Aleena Warich, Youth Leadership Grant Recipient

Aleena Warich, 2010-2011 Grant and 2011-2012 Matching Grant Recipient
Glenelg Country School

Fashion-SHow-Poster-1-1Grant Update

Aleena has visited the school that the World Education Foundation has built for their students and has met with the students receiving various scholarships. She has successfully raised funds in support of her initiative through informational meetings and through her school’s annual fashion show.

“A Better Future for the Stranger

I am a student at Glenelg Country School currently in 10th grade. My parents are from Pakistan and I was born in Arlington, VA. I am a Muslim girl who believes that everyone is equal and that success only comes through hard work, passion and hope. I am an endearing, cordial and diligent student who sets her goals and makes every possible stride to accomplish the feat. Visiting Pakistan every year I developed a compassionate feeling toward people suffering from poverty and living their lives as beggars. I have always wanted to do something to change that.

Essay and Project Summary

I believe religious teachings can only guide mankind towards what is right and what is wrong.  So apart from religious teachings, one’s own will and nature also decides his treatment towards the strangers. The individual itself is responsible for its actions; the Abrahamic religions can only serve as a guide. Religious teachings are the directions but the actions depend completely on the individual.

My project addresses the lack of education in third world countries, especially in Pakistan. The World Education Foundation is non profit organization that provides educational opportunities to the less privileged youth. It sponsors individual students who could not otherwise afford to go to school, by making a commitment to pay for their fees and school related expenses. World Education Foundation is now sponsoring an entire school of 350 students in Karachi, Pakistan.

Reflection

“This world was made for humans and every individual has an equal right over this world, and strangers are no exception. They have the complete right to live according to their own will just like you and me.”