The Inspiring Journey of Samina Mir
Bridging Divides and Changing Lives
Growing up in a middle-class neighborhood while attending an elite school, I was a part of two completely opposite realities. I experienced the world from a modest point of view as well as from an elite’s perspective. Spending her childhood, being a part of two different worlds, she knew that she would like to bring the two worlds as close together as she could. Growing up, she aspired to be a human being that would make a change no matter how big or small and be remembered for her efforts
But she just did not know how this would be done, yet. Born in Lahore, to a respectable family with a good house, relative to others in the community, no one knew that she would come so far in society, where women are undermined and oppressed to remain domesticated at homes. Having had the opportunity to study at Queen Mary’s, which was an elite school at the time, was heart-broken when she realized how different the lives of kids were just because of the place or family that they were born into. She knew that on one hand, people had to beg for the opportunity to be given opportunities to develop themselves in the real world and if given this opportunity, they embraced it with open arms. While on the other, people were chased by opportunities all their life but would just shrug it away as to not bother enough to capture and take advantage of to its fullest.
From a principal at an elite school to founding the NGO Khidmat-Ul-Nisa, Samina's journey has been one of empowering underprivileged children through education.
Career Journey
Now, having flourished into a principal of a school in Defence Lahore, she has formed an NGO, Khidmat-Ul-Nisa, which looks after kids who were not so lucky to be given the chance to go to school. She goes to school early morning and returns home, tired, in the evenings. However, this fatigue “instigates a motivation to improve the life of another,” as described by Samina. Initially the NGO aimed to help the poor and needy women of the locality, which is suggested by its name, Khidmat-Un-Nisa, which means ‘Help a Woman’. However, she came to know that these women cared more about the education and the future of their children, over their own lives. “Whatever we earn is spent on their food and clothing, but we do not have enough money to give them good education,” as said by one of the mothers for whom the NGO had initially been created.
This speech struck Samina deep in her heart and brought about emotions which became precisely focused on the evolution of the NGO, which led to the commencement of two projects ‘Adopt a Child’s Education’ and ‘Centre for Special Needs’.
These projects allowed underprivileged and specially-abled children to essentially be ‘adopted’ by a privileged person who paid for their fee, books, and their uniform. “By the Grace of Allah, 120 underprivileged children are getting a free education and lunch on a daily basis, and 50 specially-abled children are getting quality physiotherapy, speech therapy and vocational training.” as exclaimed by Samina Mir. This goes to show that with a little bit of effort, one can bring about a significant change in the life of another. This was Samina’s way of fulfilling the woman’s desire by giving her child the opportunity to seize a good education while revolutionizing her NGO so that it would satisfy greater objectives.
Being the mother of a special child herself,
the school began in Samina’s home on the second floor, offering both underprivileged and specially-abled children an opportunity to connect with peers who shared their aspirations. The physically challenged children were mutually helped by the underprivileged and thus she was able to develop a model of inclusive education at her place.
"Addressing Food Insecurity: Navigating the Challenges of Scarcity Among Underprivileged Children"
Yet, the realities of underprivileged children’s harsh backgrounds occasionally surfaced. For example, since the kids were from lower-class families, some couldn’t bring lunch to the school, while others had some sort of food with them, whether it be chips or a paratha roll etc. Despite their shared struggles, to Samina’s surprise the children hesitated to share their food due to its scarcity. Samina’s empathetic nature was evident, as she understood the gravity of this issue. Since food was considered luxury among these families, giving it to another meant giving up one’s own livelihood, which was barely being maintained in the first place. And this became a serious issue. However, she was not fazed by this and chose to maintain a calm and open mind. Instead of forcing the kids to learn to share, she disallowed students to bring lunch to school, and instead gave each child one fruit and a glass of milk at lunch time. This created equality among the students and allowed the school to function in complete harmony.
Moreover, the achievements in Samina Mir’s life are plenty. But the one that she takes pride in the most is the establishment of her NGO.
Another big one is the title of principal which she earned at an elite School in Defence. Both schools being among the top in Lahore. Other achievements of hers are linked to the evolution of her mental state of being. Having been around so many kids, she has developed a reliable intuition which she is able to use when faced with many problems at once. Being a principal, she is faced with many disputes, and she must get them resolved in short periods of time. Which she has no problem in dealing with, but it can take a great toll on her mind to deal with the many dilemmas that arise, whether to side with the teacher or the student, being one of the many examples. Additional to these, a small achievement which she finds very moving, was when the Chairman of HEC sponsored one of their lunch times, which led to the launch of a new project ‘DasterKhawan’, where there is provision of lunch for everyone.
Today, Samina has access to two distinct societies: the underprivileged community through the NGO and the elite community through her school. This allows her to contrast kids from these backgrounds, showcasing her keen observational skills. At National School, children can be a bit demanding and rude at times, whereas the students in ACE (Adopt a Child’s Foundation) are down to earth and satisfied and accept anything and everything they are given without a second thought. However, at National School, even though students bring burgers, juice and/or money for lunch, which is all considered luxurious food, they are willing to share their food with students who do not have their lunch with them on the day. On the other hand, at ACE, while the students bring simple food items, they are unwilling to share their food as it represents a greater value to them. This has helped Samina develop her belief that, “children are all innocent, but their surroundings affect them and shape their personalities whether it is in a positive way or in a negative way.” This says a lot about her personality. It implies that she is understanding, sympathetic, compassionate and believes that good resides within all of us and it just depends on whether we can nurture that good into something beautiful.
In addition, looking at her daily routine, we can clearly tell that she is a busy woman. However, although she is busy, she always has the heart to make time for family members during the day, if any of them want to meet, or for students looking for some help or for women looking for advice on running a household etc. She is always open for giving advice and helping others.
Her experiences, memories and struggles at the institution have shaped her mentality to take on more challenges. At one point of the establishment of the NGO, they were low on finances and things were not looking good. Even the thought of closing the NGO had crossed her mind, yet she stuck to it and saw through the hardships, and now the fruits of those hardships can be seen on the faces of the 180 students receiving good education and rehabilitation along with the staff who come to assist in teaching these students. Samina Mir has now become more willing to tackle head-on any challenges thrown at her. Even in her busy schedule, of working the days as a principal and maintaining her household and running the NGO, she feels content with the change that she is making to her community and takes pride in her work for the NGO. She believes that no matter how limited in size the change might be, if it is in the right direction, it is worth taking.