(Dolat Chandani)

The Tharparkar desert (Friendly and Fertile desert) covers about 22,000 square kilometers. This region is blessed with many natural resources such as range land forest, salt mines, China clay, granite, and coal, etc. Thus Sindh’s Tharparkar District is the richest in the province because of its natural resources. Thar coal is the seventh largest coal reserve of the world.

Tharparkar despite possessing immense natural resource severely lacks in life’s basic necessities, with education suffering the most.  Many Tharparkar residents don’t have access to basic education in their close vicinity.  The district’s literacy rate is the lowest in Sindh province, while children’s enrollment ratio is also the lowest. It is a common sight to see large number of students walk for miles as schools are few and far from villages. Children who want to study have no choice except move to urban cities to continue their education. However, there are silver linings to these dark realities in the form of philanthropists and altruistic people wish to pay back to their society by contributing to education.

One such Good Samaritan is Dr Raja Shad of Mithi city who hails from village Jhanpo. Born in Mithi city in 1989, he received his early education from Government Primary School Meghwar Colony Mithi till 2000 and then enrolled in Government High School Mithi from where he passed his matric exam in 2005. Thereafter he took admission in Government Degree College Mithi in the pre-medical group.

Shad is a high achiever not only in academics but also vocational and extra-curricular activities. From an early age, due to his curious nature, quest for knowledge, and penchant for exploring, he always excelled at everything he attempted, be it debates, making speeches, singing, drawing, painting, sketching, radio transmission or even cooking. In short, he is a star performer.

In 2007, Shad was admitted in Liaquat University of Health and Medicine. During his medical studies, he started photography. He skillfully captured breathtaking panoramic scenes of nature using his Samsung mobile. Owing to his passion to learn new things, he has always been interested in the field of Information Technology. He learned how to use different tools for photo editing through apps. Resultantly, his mobile photography became better, began to be noticed and started receiving appreciation and encouragement. After he completed his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and house job, he started his medical career in People’s Primary Healthcare Initiative (PPHI) as a medical officer. During this time, his passion for photography steadily increased and he bought a DSLR camera and started doing incredible photography.

He participated in different photography competitions in which he got an inspiration award with iPhone XR and another award in conference of climate change on World Water Day. Additionally, his brilliant photography was featured in Dawn newspaper and in art gallery competitions at different platforms. “Nature is an open museum for everyone, it requires an insightful eye to explore it,” according to Dr Raja Shad.

In 2016, he left People’s Primary Healthcare Initiative (PPHI) and joined Jhpiego, an international, non-profit health organization, as a District Nutrition Officer. During this stage, he learnt videography and created a YouTube channel, he named Dr Raja Shad, which eventually became monetized. On this channel, he uploads documentaries to explore issues pertaining to perspectives on education, heritage, societal issues and nature. “My inspiration in photography is my father who used to run a photo studio in Karachi before his government job as a clerk.” he shares.

Shad’s mentor is Rano Mal Malani. During his intermediate studies, Dr Raja Shad got an A grade while his classmates and close friends got an A1. Shad became upset and went to Sir Rano Mal Malani for advice who motivated him by saying if Shad worked hard, Malani would guarantee him a seat in a medical college was reserved and that he would get more marks than his classmates who got A1 grades. Malani’s prophecy came true, and he did his MBBS from Liaqat University of Health and Medicine. “The motivating and encouraging words of sir are still resounding and keep me going,” Shad added.

Shad has been contributing to the education field for the last four years. In his native village, Jhanpo, an NGO started a school in a hut but abandoned the project after running it for a year or so. This upsetting situation caused despair among the village residents. They urged Dr Shad to come to their rescue and he happily obliged. Ever since he has been working hard.  “I wish to contribute so as to repay my society and hope that everyone who is influential will come forward to support this cause.” Shad says. He has been running campaigns seeking donations on different social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Fortunately, a philanthropist donated benches, chairs and whiteboards to this school where today over 75 students are enrolled. A teacher was hired whose monthly salary has been paid by Shad with the help of friends for the last four years. The single room school building was donated by the NGO “The Walkway School”.

“We are a marginalized people, and our village is deprived of basic necessities. The Thari people earn a meagre income, making it difficult to make ends meet. As such they can’t bear the expenses to get their children educated in cities. We appeal to the government to provide us with a school building, so that our children get primary education in Jhanpo village. We are very thankful to Dr Raja Shad who pays monthly salary to a private teacher and has been contributing for this cause.” a villager says.

Dr Shad’s efforts are bringing results. In a village where girls would do only household chores, they now complete their school homework first and then do other tasks. Boys, who would spend a lot of time cutting wood for fuel, go to school in the morning and in the evening, go to the forest to collect twigs and wood for fuel. Interestingly, eight girls have passed grade 5 and enrolled in grade 6 to pursue further education. This is for first time in the history of Jhanpo village after the opening of the school. “The literacy rate of girls in the region Tharparkar is dismal as girls are supposed to do household chores nothing else. So, I wish to empower girls and create access to basic education by changing conservative mindsets” he says.

Lastly, Dr Raja Shad states everyone needs to contribute and support this cause because only educated people can build progressive societies. “Let’s empower everyone to get educated, specially, girls in Tharparkar,” he says. “The progress of a nation is determined by quality education, the concerned authority and government, influential and altruistic people need to be on one platform on one point for this cause. One hopes the people as well as youth come forward and contribute to this cause for Pakistan to become a progressive country,” Shad concluded.