“I have recently joined the Aman Tech stitching programme.”
Sitting comfortably in her chair, her head covered with a black scarf, Fehmida Zehra is busy working on a stitching pattern. “I look forward to mastering the techniques,’’ the Landhi resident says with a hint of a smile while talking about what according to her is ‘a wonderful experience’.
Zehra talks with a confidence rare among girls coming from a background like hers. She has recently started coming to the Aman Foundation facility located in Korangi Creek Industrial Park at the southern edge of the city.
Fehmida Zehra is one of 2,500 students enrolled in various trades—13 to be precise – offered in Aman Tech’s vocational training programme. The programme was started by Aman Foundation in 2011 to cater to the educational needs of the youth from underserved backgrounds and to help them get employment.
HOPE OF A BETTER FUTURE:
According to Aman Foundation CEO Malik Ahmed Jalal, so far 4,900 students have passed out from Aman Tech and are working in Pakistan and abroad.
‘’We only take 10% of the entire course fee, and that too if the student can pay it, otherwise they are taught free of charge,’’ he said while talking about the affordable fee structure.
Walking in the building of Aman Tech, which holds 23 classrooms, 22 workshops, 13 fully equipped computer labs and a student activity area; one is able to see the amount of effort Aman Foundation is putting into changing the lives of the people it comes into contact with.
In addition to the trades, which include carpentry, masonry, electric and sanitary works to name a few; students are also given a ‘soft skills training’ in order to help them adjust in the professional world. This according to Jalal is needed, because students coming from backgrounds where personal grooming isn’t a focus need to learn about it.
The students, neatly dressed up in their uniforms, are themselves hopeful about the opportunities which await them once they pass out of their respective programmes. Syed Azmeer Ali, a student of the 12-month automobile course says, ‘’Coming here has helped me a lot, I am hopeful that my training here will help me in find a job outside Pakistan and I’ll be able to make a better life.’’
Aman Tech is just a branch of the fruitful tree Aman Foundation has planted. The social enterprise has initiated a number of programmes since 2008 under the banners of Aman Health and Aman Education. Aman Tech and INJAZ are a part of Aman Education whereas Aman Ambulance, Telehealth, Aman Ghar, Aman Community Health Workers, Sukh and Mashal are the notable projects in the health sector.
AMAN HEALTH:
Over the years, Aman Health has touched the lives of many. From the 83 modern ambulances which are saving the lives Karachiites every day to the children that are fed in Aman Ghar, Aman Health has been working on a mission of humanity since the start.
‘’We have the best ambulance service in Pakistan. We have fully equipped ambulances with trained staff, which we provide for a minimal fee in accidents and other situations,’’ the Aman Foundation CEO said about the yellow ambulances that one can see running around the city.
While talking about the oldest programme of the Aman Foundation, the Aman Ghar, he said ‘’the idea of the Aman Ghar is to feed hygienic and nutritious food to children of underprivileged localities. We’ve set up a kitchen in Khuda ki Basti where 250 children are fed every day.”
Along with Aman Ghar and the ambulance service, Aman Foundation also has projects to spread awareness about maternal health issues (Sukh), mental health issues (Mashal) and general health related matters with Telehealth and Community Health Workers Programme.
“So far we’ve trained around 20,000 people on how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and around 3,000 to 4,000 police officers have also been trained. This is to provide immediate medical care by the bystanders in case of an emergency,” Urban Health Programme Assistant Manager Khurram Latif said about the programme initiated under Aman Health’s Community Health Worker Programme, which aims at informing the general public about health matters.
Although the availability of proper medical treatment and awareness of diseases is a daunting task, Aman is on a mission to help in solving the problem.
Another initiative Aman has taken recently is Mashal, which aims to create awareness about mental health problems. CEO Jalal while talking on the matter said, ‘’Mashal aims at fighting against the stigma attached with mental health issues. People need to understand that a mental health disease is equally as important as physical illness.’’
Jalal gave the credit for the success of Aman’s ventures to his team. ‘’Our trustees always wanted to build a good organisation but we understand that that’s merely infrastructure. Our biggest strength are our employees and that is Aman’s main idea – to attract talented people of Pakistan to work on social problems. The more talented people we have the more we’ll be able to solve the problems.’’
