This year, we decided to take a more active role in the process and felt that we could use the LUMUN banner to attract volunteers to participate directly in SRP-run activities. We studied programs run by various NGOs and identified areas in which SRP could aid those programs or extend them while staying within the scope of a Model UN society. Two such NGOs were identified: CARE Foundation and SAVE.

CARE Foundation is a charitable trust well known for its contribution to education in Pakistan. They run an English language development program called ACCESS, which provides free English classes to students of government schools. Upon visiting these centers, we realized that while there was focus on teaching English as a language, there was significant lack of emphasis on teaching English as a tool for discourse across disciplines.  SRP decided to bridge this divide. We set up teams of volunteers who visited these centers once a week and interacted with the students. Volunteer-to-student ratio was strictly maintained at 1:6 to ensure individual attention. We handed out reading material about current world issues and taught them how to critically analyze an article. Moreover, we trained them in the art of public speaking and taught them how to debate issues with their peers.

SRP also helped organize a Public Speaking Competition for the students at Al-Hamra in August where the students spoke on topics like: “My responsibilities as a citizen of Pakistan”, “What is a bigger threat: Internal or External Forces?” and “Is media bringing a revolution?”. The judges included renowned names from the debating circle Mr Taimoor Banday and Mr Omair Rana, who greatly appreciated the effort of our volunteers in training the students for the event. The students recently attended the Aitchison College Model UN Conference as observers to learn the workings of a MUN conference. The next planned activity for these students is participation as delegates in the All Pakistan LUMS Model UN Conference (LUMUN ’09), our flagship conference, to be held at the end of December this year.

Hira Bilal, a student from LGS Defence, who has been actively involved in training children at the ACCESS center in Rehmanpura, shared her experience of working with LUMUN SRP. “I think that belonging to the more privileged class in society, it is our responsibility to help those less privileged than us and what SRP has started is a one of a kind program. Through it, we have discovered such great talent that would otherwise have gone to waste. On a personal level, meeting these children every week has made me realize that there’s more to life than just catering for your own needs and desires. All of us volunteers have developed a special bond with the students at CARE and we try our best to make them feel as much a part of the society as we are”.

SAVE (Society for the Advancement of Education) is an NGO started by a LUMS alumnus that operates a school called Free Mashal Primary School. SRP collaborated with the school administration and teachers to devise short- and long-term plans for setting up a sustainable teaching and monitoring system at this under-resourced school. Our volunteers visited the school thrice a week, monitoring classes and assisting the teachers in preparing unseen tests. They strived to break the convention of rote learning that plagues educational institutions throughout Pakistan. Over the weeks, there was a marked improvement in the performance of children who really enjoyed the presence of our young volunteers. We also held an informal teacher training workshop where the teachers were introduced to modes of teaching employed in mainstream private schools. More such workshops are in the pipeline.

Apart from helping in the classroom, our volunteers also engaged the children in other extra-curricular activities like nursery rhymes, skits and cultural dance performances. The children and the teachers had never been exposed to such activities and both learned that learning and enjoyment can go hand-in-hand and, at times, such activities bring out hidden talents in children and manage to tame the rowdiest of kids.

The Principal at Mashal, Mrs. Sumra Mansur, had this to say about the work of SRP: “We need people like you and programs like these. The wonderful ideas you propose help our program work in a real progressive way, and I believe that with the involvement of such dedicated and wonderful internees our mission will continue in a much more pleasant and successful manner”.

We aim to continue providing assistance to SAVE in terms of holding workshops on a regular basis and helping prepare regular tests and exams for the children. We are also working on ways to improve the infrastructure of the school and a Computer Lab and a Library are in the pipeline.

LUMUN Social Responsibility Program has seen incredible growth over the last 6 months and much of the credit for this success goes to the Minahil Zafar, Shahzad Ahmed, Quanita Naveed and their team of over 70 volunteers. Through their hard work and dedication, they have managed to achieve what nobody expected from the rich kids living in posh areas and driving air-conditioned cars. And with the widespread use of technology, coordinating activities is no longer the biggest hurdle. We actively used Facebook and chOpaal.pk to manage our trips, meetings and notifications.

We’re now working to expand LUMUN SRP by affiliating with more NGOs and coming up with small projects that student volunteers can take up as and when they’re free. We are also looking for more volunteers and bright ideas. Hopefully, we’ll soon setup programs in cities other than Lahore as well. And, most importantly, we’re hopeful that other people and especially students will follow suit and will setup similar programs and ride the wave.

When we started out, we didn’t have a plan. All we had was a vision. Now that we’ve been there and done that — trust us, a vision is all you need.

Editor’s Note: Asim Fayaz is a senior at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) majoring in Computer Science. He is the co-founder and COO of chOpaal.pk, a text messaging-based social networking service, and the General Secretary of LUMS Model UN Society (LUMUN). Recently, he served as the curator of TEDxLahore, the first-ever TEDx event held in Pakistan.