Economic independence does not come easy for most women in Pakistan.
Many are held back by societal or familial pressures while others are pushed by circumstances to abandon their ambitions and dreams and tend to others’ needs before their own.
For Farzana, a young girl from Lyari, it was the latter that compelled her to leave education halfway and find skill based work to support her family.
But Farzana did not lose sight of her goals and when the opportunity came, she found a way to uplift the people of her community like she had always wanted to.
Born in a family of labourers, the fifth out of six children, Farzana grew up around determined and hard working individuals.
As a child she would see the police barging in houses in her neighbourhood, frequently taking young men with them for questioning over the notorious gang wars and violence that had once plagued Lyari.
Many of the residents were ill equipped to defend themselves and this did not bode well with young Farzana.
She aspired to be a lawyer, to help the people of her neighbourhood exercise their legal rights and improve their access to justice.
However, after the premature death of her father she was forced to leave her studies and find work to support her mother and earn for the family.
Her other siblings contributed to the household too but funds were never enough and Farzana picked up stitching and tailoring to help make ends meet.
She did various odd jobs and eventually in 2016, Farzana was hired as a coach for Right to Play - an international non-profit organisation that aims to educate and empower children using the power of play - GOAL programme.
Farzana helped children develop confidence using sports and special games and to succeed in their studies through concentration, teamwork and communication skills that such games allowed them to build.
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Her particular programme allowed her to focus on financial literacy and entrepreneurship for girls who were doing well in the regular programme.
According to Farzana, the process of teaching proved to be a learning experience for herself. Coaching her students in such skills helped boost her own confidence and she noticed her abilities as a leader and decision maker improve over time.
She led activities to teach girls in Lyari how to build employable skills, plan, set goals and practice self discipline to achieve her goals.
Her students learnt how to develop budgets, find ways to monetise interests and come up with entrepreneurial ideas, and so did Farzana during her training as a coach.
She improved her English and picked up on computer skills She was able to head back to school and resume her education.
Taking these experiences forward, Farzana applied for the Rotary Charities’ Seed Grant, which aims to fund projects with potential for broad community impact, and emerged successful. Today, Farzana runs a small community centre in Lyari where she teaches entrepreneurship and provides counselling to skilled women.
Over 1,600 women and girls have benefitted from the centre. Farzana has five women as her longterm employees and they help her train women in her community in budgeting, business planning, goal setting and financial management.
Although her work met with some resistance from the local people, Farzana remained undeterred - financially independent women are more empowered in society, she says.
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.
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