A Volunteer Story from Pakistan
Two Worlds, One Road Home
For eight years, I worked in the administration of a private school system in Islamabad.
From my office window, I watched children arrive every morning in polished shoes,
their backpacks heavy with books — and with dreams.
But every evening, on my drive home, I witnessed another Pakistan.
Children of the same age sat in the dust by the roadside.
Some sold jasmine garlands.
Some cleaned windshields at traffic lights.
They were not lazy.
They were not careless.
They were simply locked out of education.
That contrast —
between privilege and exclusion —
became the heartbeat of my passion.
A National Education Emergency
Pakistan today is facing what many call a “National Education Emergency.”
- 26.3 million children are out of school
- That number is larger than the population of many countries
The gap is stark:
| Area | Literacy Rate |
|---|---|
| Urban centers (e.g. Islamabad) | ~74% |
| Rural areas | ~51% |
| Rural girls | Lowest and most vulnerable |
Where a child is born still determines whether education is a right or a luxury.
When Walls Are No Longer Enough
During my years in school administration, I came to a painful realization:
Our traditional brick-and-mortar system
cannot keep pace with the scale of this crisis.
We keep building walls,
when what we desperately need are networks.
In Pakistan:
- Only 8% of the population uses a computer
- But mobile phones are everywhere
In this reality, digital literacy is not optional.
It is not a “modern skill.”
It is the only ladder out of poverty
that can reach a child in a remote village in Sindh
or a mountainous hamlet in Gilgit-Baltistan.
When a Screen Becomes a Door
I became a Giggle Hero because I am tired of seeing education treated as a privilege for the few.
I have seen what happens when a child realizes
they can learn through a screen.
I have watched the light change in their eyes —
when a smartphone becomes more than entertainment,
when it becomes a door to a world they were told they didn’t belong to.
The Digital Divide Is Not About Access
Today, Pakistan has over 110 million internet users.
And yet, the digital divide remains a chasm.
Why?
Because most young people have only ever been shown the internet as:
- entertainment
- distraction
- escape
They were never shown its true power:
The internet can be a classroom.
My mission is to change that narrative.
To take what I learned in the halls of private education
and use it to democratize learning
for those who were never invited inside.
Why I Choose to Be a Hero
I want to be a Hero for:
- the little girl in a rural district
- who has the mind of a scientist
- but no teacher to guide her
I want to prove that digital literacy can bypass broken roads and empty classrooms.
That with the right tools,
we can put the future of Pakistan
exactly where it belongs:
In the hands of its children.
— A Giggle Hero from Pakistan
Volunteer | Educator | Believer in Digital Equity