 |
Name : | Mahnaz |
| Tribe or Ethnic Identity : | Pakistani | |
| Native language : | Punjabi | |
| Work Position : | Teacher | |
Work
Mr. Mahnaz is a high school teacher at a Christian High School and a coordinator for a program called Church Aided Rural Development (CARD). Both of these are run by The Society for Community Development which serves about one thousand people in the region of the Thal desert. “Our area is remote and far flung and remains neglected from the development policies of Pakistan,” comments Mr. Mahnez. There are eight villages in the vicinity; two are Christian and six are Muslim. The school where he works is the only high school. There is no high school provided by the Government for these villages.
Poverty is the main issue for the people, but Mr. Mahnaz believes that poverty can be overcome through education and technical training. The program that he is engaged in (CARD) has three main activities: maintaining a community grain storage facility, providing community water pumps for drinking water and a demonstration farm. The program is set up to benefit both Christian and Muslim communities. Mr. Mahnaz wishes to expand these activities and establish a training facility after returning from ARI. “Being a native of this society, this is my duty/responsibility to serve the people of this area as well as to work with them and take some development measures for the development of our society.”
|
||
Sending Organization
The goal of The Society for Community Development is to improve the people’s standard of living through vocational, technical, computer, agricultural and general education. They are a Christian organization and work closely with the Presbyterian Church. At the same time, however, they are committed to serving all people and thus invite those of different ethnic groups and religions including Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs for their programs. The organization is currently engaged in the following projects: |
||