Experience volunteering in a kids' center in Iowa inspired an undergraduate to help youth in Pakistan. Global UGRAD Pakistan [7] Fellow Fawad co-founded the Innovative Youth Forum [8] (IYF) in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, using the leadership skills he developed during his semester at Graceland University [9] in Lamoni, Iowa. “Through my work at the Alley Kid’s Center in the U.S. I did more in one semester than I did in the past twenty years.” explains Fawad. “When I came back, I talked to my friends at the university, and we established the IYF to work for the benefit of our community.”
The Innovative Youth Forum (IYF) is a platform for youth to come together and look beyond ethnic, religious, and other differences to do something beneficial for society. IYF’s mission is to engage youth from all backgrounds to help them think about issues in their society, prepare to take action as leaders, and participate in service-oriented activities that benefit the community as a whole.
Within a short period of time, IYF organized many community service projects, including organizing Eid celebrations with children in need, conducting workshops with the Rotary Club, and distributing artificial limbs to victims of bomb blasts. IYF also frequently conducts trainings for university students on topics such as social entrepreneurship, proposal writing, and good governance of organizations. Currently IYF is working in nine cities and agencies in Pakistan, mostly in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
When asked what barriers he faced to getting youth and the community involved, Fawad explained that it was very difficult in the beginning: “Even my own friends were not in favor and were very discouraging. They said that this is a waste of time because you are spending your own money and you get nothing in return. But we kept up our struggle and now feel proud.” In order to involve community members, Fawad says IYF works closely with them to identify the problems they face and organize activities and projects accordingly.
Fawad’s aspiration is to connect with other NGOs to be able collaborate on even bigger projects and increase the reach of the IYF and their message of youth involvement in social change. He is excited to involve more communities in his initiatives, and hopes to instill greater social responsibility to inspire improvements that can benefit future generations.
To read more about Fawad’s experience as a volunteer in the U.S., click here [10].
The Global Undergraduate Exchange Program in Pakistan [7] is a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs [11] of the U.S. Department of State and is implemented by IREX.