Ovais Iqbal celebrates his Cisco Global Community Hero award with children, teachers and staff at the Karachi campus of the Deaf Reach Schools, who he believes are “most deserving of the honour.” Photo: Courtesy Ovais Iqbal
KARACHI: Canada was “alien” to Ovais Iqbal in 2000. Or rather, it was the other way round for the then awkward, fresh-off-the-boat migrant, who is now an accomplished IT engineer and a keen philanthropist.
Belonging to a middle-class family from Karachi, he had struggled to the alien territory of Canada after a wait of four years since 1996, when he had applied for immigration. Until then, after failing to pursue chartered accountancy and acquiring a diploma in computer science from the now closed down College of Digital Sciences, he worked relentlessly to share his father’s burden, who, for the longest time, had been sole breadwinner in a family of six. In fact, Iqbal had begun teaching before the completion of his intermediate education to support his family financially.
The long period of struggle was to end as he would embark on a new journey of prosperity in a foreign land, even when he was practically empty-handed and lacking an undergraduate degree. Iqbal looked forward to it, unaware that the time ahead was even more challenging that what he had faced hitherto.
Reliving it, Iqbal compared his hardships to those faced by one having shifted to the sprawling, fast-paced metropolis of Karachi from the remote areas of Sindh or Punjab. “Those hardships are nothing in front of the difficulties while struggling to settle in a completely different society, making a place in a strange culture and getting acquainted with an unfamiliar religion,” he said.
It was perhaps scrambling to find a sense of belonging and overcoming the challenge of unfamiliarity that inspired in Iqbal a sense of empathy towards several others fighting a similar battle, though on different grounds. Moved by this awareness of inclusivity, he was to work extensively for the welfare of the differently-abled - mainly hearing and speech impaired - and the marginalised community in the years to come.
Seeking inclusivity, retaining identity
Even as Iqbal moved from working as a labourer to landing a job in the IT sector, besides completing a fast-track undergraduate programme and getting assimilated into a foreign culture, his sense of belonging to his homeland remained undeterred.
In Canada too, he continued to teach and provided counselling to Canadian residents of Pakistani descent. He felt for the people of his home country and acknowledged that he had no identity if not for Pakistan. No wonder one of his most notable philanthropic endeavours pertains to the welfare of the hearing and speech-impaired in Pakistan, helping the differently-abled get acceptance as they are in a society that largely disregards them.
Welfare of the voiceless
Iqbal joined Cisco Systems, a multinational technology conglomerate, in 2007.
For a long time, Cisco has enforced policies aimed at encouraging employees to partake in welfare activities and take philanthropic initiatives. “The company gives five days off to all employees for the purpose and pays an additional $10 for each spent on welfare endeavours,” shared Iqbal. This furthered his involvement in philanthropic causes, though his initiatives were little recognised and established on a small scale at the time.
Then, in 2017, Iqbal came to know about Deaf Reach Schools and Training Centres - a network of educational facilities established by the Family Educational Services Foundation (FESF) for the hearing and speech-impaired.
“It was gathering at the Rotary Club of Toronto,” he recalled. There he met FESF Operations Director Daniel M Lanthier and was moved by his efforts towards the cause of facilitating education for the differently-abled.
Iqbal associated with the organisation, developing and implementing strategies to raise funds for the cause. He partook in activities for raising awareness about the significance of educating the hearing and speech-impaired and organised an event in Toronto as well to increase the reach and collect funds for Deaf Reach Schools and Training Centres in Pakistan.
To Iqbal, such initiatives are critical for ensuring the progress of the country. He acknowledges that approximately nine million people, including around one million children, in Pakistan are hearing and speech-impaired. Of them, just five per cent are able to acquire education, while others are deprived of this right despite having the potential to become a productive member of the society.
Having this understanding, Iqbal is now putting in efforts for the establishment of Deaf Reach Schools and Training Centres in Lahore. In addition, he has so far organised two fund-raising events, in association with the Human Consultant International, which resulted in the collection of $210,000 from Pakistanis settled in Canada, as well as from individuals from Bangladesh, India and other countries.
He believes that his philanthropic initiatives coincide with the growing need for such endeavours in Pakistan, saying “the government alone cannot address issues that have piled up over 70 years.” He adds, “Therefore, as responsible citizens of Pakistan, it is our duty to pay back what we owe to the country.”
Compassion beyond borders
However, Iqbal’s labour for inclusivity of the deprived, marginalised, underprivileged and differently-abled go far beyond Pakistan. He has taken fund-raising initiatives to extend support for the displaced Rohingya Muslims, Syrian refugees and refugees having taken temporary residence in camps in Turkey.
So far, he has launched 17 fund-raising campaigns for Pakistan-based organisations and those having a global outreach. He aims to extend this support to all segments of Pakistan and beyond as he says, “The reach of virtue should be extended to illuminate all places shrouded in darkness and not just one.”
Recognition
Iqbal’s efforts towards facilitating education for the hearing and speech-impaired have particularly been lauded, as he was Cisco conferred on him the Global Community Hero award for his endeavours in the area. He has also been presented with the Global Bridge award by company, in recognition of his involvement in welfare activities. However, Iqbal has dedicated these awards to the FSEF founder, other persons working for the organisation and children enrolled in Deaf Reach Schools and Training Centres, who he says are “most deserving of the honour.”
This story is part of a weekly series that seeks to bring to light the unsung heroes of Karachi - the hawkers, traders, doctors, teachers, engineers, lawyers and daily-wage labourers. It is they who make Karachi the city of lights.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 20th, 2020.
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