Ameer is a proud, disabled young man who sells newspapers in Pakistan to make a living. He refuses to accept charity from anyone. He is satisfied to earn his own bread in an honest manner, despite his poverty and disability. His is the example which few Pakistani-Americans today have heard of.

Ameer is just one of thousands of Pakistanis who are quietly striving to live their lives with dignity and strength in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. It is stories like his, of real people in the real world, which inspire and remind us that while Pakistan's government has failed to deliver, the country's people have not.

There is more than a glimmer of hope that can be found in the daily lives of Pakistanis which you will never find in the American, Pakistani-American, let alone Pakistani media.

You can use stories like Ameer's to generate hope and spread positive news about Pakistan by interviewing people like him and bringing this information here to America.

On your next trip to Pakistan, make a point to get an interview with one "average" Pakistani who has the qualities Ameer has: honesty, self-confidence and the determination to survive in the face of big challenges. It can be a relative, a family friend, or the local grocer or newspaper seller, for instance.

Explain clearly to your interview subject what you want to do and why you want to interview them for it. If you plan on taking photos of videotaping, make sure you have their permission to do so.

What you want to do is first, get the basic information about the person and what a day in the life of this person is like. Why do they do what they do? How did they come around to becoming a newspaper seller, for example? What is the reaction of other Pakistanis towards them?

After you've got the initial background, move on to the "meatier" questions. What do they think of the current state of Pakistan? If it's good, why? If it's bad, what needs to be change? What message do they want to give to people in America about the situation of the "average" Pakistani? How Pakistani-Americans help Pakistan?

If you are videorecording or taking photos, make sure to get your interviewee doing many different things, from working to earn their living, to interacting with people, to their family life (if possible). This will add dynamism and a more personal touch to the interview. Don't forget to get the person's contact information so you can send them a copy of your finished work.

Once you've got your raw material, bring it home and think about creative ways you can use it to spread a message of optimism about Pakistan to Pakistani-Americans, and educate non-Pakistanis about one extraordinary Pakistani.

Here are some ideas of what you can do with the material:

1. If you have photographs and an interview on audiotape, arrange a display at your local library, community center or school to share the struggle of an ordinary Pakistani. Transcribe the interview into text and paste excerpts from it next to relevant photographs.

2. If you've videorecorded the interview, get it edited and do a showing at the local library or community center. Get your Pakistani-American association to arrange a special viewing of your video followed by a discussion with audience members about the state of Pakistan and what Pakistani-Americans can do for Pakistan.

3. Transform the interview into an article for your local or campus newspaper. Most papers have a section devoted to news from around the world or features. This kind of an article would be suitable for these sections. Or you can turn the interview into a column or opinion piece about your views on Pakistan's current situation.

4. Get the interview broadcast on local or community radio and television. This will require you to take the material and edit it, adding narration in English so that non-Pakistanis can understand (if the interview was conducted in a language other than English). You can actually have the interview broadcast as is if your Pakistani-American association has its own radio or television show.

5. Submit the interview to www.yespakistan.com so we can fulfill our mission of generating hope in Pakistan and share the story with visitors to our website.

6. Talk about your trip and present the interview in a family meeting, as well as to friends during dinner parties. This will make not only a good conversation starter, but it will also be a good way to generate some creative and useful discussion about Pakistan, instead of the usual criticisms and negativity we find.

Date/Time Last Modified: 6/17/2002 3:48:20 PM

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