Aiming for the stars: Poverty shatters teen’s dreams of becoming a saviour

Sarah Masih passed FSc with decent marks despite her school being closed

PESHAWAR: Although she hails from a war-torn area, 18-year-old Sarah Masih has never given up her dream of becoming a doctor. However, poverty seems to hold her back from chasing it. 

Her passion can be gauged by the fact that she passed her FSc premedical exams with flying colours despite the Government Higher Secondary School Landikotal being closed most of the time. “I studied at home because the school was closed due to security concerns,” she tells The Express Tribune. “There is no concept of tuitions or lectures and teachers themselves suggest the option of self-study.”

Speed bumps

Sarah’s dream of becoming a doctor and serving the destitute is laudable considering she comes from an area where parents seldom think of getting their daughters educated. The reasons for this are either because they are unaware of the prospects of higher education or cannot afford to send their girls to colleges and universities.

Sarah is not the only one concerned of her future. Her father blames himself for not having sufficient resources to help his daughter become a doctor. “Her dreams are shattered because of my meagre earnings.”

The 18-year-old managed to get 720 marks in her annual exams amid the volatile social and political atmosphere in Landikotal.

“Although our area faces prolonged hours of outages, Sarah works day and night,” says her 50-year-old father Yaqoob Masih. “I have no resources to help her with that”

He appeals to authorities to fund his daughter’s education so that she can contribute to the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25^th, 2015.