Meher Jaffri is a Knowledge and Communications Consultant for the Pakistan office of the Acumen Fund. She earned her B.Comm from McGill University.
The Following Presentation Was Made at the Pakistan Community Gathering Earlier this Month. To read more about the Pakistan Community Gathering, click here.
When we speak of impressive achievements in the social sector, often times it is the pioneering philanthropist, theorist, or, more recently, the social entrepreneurs who come immediately to mind.
These are the Muhuammad Yunus’s, the Akhtar Hameed Khan’s, the Tasneem Siddiqui’s and the Roshaneh Zafar’s – people who have not only exhibited unwavering discipline in working towards what they believe in, but also the creativity of mind and courage of spirit to figure out how to make it all work.
These are the people who are celebrated by their country, the media and often internationally too. And no doubt it is their initiative that gives us hope in an environment like ours, where working for the public or social good is unfortunately under incentivized.
But there is also a second group of people who need to be acknowledged here, our ‘unsung heroes’ –- the front line of these social organizations.
These are the ones who have their work cut out for them given today’s challenging political and economic climate. They are the ones who go door to door to make collections, even in blistering heat; who galvanize communities to empower themselves; who deal with the hostilities of skeptics; and grapple with bureaucrats on a daily basis. They are truly agents of change and they work tirelessly in difficult terrain, to keep the cogs and wheels of their organizations turning. These are organizations that they believe have the capability to improve their communities. And ultimately most of the front line staff being honored today themselves come from the communities their organizations are serving. This is really capacity building, self-sustenance, and dignity at their best.
Today we would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the dedication of the frontline staff of our investee companies and thank this group of people upon whose shoulders Acumen Fund’s entire ecosystem is based. I can say from experience that as a team each and every one of us has learnt a lot from spending time in the field with them.
We are Honoring the Following Individuals, Who Exemplify What it Means to Be on the Frontline
From The First Microinsurance Agency (FMiA)
Dr. SherAziz HIkmat Nazar heads the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Health Insurance Program for the First Microinsurance Agency and has been integral to the success of the program ever since.
With a sense of social mission, the doctor left a comfortable job as a medical consultant with the Aga Khan Development Health Services to take up the challenge of creating awareness, marketing, and distributing of the Health Insurance Product in the northern areas. Since joining FMiA, Dr. SherAziz has managed to increase enrollment from 6,000 to 30,000 policies. He has done this in only two and a half years.
He spoke to me recently with passion about the astounding beauty of the north, and how this is juxtaposed with the crippling poverty that so characterizes it from within. He also discussed how a product like microinsurance really addresses the root problem that is lack of affordability.
A typical day has him travelling several hours between hospitals, meeting patients, interacting with clients and gatekeeping at hospitals – and with a small team of only five, it’s been difficult, especially in a market like Pakistan where health insurance is a new concept.
Dr. Sher Aziz has never looked back. He hasn’t even taken one day of vacation during his time with FMiA.
The next two people I want to call on two loan officers from Kashf Foundation.
This segment today is actually the result of a field exercise with these loan officers a couple months ago that opened the team’s eyes once more to the challenges faced by the frontline staff.
Their morning is spent with the branch managers on strategy and targets and then in the 2nd half of the day the loan officers, half of which are women, either walk, or take a chingchi (local rickshaw) unaccompanied in the Punjab heat to go from door to door to their clients where they not only have to recover payments, but disburse new loans too.
The relationships these officers have forged with their clients are so strong that their typical day involves them being invited into the client’s homes and talking about life where many a concern are shared and advice is given.
The loan officers are from the communities they work in and share with their clients an inherent trust, one that has only been strengthened over time.
CEO Roshaneh Zafar calls these officers Kashf’s “rirh ki haddi” (backbone) and they are truly a force to be reckoned with; an inspiration to us all.
Naureen Rizwan – Loan Officer for Kashf Foundation’s (Dharampura Branch) has been with Kashf since 2005 and has the highest number of disbursements of new loans in her area.
Nadia Ismail – Loan Officer (Bahawalpur 05 Branch), Kashf has been with Kashf since 2008 and is known as the overachiever of her branch, consistently surpassing her targets.
Mohammed Ali, Installation Officer at Micro Drip was initially hired for his plumbing skills, because Micro Drip needed someone to connect the drip system to tube-wells.
From that point on he has demonstrated impressive leadership and a tireless work ethic, in the areas of assembly and installation.
He has grown to lead the installations team for smaller fields and has worked at all hours in Hyderabad, Dadu and Sukkur to complete installations on time.
Mohd Ali has stepped up when needed in the field without thought to accommodations, environment or even the time of day.
On several instances Mohd Ali has lived on the farmer’s fields overnight, if the job called for it, and he travels constantly — in pretty dangerous and hostile environments at night to get a job done.
He has led the rest of the team by example and driven others on the team to step up their performance.
From basic plumbing to leading installations and assembly, Mohd. Ali is Micro Drip’s jack of all traits and consistently gives his work his all — and more.
From Saiban, Khuda Ki Basti 4 (Lahore)
As one of the pioneering employees of Saiban’s Khuda Ki Basti-4, Jamshaid Cheema has been working with the project for three years now.
After completing his education in business administration and economics from Lahore, Jamshaid opted to pursue a career in accounting.
In December, 2006 Jamshaid joined Saiban as an accounts officer. Considering the nature of the project, he became frustrated early on with the lack of structure and focus for his career development. However, Jamshaid took the time to understand the true purpose and impact of Saiban and once the real power of the model became evident to him, he committed himself to this sector, and for the long haul.
During his years with Saiban, Jamshaid has been able to develop his skills in various aspects of the business, taking a keen interest that has extended far beyond his daily responsibilities as an accounts officer.
From dealing with the local bureaucracy on building permits to dealing with HBFC on mortgage approvals, or handling critical community development issues, and marketing in the field — Jamshaid has proved willing and ready to learn and sacrifice whenever the project has needed him. .
Akhtar Ali Khan has been associated with the work of Saiban since 1986, when it launched its first project, Khuda Ki Basti I in Hyderabad.
Back then he was working with the Hyderabad Development Authority, assigned to the Saiban project. In 2000 he left HDA to join Saiban full-time where he has since been the Project Director of Khuda Ki Basti 3 in Taiser Town.
While working with Tasneem Siddiqui to set up the project from scratch, Akhtar saab lived in the basti for its first 8 years, when it was just a barren piece of land with no facilities and far removed from any other settlement at the time.
He’s tackled many challenges that come hand in hand with the socio-political environment of this city, challenges that are compounded with the very nature of such a project such as handling the land mafia, dealing with the very daunting political environment and one can say that despite risking threats on his life more than once, he was never deterred from his commitment to Saiban’s vision.
I’d like to end with a quote that I saw hanging in the office of Khuda Ki Basti 3 in Karachi when I first visited (and it was actually Akhtar Saab who showed me around) and it encompasses perfectly the lives of the people that are being honored today. It’s a quote from the Chinese Daoist philosopher Lao Tzu and it goes:
“Go to the people, live with them,
Love them, learn from them
Work with them, with what they have.
Build on what they know,
and in the end
When the work is done
The task accomplished
The people will rejoice:
‘We have done it ourselves’ “