Meet "Shoukria Raza" as she shares her experiences of Active Citizens Learning Journey.

This is Shoukria Raza from Quetta and I’m pleased to share my learning journey as an Active Global Citizen. I hope it will be a source of inspiration for other young people who are not engaged in the streamlining process of Active Citizens Learning Journey.

As an intermediate student at BISE, Quettta, there are many memories that I cherish in life but the days spent at the Active Citizenship training will stay with me forever.

I approached my life and the world in a typical state of apathy and indifference. The Active Citizenship Training gave me clarity on my role as a citizen of this country and the world. I developed a new sense of thinking and a sense of responsibility toward the development of the country. The contents related to identity and culture helped me challenge my stereotypes and prejduices.

“Our identities are about our own sense of who we are and how we approach the world.” I now not only understand the words in the above line but also their importance. Identity helps build community and a sense of belonging within a more globalised diverse world. It is a fundamental for building trust, mutual understanding, networking and cooperation.

It was an eye opener for me to understand the nexus of individual, cultural, society and citizenship. As a layman, I did not give it a though but when the facilitator at the Active Citizenship training shared its importance, I realized that my contribution can be a source of change in the world.

We all know this was learning journey program for the youth; that is why CYAAD and its partners provided us the incredible opportunity of sharing our views, ideas, and experiences with the youth of other regions. This gave us a chance to remove our fixed views about the people of other cultures, religions and ethnicities.

ACP is a platform where the youth have been provided chances to help those affected by any kind of injustice, violence and networking through social media. It was great for all of us; we regularly updated and shared our views on blog, facebook, twitter etc on the six global issues.
Besides that, I got the chance to strengthen my confidence and my managerial skills when I launched social action projects in my community with support of community members. Through fund raising and utilising the local resources, the SAPs also polished my leadership skills and gave me a way to be engaged within the community.

My fellows and I identified the lack of the computer literacy center within the community. We also saw the need for an internet café exclusively for the women. All CYAAD members gave continuous mentoring and facilitation, technical and financial support for making it happen and at last we did it. We had succeeded in establishing a computer literacy center and internet café in a secure environment for the women of Quetta.

We with the help of CYAAD and community members, we were able to ensure five computers, a printer, scanner and wireless network. Amozgha [a local CBO] working for the development of women provided the internet connection, furniture, curriculums and premises for free.

I personally, on behalf of my group and the women of the district, am thankful to my community, CYAAD and its partner organisation for introducing such a wonderful programme for enabling the youth and utilising their energies to make a better world.