Italian friends, Pakistani futures
The Pakistani diaspora in Italy, the largest in Europe, numbering about 150,000 continues to take an interest in what goes on in Pakistan and the problems that the country faces. Many in the community are supporting charities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in Pakistan. One of the most successful is the Italian Chapter of The Citizens Foundation (TCF) set up by Gretchen Romig. The group currently has a support network of several hundred people, mostly young second-generation Pakistanis.
The following are excerpts from my conversation with Romig about how she came to set up Italian Friends of TCF:
Q. You grew up in the US midwest and lived most of your adult life in Italy. What made you interested in education in Pakistan?
I had been aware of the problem of illiteracy as a child when my mother became a volunteer teacher in an adult literacy program in my hometown of Wichita, Kansas. The bank I worked for in Chicago transferred me to Milan, Italy and there I met my husband Luigi. [That’s] where our three children grew up.
In 2010, I had reached a hiatus in my professional life. Our children were off to college. Through a friend, I met one of the founders of TCF. I learned about the immense problem of illiteracy among Pakistan’s young population, with its millions of out-of-school children.
I was invited to Pakistan, where I visited several TCF schools. I heard about how TCF started in 1996 with five friends from Karachi getting together “to do something” about the dire situation of public education in their country and about how they pooled their resources and invited friends to join them. Since then, they have built over 1,800 schools nationwide and are educating almost 300,000 children with an all-female faculty of over 14,000 women.
After the visits something clicked and I decided to commit my time and energy to help them succeed.
Q: So after you decided to help the cause of education in Pakistan, what happened next?
A group of women friends and I decided to set up a TCF support group in Milan. We were particularly energised by TCF’s impressive success in getting girls to school, and we felt the overall urgency of bringing affordable, quality education to the 22 million Pakistani children who are not in school.
We set up Italian Friends of TCF to raise funds for the foundation. We also established as one of our goals to share the richness of Pakistani culture with the host community. Today we are part of an active group of international chapters supporting TCF around the world (others are in the UK, Norway, Switzerland, US, Canada, Australia and the UAE). Following Brexit, we are the only registered TCF support group in the EU.
Something we are very proud of is our engagement with the Pakistani diaspora. We have linked up with workers, businesspeople, students and professionals from various walks of life who live, study and work in Italy.
Q; Tell us about your visits to Pakistan.
Over many visits to Pakistan, our Italian supporters and I have come to know a rich and multifaceted society, the country’s magnificent artistic heritage, its captivating fashion traditions, irresistible food and above all the warmth and hospitality of the Pakistanis themselves. We have returned almost every year in order to bring back first-hand updates about our schools for supporters in Milan. I established many acquaintances and several good friendships [in Pakistan]. I am returning this year.
Q: What makes TCF special?
My assessment of TCF is much influenced by my experience in the banking sector where success was heavily influenced by the management structure, the commitment to quality, accountability and values.
The board of TCF Pakistan works hard to ensure that education continuously improves, that teachers are more and more qualified, and that more kids go to school and successfully matriculate. The vast majority of TCF graduates are able to continue their education or achieve their technical school or employment goals upon graduation.
The organisation is characterised by a culture of high accountability… not just at the top. I have seen it right down the lineat the training staff level, at the principal level and among the teachers.
Important for me are also the values that TCF is teaching to the children who attend their schools: respect for others, integrity, ownership and continuous improvement.
Q: What is it that strikes you most when you visit a TCF school?
How motivated the students are. They see that attending school is a great privilege and joy. Sometimes our Italian schoolchildren consider school a boring duty and very much take it for granted. For many TCF kids though, getting to learn for half a day in such a beautiful place is nothing less than a piece of immense good luck.
Visiting a TCF school brings this into sharp focus: To reach one of the schools you may traverse quite sad, blighted areas and desolate communities. Passing through the school gates though, you find yourself in a light-filled, orderly and happy campus teeming with young learners whose curious, contented and hopeful faces express their happiness in being in school.
I know that if this transition feels somewhat stark to me, how much more intensely must these children be experiencing it? Attending such a school, they find themselves confronted with another world, one that gives them hope that their future may indeed be different and better through education.