At Global Encounters, exposure to thorough service learning plays an integral part in developing a sense of global citizenship, as well as to encourage interaction between the participants and the local communities in which they surround themselves with. As an alumnus from the GE Pakistan Program, 17-year-old Sofia Babool shares her experience working with 11 other students in the Center of Innovation in Medical Education at the Aga Khan University, Karachi.
Global Encounters is an international programme for adolescent Ismaili Muslim youth focused on service, leadership development, culture, and global citizenship.
Center of Innovation for Medical Education: Aga Khan University, Karachi: An Island of Tranquility in an Ocean of Chaos
Participants from left to right include Nour (Syria), Shabnam Mamadnazarbekova
(Tajikistan), Zia Saleh (Canada), Munazza Hussain (U.S.), Aliza Ukani (U.S.), Insha Merchant (U.S.), Sofia Babool (U.S.), Sarina Taj (U.S), Lina Albithe (Syria), Ali Warde (Syria), and Aly Ali (U.K.). (This photo includes the staff members at CIME).
By Sofia Babool
During my time at Global Encounters in Karachi, all the global participants were stationed at the Center of Innovation for Medical Education, commonly referred to as CIME. From our various CORE sessions to dining dinners with Firoz Rasul and the staff members from the President’s Office, as well as with the GE faculty and staff, the Aga Khan University was an island of tranquility amongst the active, bustling hub that is Karachi. To have placed such an esteemed, and elite center of progression in Pakistan was certainly an unexpected sight for me. However, in his address, the Aga Khan University Chancellor His Highness the Aga Khan claimed that “we should position this institution in its correct place in service to Pakistan” for the advancement of civil society. CIME Director Dr. Charles Docherty also claimed that the institution should “…seek to become a strategic asset for Pakistan and the region that is at the forefront of efforts to raise the standard of healthcare.” The campus itself is an 80,000 square foot area comprised of various labs and teaching spaces that contain high-fidelity simulators. Upon touring the facility with my fellow participants, I realized that the simple fact that the Imam has instituted such an advanced, effective learning space for upcoming medical professionals in Pakistan speaks volumes. Although Pakistan is often associated with various negative connotations of underdevelopment, inadequacy, and economic and political instability, the Aga Khan University is a beacon of the potential that the country holds within its roots. To say that Pakistan is void of political and economic complications would be untruthful, but yet, CIME is an indication of the great depths of scientific advancement and intellectual stimulation Pakistan is heading towards with great rapidity and optimism.
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