By Zarminae Ansari
There are many “Ashas” (hopes) in my heart as I sit under the sheer rock faces of the stark mountain landscape with almost fluorescent green trees in the lush Shigar Valley, admiring the painstaking conservation of a 400 year old fort palace into a magnificently run hotel managed by the Serena chain, in this breathtakingly beautiful part of northern Pakistan. The sound of the river rushing below drowns out most thoughts, but I keep returning to the possibility of “Aman”. Can the lessons taught by the work of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in Skardu be learned and applied in other parts of the country to offer educational and economic alternatives to brainwashed, disenfranchised youth and stop them being recruited by terrorist networks?
I realise this sounds simplistic but consider the positive ripple effect that just this ONE project has had on the region.
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