Educate a Girl programme trains 200 students

Training almost 200 more girls in Communication, Innovation and Keys to Success at the Indus University through their award-winning Educate a Girl platform, Ladiesfund President Tara Uzra Dawood said that the programme had the vision to ensure every girl had access to equal education and was motivated to live an impactful life.

She said they were humbled and honored to bring world class educational training and resources for dynamic young women. “As many as 3000 deserving girls have been educated through live training and one million girls online in multiple languages. This was part of a partnership with Facebook’s internet.org foundation and with support by the World Bank,” she added.

The initiative focused in its early days on media training, and then soon expanded to include entrepreneurship, leadership, negotiation, mental health, self-discipline and e-commerce. In its Qayummabad training, the programme taught the students how to make e-commerce websites in 6 weeks and the winner of best website -- one that sold colored henna online --

was funded $5,000 by Amazon.com in hosting credits. Several alumni had become news anchors and gone on to win top journalism awards nationally and in a handful of cases been recognised globally, Dawood said.

For this most recent training, there were 11 resources, including English Literature professor (retd) Dr Ishrat Lindblad from Sweden, Virtual Reality Expert Ahmed Hamid from New York, Global Giving communications Specialist Soophia Ansari from Washington DC and Malaysian Consul General Khairul Nazran. The training focused on communication skills, use of innovation in the workspace and job interviewing tips and guidelines.

“You always have my support,” said Dr Lindblad, who had earlier trained daughters of the staff working at the Governor House under Educate a Girl programme. She focused on choosing your words wisely and explained to the students how their career paths could evolve differently, simply by their taking seriously their choice of language.

Nazran spoke of relations and cultural, educational and trade opportunities between Pakistan and Malaysia. Dawood Global Foundation had already sent 8 girls to study in Germany, and one to each of the United Kingdom, Turkey, China and Switzerland. The Foundation was working to send girls to France and Malaysia for education. The event drew engagement from several members of the community, many of whom were donors or resources, including Jawaid Haider, Yasmin Dadabhoy, Moneeza Butt, Afzaal Adhia, Amna Zia. Fashion Designer Deepak Perwani had donated 25 scholarships to the cause and had been a trainer in the past.