I would tell myself: One day, I will make meaningful contributions to this country. One day, I will help these children. One day, I will work towards making sure that these children have the same opportunities that I have had. Today, I work to see that this dream of mine will be realized.

It is hard to believe how far Enough has come. Two years ago we proposed Project Pakistan, and with it we undertook responsibilities and faced difficulties of an entirely different level. Many doubted our ability to accomplish what we had set out to do. However, we never stopped believing in the power of young people to be impactful change-makers. Today, we currently have three schools up and running in Pakistan (we additionally support a 4th school). We have learned and continue to learn a great deal from this project. It is this project that has led to our newest endeavor. Today, we take on silence.

I was handed the responsibility of conducting the research for this project. It is one thing to know about an issue – it is another thing to see just how deeply embedded an issue has become in the very country you call home. I read and analyzed newspaper articles, UN documents, a multitude of reports, and so on. I am not sure if it is terrible neglect or denial or some combination of the two, but the refusal of anyone to do something is truly astounding.No one has been willing to develop a proper and strong response to this issue, and while we can’t expect much of the government, we can’t not ignore their neglect of responsibility.

Nelson Mandela said,

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”

The Government of Pakistan has betrayed and failed these children.

The time and effort that has been put into developing this project has reaffirmed my belief – the difficulty in dealing with such an issue may be discouraging at times, but if we remain focused on our commitment to these children, there is no shortage of motivation to keep moving forward.

We are ready.

Hasher Nisar, Vice Executive Director

January 2013