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Human
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Dreams Shall Never Die - Teen's
Review of HDF's Tampa Dinner
by Khadeeja Safdar
Khadeeja Safdar is a high school
senior in Tampa. She wrote this article
after attending the fund raising event
for HDF in Tampa.
 Victor
Hugo said, “There is nothing
like a dream to create the future.”
In my opinion, there really is no
future without a dream, because that’s
what keeps our spirits up, giving
us something to live for, to strive
for---our dreams and the hope that
someday we can achieve what we want
are what sustain our lives. As a junior
in high school, anticipating the path
my future will take, I live for my
dreams, knowing that someday I will
reach them. In the midst of being
completely involved in the turn my
life was taking, preparing for college
and all, I experienced a moment---you
know those moments---the ones in which
you think you have learned one of
life’s truths, in which there
seems to be something beyond the superficiality
of your own happiness and satisfaction.
Well, I experienced one of those moments
at a fundraising dinner, hosted by
the Human Development Foundation.
I have been to numerous fundraisers
in the past with my parents. The reality
of poverty in third world countries
is not new to me either. I’m
a Pakistani American and visiting
Pakistan every other year, I see the
poverty on the streets. I’ve
always felt sympathy and have always
valued the concept of charity. But,
on April 9, 2005, after spending two
hours in a banquet hall, the concept
and its implications took on a new
turn and started meaning much more.
 After
being asked by a dedicated member
of the Human Development Foundation,
Dr. Shahnaz Khan, to make a speech
for their “Annual Benefit Dinner”
about charity in light of Pakistan’s
image in American society, I found
myself walking into the dinner hall
of Embassy Suites with my parents.
After eating dinner and making my
speech, I sat down and anticipated
the next part of the program. The
subsequent speaker was highly esteemed
guest Dr. Adil Najam, Professor of
International negotiation and Diplomacy
from the Fletcher School of Tufts
University. Using a sophisticated
slide presentation, the professor
simplified the social issues that
plague Pakistan and spoke in a manner
that everyone could comprehend easily.
Keeping his entire slide presentation
in mind, some specific facts were
especially hard to digest:
- Even though the Subcontinent
exports more professionals than
any other region in the world, it
contains the largest population
of the world’s poor. The irony
is both astounding and depressing.
- Instead of buying the new military
planes Pakistan recently bought,
it could have provided food, education
and clean water for a year to all
the people below the poverty line.
That is eye opening.
- Finally, families in the United
States account for more than one
billion dollars in a year of aid
given to Pakistan. That is more
than America’s entire foreign
aid package to Pakistan. We can
make a difference!
 Writing
about the event almost two weeks later,
I still remember these facts by heart.
While the first two figures were both
depressing and pitiful, the last one
left me with a glimmer of satisfaction.
Using a logical approach, the professor
sparked the start of my new drive,
one that would reach its full height
after the completion of the program.
Next on the list was a video presentation
about the Human Development Foundation,
featured by PBS. The movie was about
the expedition to Pakistan of the
“Visionaries”, a group
dedicated to pursuing the mission
of HDF, which is a positive social
change for the underprivileged. On
screen, discussion ensued about the
astute and effective methods that
HDF employs to execute its positive
change. Especially fascinating to
me was the program of micro-loans,
based on taking advantage of the potential
each person has to offer. The organization
provides loans to people for the initiation
of a small business or for the use
of learning a skill in a certain areas
of expertise. Many poverty stricken
people are able to profit from the
loans and by multiplying the money
given through their newly established
businesses; they are able to pay back
their loans. Thus, the money is re-circulated
into the system. Most astounding to
me was the fact that over 90 percent
of the people had paid back their
loans. The fact was that these people
had so much potential locked up behind
the bars and obstacles put forth by
poverty, that with just a little bit
of money, they were able to rise up
from their prior destitution and support
their families. I realized that HDF
was not simply aiding people by giving
them food or water to survive longer,
they were releasing an amalgamation
of potentials and talents from incarceration.
I now became brutally aware of the
universality of human capability.
When given the chance, if not hindered
by invisible bondage, people have
the capacity to reach higher.
 After
being completely impressed by the
system and its results, I was amazed
to see Dr. Shahnaz Khan on the TV
screen. Not realizing before that
she went on the mission trip with
the “Visionaries”, I tuned
in. On screen, they were traveling
to primary education schools setup
by HDF to visit the children. They
entered a small schoolroom with a
row of seated girls, maybe a couple
years younger than I, sitting on the
floor, tilting their heads attentively
forward. The teacher continued her
lesson as the class of girls assiduously
participated. Pausing the lesson,
the visitors and teacher asked each
girl what she wanted to be when she
grew up. That was the moment (the
one I spoke about before)! Each one
was a girl like me. Each one being
Pakistani looked relatively like me.
Each one voiced an aspiration similar
to mine. One girl wanted to be a doctor
like me. There was almost no difference.
I comprehended the hope in each of
their eyes as they excitedly exclaimed
the dreams that would probably never
shape their future. They wanted something
with their lives like me. The idealism,
hope and dreams mixed with their potential
seemed overflowing and the idea overwhelmed
me. But, there was a problem, which
seemed quite ridiculous. What I mean
is that it was ridiculous that everything
valuable that they’re eyes were
suggesting could be stolen away by
the lack of such a petty thing like
money. I looked around at everyone’s
teary eyes, realizing that each teenager
in the room probably felt the same
feeling I did. I had seen it all before
this program: the poverty, the destitution
and the conditions, but when those
girls voiced their aspirations, when
they voiced their almost imperishable
idealism, I knew that I had to do
something. If the current members
of HDF can make primary schools, they
have taken down one hurdle from the
way of these girls, but the next generation,
when we can, must take down the next
hurdle, so that eventually, the girl
in the schoolroom that wants to be
a doctor can see the prospect from
a closer view---so that maybe someday,
she can even attain it.
 After
the fundraising, the program ended.
But, I was a changed person with new
motivations and new knowledge. In
the future, after attaining my own
dreams, I hope to work with the dedicated
members of organizations like HDF
to remove hurdles so that another
girl just like me can glimpse her
dreams. As a typical teenager, I want
something with my life. We all want
something with life, whether it is
to be a famous actress, a respected
doctor, a successful businessmen or
even a good parent. It is human nature
to hope. And with organizations like
HDF and the concept of charity, I
now uphold that there is still hope
for little girls and boys to keep
hoping. The words of Edward Kennedy
speak about the cause and efforts
of HDF: “The work goes on, the
cause endures, the hope still lives
and the dreams shall never die.”
Date/Time Last Modified: 5/31/2005 8:00:20 AM
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