By Pirah Aijaz

Karachi, Sindh Pakistan

Writing is my passion and I have been writing for a decade since 2013 for various print and digital media platforms. In the beginning, everybody asked how I started writing because writing is not everyone’s cup of tea.

There is a long story behind it. In 2013, I did my Masters in Education, and at the time, I had no idea about blogging. It was something I had never given much thought to in my life. But the fact is, to get to the good, you have to trudge through the bad. Similarly, I’ve been through a lot in my life.

Back then, I still remember the time when I was doing Masters but despite being a brilliant student, I had no sense of writing blogs because of no reading habit. I was inspired by my father who is a renowned, senior journalist/writer/author. I wanted to be like him. My father always scolded me to read books and newspapers to develop a reading habit. My brothers were also good at writing because they read a lot. I always wanted to be like them, yet I was zero because of poor writing skills. It seemed difficult to shape my dreams. Well, I got used to hearing advice and didn’t take anything serious. I just wasted my time which was the actual time of learning and exploring myself. Time flies and I did nothing except the 9 to 5 jobs. I thought that life would be so easy, but time proved me wrong as I faced many challenges in my life. But despite facing challenges, I never gave up.

Well, I tried to write but failed. I found it difficult to fulfill my dreams of becoming a renowned person, yet I didn’t give up. Then, one day I got inspiration while reading Womenshade Magazine of Quetta-based NGO, which works for women’s rights and published monthly bilingual magazine in English & Urdu. I decided to take a baby step by writing Urdu articles on women issues. I wrote my first article on “The status of divorced women in Pakistan” and, luckily, got published. They gave me a chance to write for their magazine. Since then I didn’t look back. Meanwhile, I completed my M.Phil. (Education) and continued writing for several Urdu dailies. I wrote on various genres and now I have many publications on both print and digital media platforms. I got much appreciation and it was an honor for me that I succeeded in what I decided. Later, I moved on to writing blogs in English for various digital platforms and bloggers’ communities.

I got applauded, but was unsatisfied because I wanted to convert my passion into a paycheck. I was so inspired by women who work from home or manage their brands. Following them, I started doing efforts to work as a freelance content writer. This is true that success doesn’t happen overnight. So, I had to work hard to accomplish my career goals.

In 2019, I started my freelance journey. This was one of the unexpected turns of events. Yes…it sounds weird, but it’s true. It was a time when I was offered a volunteer task by a Pakistan-based NGO to translate a document from Urdu to English. And after getting good reviews, again they approached me for a paid task as a translator which was worth Rs.1000/- only. I was motivated by it because it made me realize the power of skills. That was a turning point in my life. Having never looked back since then, I’ve continued my journey. Although I was not tech-savvy and had never used traditional freelance platforms such as Upwork, Fiverr, etc. I found an alternative- Facebook.

If you are just starting up, don’t ever think that you will receive your paycheck forthwith. It takes time! All in all, nothing is impossible. You just need to be consistent with whatever you do, and you will be succeeded

At the time, social media became an important part of my life as I looked for work on Facebook Freelancers groups and also created a Facebook page as a portfolio where I posted all my written work as I have been writing since 2013 when I used to write for Urdu dailies and magazines. Due to this, I haven’t had any issues building my portfolio for my clients. I kept promoting my work on social media platforms and luckily, I started getting orders from local clients. During the early stages of establishing my Freelance career, I took some online courses to polish my content writing skills. I started offering content writing services to Pakistan-based clients, and I did some short-term and long-term projects to make myself financially stable. Meanwhile, I launched a website “Zippy Writers” (Zippy means Passionate). It was a small platform for emerging women writers where they can write blogs on different issues.

Coming to the point, when I felt like I have enough knowledge and skills to train others then I started thinking to turn my freelance career into entrepreneurship.

In 2020, I decided to start my brand because I was so inspired by women entrepreneurs who run their businesses successfully from home. My inspiration helped me to launch Zippy Writers as a startup. In addition to content writing & other services, I also started giving online classes to the women on a variety of freelance and entrepreneurial skills, such as; SEO, Blogging, Copywriting, etc. I had great success with my business venture, which I started on my own without any guidance or mentorship.

Now I’m planning to create a job portal for women so that they can easily find freelance work

Zippy Writers is now registered with SECP/FBR to give all women worldwide the opportunity to learn and empower themselves by creating online work opportunities. In the last three years, I have trained many talented content writers who have made their way into the freelance marketplace. One of the greatest achievements is, I have started organizing on-ground training sessions for women so they can learn & grow, and interact with each other.

Now I’m planning to create a job portal for women so that they can easily find freelance work because the majority of females are not tech-savvy, and may not even be able to access traditional freelance platforms. It would be easy for them to use a user-friendly platform. The most important reason behind my efforts is that I don’t want them to face the same challenges that I faced. That’s why I’m focused on educating and empowering them at my level best.

Nonetheless, it’s such an incredible encounter of realization where dreams are en route to the real world. But I regret that I wasted the golden period of my life which was the best time of learning. Well, I believe that slow progress is also progress and small achievement adds up to big results.

For me, “Passion, Patience, and Consistency is the key to success”. And that’s what I have been following since the day I started my career as a Freelancer-turned-entrepreneur. Still, the journey continues with great expectations in my heart for accomplishing my career goals.

If you are just starting up, don’t ever think that you will receive your paycheck forthwith. It takes time! All in all, nothing is impossible. You just need to be consistent with whatever you do, and you will be succeeded.

Also read: 10 Key Factors to Success

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The post How I turned My Passion into a Paycheck first appeared on Sindh Courier.

She learned the essential business trick: ‘first be good borrower – return the loan in agreed time; think about new business; initiate it with the saved amount, and if it is short, apply for bridge loan and start a new business’.

By Samina Barkat Ali

Not a long ago, Sindhi newspapers’ frequently carried news items mentioning atrocities against women. The usual captions were: ‘rape’ ‘murder’, ‘kidnap’, ‘minor girl’s marriage’ and ‘Vani’, a compensation for murder committed by their male family members. The situation still prevails, but a new breed of women’s leadership, handy use of new communication technologies, and some successful initiatives have inculcated the hope. Although, it is too bleak, even today, newspapers’ stories reveal that still girls’ schools are closed, a considerable number of women die due to pregnancy complications and feudal system has left literally zero opportunities for women to test their business ideas. Interestingly, none has objected on the status quo, all of us accepted it as usual practice in the name of tradition and culture. We are so mum that even we forget women’s role in agriculture, livestock, managing house affairs and family building.

One day I asked myself, ‘How the union council based interventions, commonly, known the SUCCESS program, have played the role in women’s betterment?’ Lot of ideas came into my mind to gauge the change. I thought that I could get idea from the annual reports, quarterly reports, case studies, newsletters and visitors’ feedbacks. Such a thought made me laugh, how naïve I was, when the primary source was not far away, and I thought about the secondary source. I discarded the idea of reading documents. Now I was considering how to proceed. I prepared notes, and chose a relatively difficult area, Union Council Warah, Taluka Nasirababd, District Kamber-Shahdadkot. Now usage of the methodology was the next step. After some consideration, I decided to apply an open-ended interview technique to capture the story. I met with Ms. Ajeeba Nisar of Warah. The conversation with Ms. Ajeeba compelled me to mingle the open-ended interview technique and autobiographical approach.

Here I share excerpts from her conservation. It took place at village Mumtazabad, Warah. Ms. Ajeeba Nisar is 40 years old and mother of three children. She told that her parents admitted her in the boys’ primary school, but later she was not allowed to be admitted into boys’ elementary school. Confidently, she told that her parents might have thought I was adult enough to be educated with boys. Therefore, she couldn’t continue her education. Now she has different views regarding girls’ education. She thinks that co-education is an ideal arrangement, where children learn a lot about commonalties and differences of both sexes, and expose themselves that how some assumptions about women have roots in ‘gender’ rather than ‘sex’. Smilingly, she told that women of nearby village know her as a role model.

On my enquiry, she unpacked further her personal story. Her husband plied donkey-cart in Nasirabad city. He earned some amount, but it was too meager to purchase meals of a day.

She told, “One day, I was pumped into the social organizer of the Sindh Rural Support Organization. I learned about the program, and became a member of the organization. In this way, I got the loan and purchased the goat. After some earning, I paid it, and got another loan. Presently, I keep a small herd, and occasionally sell some goats to meet my family needs.”

She always keeps herd’s numerical strength beneficial. Ajeeba told me that she learned the essential business trick: ‘first be good borrower – return the loan in agreed time. Then, think about new business; it must be initiated with the saved amount, and if it is short, apply for bridge loan and start a new business’. She told that her husband’s new Rickshaw might be an example of that business approach. Elaborating further she said that the donkey – cart, and a few goats were sold, and loan from the community fund enabled them to purchase the Rickshaw.

“The Rickshaw has done wonders in my family life,” Ajeeba shared her success. According to her, it loads the paddy crop, supplies drinking water and also serves as a passenger-vehicle. It picks and drops students (girls and boys) of ZABTech, Nasirabad and also carries fodder for goats.

“Such multi-type business has enabled us to purchase buffalo. Now milk is regular part of our diet, and excessive is sold. In this way, our health as well as hygiene conditions are improved,” she told.

The autumn day was passing quickly, shadows were becoming larger. So, I told her that soon I would leave. In a hurry she said, “It’s true that I am primary pass, but my daughter has got admission in the intermediate.” She concluded with gleamed eyes that ‘her daughter skillfully operates the computer’.

I closed my notebook. But a sudden thought sparked in my mind. Again, I opened it and jotted down some questions: ‘Ajeeba is one of the humble heroines of Sindh. Who would write the stories of these humble heroines? Or we are conditioned to published ‘miracle’ and ‘big events’?’ Not sure, but I strongly believe that rural women in their life-threat context have dented tribal society in so many ways. Believe me their small steps have made ways for others to follow.

Samina Barkat Ali

Ms. Samina Barkat Ali works as the Training Coordinator, at the Sindh Rural Support Program. She could be accessed at saminabarkat@srso.org.pk

The post Story of a Humble Heroine of Sindh first appeared on Sindh Courier.