I was in Pakistan for the first week of March, mostly spending time with the Acumen team and its close advisors. This time, unlike my last two trips, I stayed put in Karachi, where Acumen’s Pakistan office is based and did not get to Lahore (the city where the reprehensible attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team occurred on March 3rd) On two prior trips, I have visited Khuda-ki-Basti 4 (KKB-4), Acumen’s low cost housing investment near Lahore.

Although that development is still in a relatively early stage, there are 100 families living there today, a thriving primary school, a small general store and a secondary school in the works. KKB-4 is on the move. On my last trip in May I was happy to see the immense progress made in the few months since I had first visited. I could better imagine what it would be like when the housing plots were fully sold, the houses built, the shops and mosque opened—in short a real self-contained community.

On this trip, I was able to visit Khuda-ki-Basti 3 (KKB-3), a mature housing development outskirts of Karachi in which Acumen made a small investment several years back. KKB-3 (near Karachi) was the inspiration for KKB-4 (near Lahore) and are both brainchildren of Tasneem Siddiqui, the lead developer. I went with Shuaib Siddiqui (no relation), a Pakistani-American who has been working in our Karachi office for the last 18 months as a portfolio associate. Shuaib, along with Aun Rahman our Pakistan country leader, has become expert in the area of housing for the poor and is the relationship manager for our KKB-4 investment.

The drive to KKB-3 took about 45 minutes from Karachi center and when we arrived at the entrance, public buses plied the road. Other developments and commercial establishments crowded the area. Shuaib explained that, 8 years back when the development was just getting started, the area was a wasteland with virtually no roads or buildings.

We walked into the building which had originally been the sales office and now serves as a community center and management office. It was lined with photographs documenting the inception and progress of the development starting 8 years back. The original would-be buyers of land plots were required to live in temporary homes for two weeks before being accepted as buyers and members of the community. This procedure was designed to test their mettle as serious buyers and builders.

We then walked down the central artery of the development—I should say town because it is a teeming, vital town of 25,000. All of the plots have been sold and most have been built up with small single family homes. There is now a thriving secondary market in houses, as the improved land has shot up in value. Some of the poor laborers who were early buyers have sold at a substantial profit and have moved into a higher socio-economic class. Teachers and other professionals are starting to buy these houses and move in (real-estate prices in Karachi are sky-high and there is severely limited availability). And while most of the houses are very simple, a few have second and third floors and spectacular gardens.

We visited a primary school, one of 12 in the town; this one was built by The Citizens Foundation. The school was clean, open and attractive and requires a payment of a modest tuition fee. We visited briefly with the principal of the school who explained that because demand is so high, the school is run on a split session with half the students coming in the morning and half in the afternoon. Other primary schools in the town are even less expensive or free. When we visited later with the manager of the entire development, Akthar Sb, he explained that there is nearly 90% school attendance at the primary level—I had wondered aloud about this as there were many children walking about and playing during what seemed to me to be normal school hours. This was due to the split sessions, Akthar Sb explained.

However, the statistics for attendance at the secondary level drop off significantly, as many children in their early teens are expected to contribute to the family coffers. Given that school attendance is mandatory only until age 10, overcoming this attitude and getting parents to understand the value of secondary education is a long slow battle.

We visited a vocational school for older children and young adults, a clinic for women and children (which sold condoms on a prominently posted price list), a vet shop (mostly focused on goat care), a Catholic church, a vegetable farm, several small textile manufactures. We saw stores selling a vast variety of goods. We saw but did not visit several mosques. There are no banks are within KKB-3, but some can be found just outside in other developments which have sprung up close by.

In short an entire ecosystem has been formed out of empty land near a densely packed city with desperate housing shortage and an enormous population of poor residents. Those who have been able to make the leap now live in a community which provides access to their basic needs: clean water, power, sewage treatment, local government, education, health services and employment opportunities (1/3 of the residents of KKB-3 work within the town). Seeing possibility realized gave me hope and vision for our work at KKB-4, and a real sense of excitement for its future.