“Both of my parents were illiterate and
poor farmers; we say ‘diqunish’,” she said in a
phone interview from Gilgit, Pakistan. “Even
though my father Ghulam was not educated,
he was wise and practiced sustainable, organic farming long before most other people.
Both my parents were determined their children get education. Later, my father became
fauji [army soldier] so he could have money
to support us through school.
“The first year in school was one of the
happiest years of my life. Then, when I was
7, some soldiers came to our village with my
father in a coffin with a Pakistani flag, and
we learned he had become shaheed [martyr] and died. For a week, I tried to be brave
as many people came to our house to offer
duas [prayers], but at night I could not stop
weeping, as my father meant everything to
me. Then my mother, Shah Bibi, told me to
channel my sorrow into my studies, because
that is what my father wanted most for me.”
When Khalida reached secondary school,
18 | JOURNEY OF HOPE
there was no functioning school building in
her village, so she had to walk, regardless of
scorching heat, sandstorms, hail, rain, and
snow, to Al-Amyn Model School in Gulmit
village, 90 minutes away. She did this for several years.
Through diligence and hard work — juggling up to 12 hours of chores during the day
and studying in the dim light of a kerosene
lantern at night — Khalida scored high on
her high school matriculation exams. Some
friends told her that a nongovernmental
organization named Central Asia Institute
was offering to help the brightest and most
deserving girls with university scholarships,
and subsidized room and board. She applied,
was accepted and enrolled in the agriculture and food technology degree program at
Karakoram International University (KIU),
in Gilgit, the Hunza provincial hub.
“Allah blessed me much, because without
a scholarship I would have to stop my studies
and go home,” she said. “Now I can focus full-
time on my studies, and stay in a safe hostel
with other motivated women, who inspire
me to work even harder with education.”
“Khalida is hard worker, which she
learned from farming, and (a) top student,”
says Saidullah Baig, director of CAI-Gilgit.
“She also loves sports and playing cricket.
But mostly she is a humanitarian who wants
to make the world a better place.”
“Khalida is an exceptional student and
one of our more hard working stars,” says
Najma Najam, former KIU vice chancellor.
“We are excited she is paving new grounds
in a profession typically reserved for men.”
Khalida will graduate from KIU in
December 2015, and finish her thesis in agriculture by March 2016, but she says it is
only the beginning.
“Next, I want to go to a number one agriculture university, hopefully in America
or Europe, and learn about sustainable agriculture, organic farming, and soil science,”
she said. “But most of all, I want to help end
CENTRAL ASIA INSTITUTE