Our alumni are testament to the hard work and dedication of the CARE Foundation. In response to a failing educational system in Pakistan, along with the lack of opportunities for students, we took on the responsibility to create a positive change.
The CARE Foundation has impacted on the lives of thousands of students, in the face of dire disadvantage.It has raised the standards of education nationwide, setting the stage for growth. Below are a few of our successes from over the years.
“CARE introduced the world to us.”
CARE Foundation alumni, Hashim Malik
Muhammad Umair is a CARE alumnus currently working as a Project Lead – CCE at CARE Foundation. Through his experiences with the CARE Foundation, Umair has harnessed his talents and grown into a driven and competent individual.
“Growing up in a low-income household, accessing good education was a major challenge. Millions of Pakistani children do not attend school, and those that do must deal with absent teachers and poor learning environments; I was one of them and I knew from a young age that I wanted a different life…..
CARE alumni Dr Farah Azam hopes to one day open up her own hospital in Shahdara, Lahore. The young doctor works at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. The eldest of five siblings, Azam grew up in Shahdara. Having completed her schooling at a CARE Foundation school in the area, she knew she wanted to make a career in the medical field.
“I just knew that I wanted to be a doctor for the rest of my life,” she says, “There are no doctors in my family, and for some reason, it used to give me a bit of an inferiority complex. That’s when I decided I had to get out of the career comfort zone that I saw so many of my family members stuck in.”
As an ambitious student at the CARE 1 high school, Sana remembers the extreme lengths her mother, who used to work as a maid locally, had to go to ensure her children were offered the best education in that district.
“Regardless of her hardships, my mother ensured that we received a top-quality education.”
The CARE 1 schools allowed deserving students to receive quality education even though they couldn’t afford it.
Fatima Ali is a 25-year-old House Officer at Jinnah Hospital in Lahore; she is ten months into a Junior Doctor placement. She can work between 36-132 hours per week. After a further four to five years of study, she will become a Resident Doctor. Her aim is to specialise as..Read more
Abdul Subhan Zahid, a house officer at Lahore General Hospital Abdul Subhan Zahid is a 24-year-old House Officer at Lahore General Hospital. He has spent one year at the hospital learning general surgery and emergency surgery. Abdul assists surgeons and professors on elective operations. He is on call 24/7, and..Read more
Mehek Mushtaq, 31, is specializing in Anaesthesiology I come from a humble family. My father was an artist and the sole breadwinner for our family. I have one brother and two sisters. I attended the CARE adopted Shahdara City District High School in Lahore. My teachers were a big source..Read more
Mubashir Iftikhar, 28, is an engineer. I grew up in Lahore, the youngest of five. My father was a medical representative at a pharmaceutical company, so at first, I received a private education. Things went upside down when my father had to leave his job due to poor health. With..Read more
Muhammad Saad Arif Sindhu, 32, is the co-founder and partner at Shamsher & Saad. One of seven children, I grew up in Shahdara Lahore, an underprivileged area in Lahore. My father worked as an Engineer Supervisor in Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL). Our financial situation was not sound. He used..Read more
Dr Amara Ilyas, 37, received a scholarship from the CARE Foundation to complete her medical qualifications. She works as an Assistant Consultant at King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Saudi Arabia. I grew up in Lahore and went to a government school – the attitude of the teachers to students was inappropriate...Read more
Fatima Tariq, aged 27 is a CARE alumna who is currently working as an English Language Program Coordinator at CARE Foundation. Her inspirational life story has transformed her into a courageous and confident lady, who is deeply committed to the meaningful work she is doing for her community.
Fatima, 30, is a PhD student at the University of Technology Sydney in Australia. I come from a large family with four sisters and two brothers. My father was a shopkeeper, while my mother was a homemaker. There were no individuals with professional careers within my immediate and extended family...Read more
Nabeel Arshad, 28, is head of HSE Department (Health Safety & Environmental department at a chicken processing plant in Pakistan. I grew up in a very rural, old-fashioned family. My mother is a housewife, and my father grows crops and looks after the fields. There was no education. In my..Read more