Unique path: Humanitarian finds ways to give effect to change

Roghani uses his campaign to make education accessible

PESHAWAR: Amid the youth’s aimlessness in this country, we sometimes come across someone who does the country proud. Saud Shah Roghani is one such individual. Starting at the young age of 16, Roghani helped underprivileged people from his area.

Now that he has just turned 20 and is studying law, he has many feathers in his cap. Not only is he a social activist and a humanitarian, Roghani also believes in taking on-ground measures to help people. It was with this objective in mind that he started his most recent project Darmaan.

“The Pashto word Darmaan means medicine,” Roghani tells The Express Tribune. “The initiative was launched to bring basic necessities like food, clothing and medicine. Slowly it has turned into something much more than that.”

In Ramazan the initiative fed more than 15,000 people, all over the country. Recently Roghani has taken on a mammoth task by starting a campaign for girl’s education.

He and his team launched a ‘one-minute video’ initiative to spread awareness about sending girls to school. The fundamental idea is to raise funds for providing school supplies and uniforms to children from low-income families.

“We launched the ‘Say yes to girls’ education’ video initiative on July 30 and within hours it started to catch fire,” Roghani says. “Since then, every hour we have been receiving videos on our social media pages in support of the cause.”

“Our small effort can bring a smile on someone’s face – that makes a great difference,” the social activist says. “Wherever we look, there’s a lot to be done, let’s pitch in wherever we can.” He says so far the programme has helped 500 students. But he has a bigger ambition and wants to expand the project and support as many students as possible.

Many social activists, lawyers, political figures and United Nations’ specialists have participated in the initiative and made videos to show their support. Even celebrities from all over the country, including Reham Khan, have joined in to do their bit.

Currently, there are more than 150 videos on the Facebook page, while more and more people from across the globe are coming together for the cause. Professor Stife, a lawyer and rights activist from Berlin supports Darmaan’s fundraising campaign and could be seen taking part in the cause of girls education. “Please send your girls to Schools and support the cause,” he requests in the video.

With so much that is wrong all around us people like Roghani and initiatives like the ‘Say yes to girls’ education’ do their bit in making the world a better place.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2016.