordinary Pakistanis in Humaira: The Dream Catcher filmed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.[1][11][4] She was also the subject of Salma Hayek's documentary production Humaira: The Game Changer.[12]
Awards and honours
In 2012, Bachal was selected as Asia 21 Young Leader in
See also
- Children's rights
- Women's education in Pakistan
- Women's rights in Pakistan
- Malala Yousafzai
- Farida Afridi
- Bibi Aisha
- Muzoon Almellehan
- Sahar Gul
- Aitzaz Hasan
- Women's rights in 2014
- British Pakistanis
References
- ^ a b c d e f "After Fighting To Go To School, A Pakistani Woman Builds Her Own". NPR.org. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Struggling from age six, 24-year-old Bachal finally catches up with her dreams". The Express Tribune. 14 July 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Pakistani woman overcomes stiff resistance, embraces her mission to educate children". DeseretNews.com. 6 March 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v "A class of her own". 1843. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Northouse 2017.
- ^ a b c d "Humaira Bachal". Varkey Foundation. Retrieved 26 December 2018.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b c Kimball 2017.
- ^ a b c d Criado-Perez 2015.
- ^ a b Lee 2017.
- ^ a b c "Humaira Bachal Awarded the 2013 Women of Impact Award in NYC". Asia Society. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
- ^ a b "The Dream Foundation". RAY OF LIGHT FOUNDATION. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^ "A success story - The Express Tribune". tribune.com.pk. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-1-84-627580-7
- Peter G. Northouse (6 February 2017), Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice, ISBN 978-1-50-637835-0
- David C. S. Lee (12 January 2017), Multilingual Hong Kong: Languages, Literacies and Identities, ISBN 978-3-31-944195-5
- Gayle Kimball (8 September 2017), "Brave Women in Muslim Countries", Brave: Young Women's Global Revolution, BookBaby, ISBN 978-0-93-879560-5