Re: Making Pakistan a better place to live..
I have tried to read as much of the entire thread as I can... a lot of excellent points have already been made. It does my heart good to see how many of us, be the people living in Pakistani or ex-patriots,want our country to improve and be the best we can be.
You know, whenever there is a talk about Asia, and nowadays there often is, because the of the rapidly rising economies of India and China; I often think about Japan. This country of destroyed, ruined, flattened as the result of the nuclear bomb and look where they are now. They rose from the ashes and built their nation. I do not for a minute think or believe that my countryman and woman are in any way less smarter or hard working then the Japanese..but then why such a difference between the living conditions of both the countries?? I try to blame it to the politicians and repeat the same old rhectric in my head..Pakistan never had a good leader, no democratically elected person has ever competed his or her term yada yada yad....I then inevitably blame the people of Pakistan, myself included, for not caring a damn about our home land..we as a nation have no clear definitions of what are values are, what we stand for? what we have inherited from our forefathers...I know when I talk/think like that I am walking a very fine line because this is the exact point when the lines between culture/society and Religion cross.
I agree with the posters that say the change will come from the individuals. This will have to be a grass root movement and in my opinion the mother of all the changes...the foundation of which we can hope for a corruption less , low-crime, clean and pure country is Education. I firmly believe that 'You do better when you know better'. I then ask myself, what can I , an ex patriot who immigrated from Pakistan 13 years ago, can do to improve education in my home country. Is my part done , when I write a check and send it to Edhee with clearly written request to invest the funds in educating the orphans..is my part done when during my visits to Pakistan I give money to Poor people and implore them to spend it on their son and daughter's education ( while being fully aware that this money will be saved for a future doctor's visit..or worse yet saved for the day when there won't be any money in the house to feed the kids or to pay the electric bill in the unbearable hot summer)
No, of course not, my part is not done, not by a long shot. But then I ask myself what can I do? What is the best and most effective way to fight extreme ignorance 'Jhalieat (sp?)' in Pakistan?
While I am still looking for the answer, I continue to do what little in my capability I can do. I wish all my country men and woman know this:"Nations that do not learn from their past are doomed to make thier presnt their past"
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(if not then i gonna take it to highcourt :D).