Mahmood Needs Your Support!!

Dear Friends and Supporters,

I’m reaching out for your support for a worthy cause that deserves your attention. It is the remarkable story and academic journey of two brothers, Fazal and Mahmood, who come from an impoverished Muslim family in Karachi, Pakistan. Their story was also published in the Express Tribune and Dawn News, which are well known Pakistani newspapers (links to these articles are included in the "Related News and Links" section down below). Both Fazal and Mahmood were accepted into world-renowned McGill University's engineering program in Montreal for undergraduate studies, where they have excelled academically while taking on leadership positions in school and extracurricular activities.

Fazal successfully graduated from McGill's 5 year Materials Engineering Co-op Program in June 2017 and thereafter secured a full time job in Canada with a leading mining company. He previously interned there and due to his to hard work and good performance was made a full time offer to join post-graduation .

As part of his curriculum and through McGill’s Engineering Internship Program, Mahmood is recently completed an 8-month internship with a leading global mining company which ended in late August 2019. He is currently enrolled in his Fall term as part of his final year in his Electrical Engineering Program. Mahmood is expected to graduate in May 2020. For those of you who donated last year, I hope you will consider donating again this year. Without your support, it will be impossible for Mahmood to complete his education for the upcoming academic year, so we ask you to please donate generously and spread the word to others you know who may be interested in donating to this cause! 

 

Fazal and Mahmood pictured with their father at his roadside fruit cart in Karachi (identities have been covered to protect the privacy of both the brothers)

They Have Come So Far...

Fazal and Mahmood come from a poor community in Karachi, Pakistan and belong to a family of five. Their father, a local roadside fruit cart vendor (locally known as a fruitwalla), earns less than $5 per day. Their mother works from home as a tailor to supplement the family's income and to help make ends meet. Subsequently poor health made it difficult for her to continue contributing towards her family's upkeep. Despite living in a slum community, where education is not valued, Fazal and Mahmood's father always believed education would be the way out of poverty for his children.

 

Mahmood, who will be starting his final year in September 2019 at McGill University, needs your support to continue his education

I along with my family used to run a school in Karachi, which was the first of its kind, geared towards giving poor children an O’ Levels quality education, most of whom would normally not be getting any education. It was through this school Fazal and Mahmood first came to me in Kindergarten and I and my family have since helped sponsor their elementary and secondary education, along with many others like them. Despite their background and against all odds, through hard work, determination and strong academic results throughout their schooling, both young men have reached to where they are at today.  

After graduation, Fazal and Mahmood intend to pursue a professional career utilizing their engineering education. This experience has also inspired both of them to pay it forward when they have the chance by helping to educate others like them from similar impoverished communities in Pakistan. 

Brothers, Fazal and Mahmood plan to help those in need after graduation (pictured to protect their privacy)

Top Notch Conscientious Students

Fazal: As part of his co-op curriculum, in his last year Fazal was required to get practical experience through work for academic credit programs arranged by McGill, through a highly competitive process with leading companies. Due to his hard work and performance at McGill, in 2017 Fazal was selected by one of the world’s leading steel manufacturers to do a co-op internship in their Japan office.  During this time to save money and help contribute towards his own upkeep, everyday Fazal walked after work from the office to home, a distance of 5km (approx. 60 New York City blocks), instead of paying for the bus, so he could save the travel stipend his company gave him, to use towards his food and living expenses.

Since he started work Fazal has not only been supporting himself but also sending money back home to support his aging parents and contributing to his sister’s high school education in Pakistan. From the donors who extended him interest free loans soon he will have started paying them back. Thanks to Fazal as of earlier this year his Father can now retire from his life of standing on the road side in 100 degree selling fruit. Fazal has been able to improve his family’s life through the education he received which was only made possible due to generous donors such as yourselves.

Mahmood: While at McGill, Mahmood has received multiple academic awards and recognition while maintaining leadership positions and involvement in various on-campus extra-curricular activities ranging from the McGill Student Cricket Club to McGill Rocket Team’s Avionics Division. In his first year Mahmood’s research paper was selected by McGill as one of the top 11 research papers (in the top 3.5%) out of 319 papers within the Winter 2016 and Summer 2016 terms. Given his excellent academic results, Mahmood was also selected for the highly competitive and prestigious Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Award in Summer 2017. In his free time, he worked on-campus helping with moving and assembling furniture and with check in/check out procedures for students and visitors. Part of the money he earned he sends back to Pakistan to help pay for books for his younger sister’s education, using the remainder to help cover his rent and food costs. In summer of 2018 Mahmood successfully completed a summer internship with a leading North American environmentally friendly and sustainable telematics manufacturer which services the transportation industry in Canada. He is currently completing an 8-month long internship with a leading global multi-national mining company, after which he will start his Fall academic term in early September 2019.

Through hard work and determination Mahmood has come a long way from the streets of Karachi to the classrooms of McGill. We must support him in completing his journey 

Mahmood’s Cost of Education

To date Mahmood’s education-related costs have been covered through: 

• A partial McGill scholarship which is assessed by McGill on an annual basis usually in late September of each academic year 
• Annual donations by generous sponsors 

As his original sponsor, I’m spearheading the fundraising effort for Mahmood so he can cover his educational expenses for the coming academic year which would include Fall 2018 and Winter 2019 terms and thereby continue his education at McGill without interruption.

The following is an estimate of his total all-in educational costs for the upcoming 2019-2020 academic year (which covers both the Fall 2019 and Winter 2020 terms) including tuition, related fees, rent, food, books, transport and living expenses:

• Mahmood's total all-in education costs: $60,000 

Timeline and Funding Deadlines:

We have gotten a 60 day extension on the deadline for payment of the tuition and related fees to McGill for the Fall term, which now will be due by October 31, 2019. The Winter term fees is due by December 30, 2019. Payments to McGill need to be made in full by these deadlines for each semester in order to allow for Mahmood to continue with his enrollment and undergraduate education uninterrupted.

Mahmood need’s your help! (pictured to protect his privacy)

How You Can Help

Mahmood is in need of your help and support! Without this critical funding, he will not be able to continue his undergraduate education at McGill. He has come so far and now approaching the end of his undergraduate study. We must not let his journey come to a premature end due to lack of finances. The following are ways you can help!

• Donate by clicking one of the giving levels on the right side of the screen - as you click on any one of them you can then enter/edit whatever amount you would like to donate (Jazak Allah Khair!)
• Please help spread the word by sharing this project on your social media by clicking on the above social media links and/or by sharing directly on your Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp groups with the link LaunchGood.com/Mahmood
• Donate to this campaign if you are paying Zakat (this is a Zakat eligible campaign) 
• Say a dua that Allah swt blesses both young men and see them through in their education and journey ahead!

We hope you will donate generously to this noble cause. No donation amount is too small as every little bit adds up and helps. If you have questions or would like to know more on how you can help, please email me at educatingpk@gmail.com.

Related News and Links 

Additional background information on the Fazal and Mahmood and their amazing journey can be found through the following links and published articles in Dawn News, The Express Tribune, and Humans of Karachi:

http://www.dawn.com/news/1128844/fruits-of-labour

http://www.dawn.com/news/1131584/breaking-barriers

http://tribune.com.pk/story/1484736/society-rallies-behind-cause-dreams-come-true

https://www.facebook.com/humansofkhi/photos/a.378105932252561.88418.378098815586606/523588714370948/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/humansofkhi/photos/a.378105932252561.88418.378098815586606/575366005859885/?type=3

https://www.facebook.com/humansofkhi/photos/a.378105932252561.88418.378098815586606/743302619066222/?type=3&theater