SHAH NAWAZ MOHAL
The Pakistan Social Entrepreneurship Academy (P-SEA), a project of Al-Sharif Foundation, held the reunion of its scholars at a local hotel here on Sunday. The landmark gathering was attended by P-SEA scholars who have successfully earning online by offering their skills and services to international clients. The P-SEA trains and guides the Pakistani youth in the field of online entrepreneurship. It started its mission to train one million youth last year.
Speaking on the occasion, P-SEA Head Muhammad Siddique said the secret of online work success lied in connectivity with the right people. He asked the participants to make friends with at least 100 successful people in their related fields. “Ask those successful people what not to do in the business and value their advices.” Over the time, the P-SEA has helped 132,717 people from all parts of Pakistan, who are now being offered exciting online work opportunities from across the world.
Among the participants were very moving stories. Dua Arshad Sukhera had come from Arifwala. The scarf wearing girl said she had started online content writing last year despite resistance from her family. Later, the work ethics developed by the P-SEA convinced the family to continue the work. Today, she had earned thousands of dollars, all working from her home. “I’m happy that I’m an earner, all by following determination and commitment,” she said.
Another big story is Muhammad Ramzan. A matriculate with second division, the youngster leads a team of 25 people and offers connectivity to clients on Linkedin. His turnover in last year was $500,000. “Online opportunities are like an ocean,” he said.
The P-SEA does not charge anything from the candidates. It, however, provides them scholarships to learn the required skills. The entrepreneurs on the platform of the P-SEA have earned hundreds of thousands of dollars over the period of time. Now these professionals are providing scholarships through P-SEA to help others.
The unique side of the gathering was that a majority of the beneficiaries of the P-SEA initiative hail from KP, Balochistan and Sindh. The gathering was addressed by Tcat Houser and Jason Gilbert, master trainer at P-SEA from the US via video link.
Asim Shahryar Husain, Managing Director, Pakistan Software Export Board, said the board had recorded $560 million in terms of software last year. He said the government had zero taxes on IT income. So far, there are 1200 member companies of the board. Pakistan was among top freelance countries. He appreciated the efforts of the P-SEA.