Exchange programme reunion: Alumni trained in US spark positive change

Participants are from underserved communities.

ISLAMABAD:

Shamshad Hussain, 30, travelled to the United States for the first time in 2007. The trip changed Hussain’s life. He was the only individual to have participated in the Community College Initiative (CCI) exchange programme from Gilgit-Baltistan.

“It was a great experience. Interacting with diverse communities including resident Pakistanis taught me a lot in both personal and academic terms,” said Shamshad at the inaugural reunion of the exchange programme alumni at a local hotel on Friday.

Majoring in tourism, Hussain spent an academic year at the Detroit State College. After returning from the programme, he set up a not-for-profit organisation (NPO) “Grassroots Association for Community Empowerment.” The NPO has launched small collaborative projects on education, disability, sanitation in his native land of Skardu. Having switching from the field of tourism to the development sector, Hussain plans to expand uplift initiatives to benefit other communities as well.

He was among the over 150 alumni of the exchange programme who attended the reunion.  “Some of the people that I met in the US, were not familiar with Pakistan – they asked me are you from the Middle East, India or China? I told them that I belong to the land of three of the world’s greatest mountain ranges,” said Hussain beaming with pride. A short film documenting his success story was also screened at the event.

Principal Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Beth Jones from the US Department of State, and the United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan Executive Director Rita Akhtar welcomed the students who represented all regions of the country.

“When I look at this audience, I see talented representatives of the nation’s bright future,” said Ambassador Jones while addressing the alumni at the reunion. “You have an extraordinary collective capacity to make a lasting and positive impact in your communities and your nation.”

Participants of the exchange programme, which is sponsored by the US department of state, spend one academic year studying at a community college in the US in of the following fields: agriculture, applied engineering, business management, early childhood education, information technology, media, tourism and hospitality management. The participants are recruited from the country’s rural and underserved populations and most are mid-career professionals.

The alumni reunion is being hosted by the US embassy in collaboration with the Pakistan-US Network. During the three-day event, participants will share their experiences in the US, participate in workshops and speaker sessions on entrepreneurship, strategic leadership, civil society development, enjoy cultural performances, and brainstorm ideas for community service projects that benefit Pakistan’s social and economic development. The reunion will culminate in a team-building exercise, where the participants will learn hands-on skills to improve their own organisations.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2^nd, 2014.