School Reading Program 2016 – Resource Persons
Asma Mundrawala
Asma Mundrawala is a visual artist and theatre practitioner with a PhD from the University of Sussex UK. She is Associate Professor in the Department of Fine Art at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture in Karachi. Asma is the director and sound designer for Zambeel Dramatic Readings.
Fereeha Idrees
Fe'reeha Idrees started her journalistic career in the United Kingdom by joining a woman's renowned magazine. Later on, she worked with The Guardian, BBC, Channel 4, The Daily Mirror and wrote extensively for many publications in Pakistan and Europe. She also worked as a spokesperson of the Muslim Council of Britain. She holds a post graduate degree in Broadcast and Print Journalism from the University of Westminster, UK. She worked with CNBC Pakistan as Bureau Chief and hosted 8pm show 'Islamabad Sey'. Ms. Idrees then moved to SAMAA TV and hosted flagship current affairs show 'News Beat'. Currently, she works at AbbTak news channel as an anchor to "Tonight with Fereeha" at 8PM.
Imran Sarwar
Rabtt was born as an idea in the minds of two young friends, Aneeq Cheema and Imran Sarwar, both fresh graduates from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), in the winter of 2010. During his undergraduate degree, Imran had participated in the LUMS National Outreach Program as an instructor and found the experience trans-formative; not only because of what he was able to teach the students, but more so because of the bonds he was able to build with the students over a course of merely 3 weeks. Their response and energy assured him that any meaningful change and inspiration can occur only by engaging with students at a personal level, getting to know them, and understanding their aspirations. These two individuals with their unique and yet complementary experiences combined to give shape to Rabtt – a platform where volunteers and mentors interact with students from high schools in an effort to make their education experience more holistic. Aneeq and Imran started pitching the idea to friends and their own mentors, all the time refining their thoughts and re-calibrating how to best proceed with their vision. The support network comprised of development experts, educationists, activists, and friends with diverse talents, all of whom believed in the need for an education system that goes beyond mere memorization of correct answers.
Mahvash Faruqi
Mahvash Faruqi is an educator with a background in theatre for the past eighteen years. She has performed in numerous theatre productions, attended workshops conducted by eminent theatre directors and has toured internationally and within Pakistan. Mahvash is a lead performer and co founder of Zambeel Dramatic readings.
Mustafa Shahbaz
Mustafa Shahbaz is the quintessential people’s person who has earned the affection of many through his empathy, modesty, competence, determination and in some cases, good looks. At Carnelian, he is fondly called “the Magnet”, as he effortlessly connects with people and builds friendships.
Mustafa wears many hats at Carnelian. As a Facilitator, he is entrusted with challenging assignments thanks to his superpowers of high energy and authentic expression. When engaged in Consulting assignments, he brings out his inner mathematician by explaining organizational dynamics through equations and then solving those by changing the variables. Mustafa is fascinated by observing cultures and the way they are formed, as this enables him to develop a strong understanding of organizational structure, processes and strategy.
A graduate of the Lahore University of Management Sciences, Mustafa taught at Headstart School for a year before going on to pursue a Master’s degree in Management from Bradford University, where he also worked with Save the Children. This breadth of exposure has cemented his belief in the idea that race or background hardly matter in human engagement.
Mustafa has worked extensively with Engro, Mobilink, ICI, Shell and Unilever among other clients. The fact that his clients engage him regularly is testament to his ability to consistently add value. Mustafa’s areas of expertise include Customer Services, Relationship Building, Communication, Emotional Intelligence, Sales and Team Building.
The eldest of three siblings, Mustafa comes from a family of doctors and as is the norm in Pakistan, many think that he also knows a thing or two about medicine. Mustafa is an adventurous soul and can be found hiking on one of the various treks in Islamabad, his hometown.
Nadine Murtaza
Nadine Murtaza is a teacher, curriculum writer and storyteller. She runs NJ's House, an alternative IB PYP (candidate) school in Islamabad, which employs play-based teaching. She is also an Assistant Director at Headstart School (Islamabad), where she oversees academic programs. Nadine volunteers as a storyteller at Kuch Khaas and other children's conventions. She is a mother of two.
Rabia Garib
The idea of Toffee TV stems from arduous hours of searching Urdu stories and songs for children similar to that of Cassette Kahani. As the search continues, a sad realization has set in, that our heritage has simply not been captured in the realm of providing our children with the opportunity of learning the Urdu language through imagination. We are uploading these treasures through YouTube, a public resource, to promote the Urdu language. Content on this site is free as our way of sharing our heritage as widely as possible. The stories and songs you will at Toffee TV are an attempt to help, inspire and change in learning language. We love listening to stories and even more, sharing them. Most of these stories have been located in ragged books found in old book bazaars of Karachi, interpreted and transformed in digitized mode to share them with the online world. ToffeeTV.com is run by Talea Zafar (Chief Illustrator) and Rabia Garib (Chief Wrapper)
Rimsha Ali Shah
Rimsha Ali Shah is a communications specialist with an experience spanning six years that covers communication design and strategy, content development, digital marketing and public relations. She is a trained voice over artist and radio broadcaster with experience in voice overs for radio dramas, promotional ads (TV and radio), theme-based shows, documentaries and IVRs. This March, she will be delivering a session on 'effective digital storytelling: tools and techniques' at 'The Ingenious Media Exposition' (TIME) organized by Institute of Business Administration (IBA). Previously, she has also mentored teams on communication and design at the first ever women's hackathon organized by Pakistan Innovation Foundation (PIF). With reference to storytelling, she was part of the team responsible for research and design for the Children's Book & Teachers' Guide on Peaceful Cohabitation, a project of UNHCR. The tools used included focus group discussions with Afghan refugee children studying in schools across Rawalpindi/Islamabad to develop the story for the children’s book and the following guidebook for teachers was designed, catering to the essence of effective storytelling through activities and methods for increasing student engagement. She is a graduate of Sociology from SZABIST and an alumna of State Department exchange program SUSI for Women Leaders 2013.
Rumana Husain
Rumana Husain co-founder of the Book group in 1988, focusing on children‟s Urdu language books. She has written and illustrated over 40 children‟s books and numerous teacher‟s manuals for the Book group, Oxford University Press, the Education Research and Development Centre (ERDC) and for Peak Publications. She has conducted a number of teacher-training workshops in Pakistan. In October 2010 she was invited to attend a children‟s book festival in South Korea as an illustrator for a Peace Story book, an anthology with 22 stories from around the world. She is the author of the book „Karachi wala: a subcontinent within a city’ -a coffee-table book about Karachi‟s communities, and is a co-founder and Senior Editor of Nukta Art, a biannual (international) magazine for contemporary arts published since 2005. From 2001 to 2008 she worked as Head, Activist and Outreach of an NGO, the Children’s Museum for Peace and Human Rights (CMPHR). From 1986 to 1996 she was Headmistress of the junior section of The C.A.S School, and later as the senior school‟s Vice Principal. She has taught art, environmental studies and illustrations at the Karachi Grammar School, The C.A.S School, and the Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture respectively. She is the founding editor of AYE Karachi! - A bilingual quarterly city guide and features magazine.
Talea Zafar
Waleed Anwar
Waleed is passionate about instilling confidence in his audience to fight against all odds. He focuses on making a strong connection and a bond of trust with his audience, and aspires for them to become the remarkable entity they are destined to be.
Waleed’s strong association and love for Sufism, his quest for realism, together with his keen interest in research, makes him unique. He will question the strongest of beliefs, the dearest of values, and then dissect them one by one and show a different angle of these. In his latest quest for knowledge Waleed, has entered the world of Consultancy and Training.
He believes he can learn the ways of the corporate world and help decipher what it requires from talented individuals.He believes he can understand what drives the culture of organizations and help talented people understand the actionable behaviors required to succeed.
He has helped numerous firms with hiring, linguistic rectification, supply chain management, interview tactics and coaching so as to make sure that the message gets across clearly.
Zain Baloch
Zain Baloch started his professional journey with the mo o “Dream big and turn all your dreams into reality”. Zain works as an Associate with Carnelian. He completed his Undergraduate Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Bahauddin Zakariya University. Zain has a strong background in the Learning and Development Industry and has 4 years of experience in Youth Motivation, Training, and Public Speaking. Zain hails from the City of Saints, Multan. In the past he has worked with The Dramatics and Debates Clubs of Bahauddin Zakariya Univeristy, Jaago Naujawan Youth Organization, Youth Peace Delegation to India, and the British Council. He enjoys travelling and has travelled and presented on many national and international Conferences, Seminars, Delegations, and Trainings. Zain has a strong foundation in Leadership with many experiences in leadership roles at different organizations. He is also an active student of Leadership and emphasizes on the importance of Ge ing the basics right! At Carnelian, he is Mr. Responsible and is admired for his commitment and dedication for his passion. He is a strong believer in the power of imagination and hard work.
Zobaida Jalal
Zobaida Jalal is a Pakistani teacher, libertarian, social activist, and politician.[1] After successfully contesting in general elections held in 2002 on a PML(Q) platform, she came in national prominence and public fame as a leading woman minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. From 2002–07, she was the minister of Minister of Education (MoEd) and unsuccessfully contested for general elections held in 2008 on a PML(Q) platform. After a five-year brief break from the national politics, she joined the Pakistan Muslim League and but stepped down in favor of Kiran Haider who successfully retained her seat in 2013 general elections, although she retains herself as a woman leader of the Pakistan Muslim League.