Overseas Pakistani Friends blog is dedicated to overseas Pakistani friends all over the world. All the friends are invited to participate in discussions and finding the ways to help Overseas Pakistani community. In case any friend is interested in publishing useful information, please contact us.
Best Regards
.
Eid Mubarak
Nasir bhai
Eid Mubarak to you and all the visitors too.
Best Regards
i want to asked when you now released your new system of NADRA E seholat. now date is 05-10-2008.
First and foremost, happy independence day to all! I am very happy to learn about your experiences in Pakistan. I am based in New York, where we are organizing the first-ever business and networking event for non-resident Pakistanis, on August 22 and 23, 2008. There will also be a winter summit every year in Pakistan. The objective of this summit is that there are approximately 4 million Pakistanis living overseas, who are exceptionally successful in their respective fields. However, the government has had not been able to capitalize on this huge asset the country has.
In order to facilitate the cause, I have started a blog (http://nrpglobal.blogspot.com/) that aims to highlight the achievements of Pakistani expatriates in different countries and cover different aspects of their lives there. I have lined up a few interviews with accomplished NRPs and would greatly appreciate if you or other members could direct me toward other NRPs who have yet not received their share of acknowledgment.
Here is my blog’s URL:
http://nrpglobal.blogspot.com/
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
Sharmeen Akbani Gangat
Dear Editor,
I hope you are doing great in your personal and professional pursuits. Thanks for your prompt reply. Please keep that spirits high. I am anxiously waiting for your e-mail since yesterday. Please mention your e-mail for future communication and correspondence.
With best regards
MEHMOOD-UL-HASSAN KHAN
LAHORE-PAKISTAN
0300-9487177
Ayaz Ahmed Sahib
Thank you for the encouraging words. Actually I am more interested in knowing what type of information and content overseas Pakistani friends want to see at their website.
So far I have not been able to communicate with the visitors about finding the ways to improve the site. This website belongs to overseas Pakistani friends, I am just an initiator. All the visiting friends are requested to take active part in updating and making it more attractive and useful for the visitors.
Best Regards
Overseas
A quick note about the schools here. The CDA has recently taken a very strong position regarding schools that are setup in non-school buildings. Many schools rent out a house and use it as a school building. They have no sports facilities or grounds so the children suffer. The CDA has started issuing fines to owners who allow their properties to be used as schools and this has forced many schools to start to actually look for school plots and buildings otherwise they face either closure or very big fines. The school business is big here and recently the CDA has allocated many many more plots for schools in all the sectors and zones of islamabad. There are two new universities built in zone4 near the pristine farms scheme (www.pristinepakistan.com/mainsite/PristineFarms.html) and also headstart and beaconhouse are starting there. Zone 2 also has many school plots available in sectors such as D17.
HUNGER has become one of the enduring features of the global landscape, sparking food riots in several Asian and African countries.
The current high food prices have hit the poor people hardest, particularly urban net food buyers and rural non-food producers.
Long lines of people outside utility stores show how the PPP government has failed to provide roti, even if we do not talk about its kapra and makan pledges.
For further details please read my article on http://manzoorchandio.blogspot.com/2008/06/making-ends-meet.html . I look forward for your comments.
Dear Mr. Nasir
I suggest you visit http://sweethome.overseaspakistanis.net and introduce your self with appropriate details of your business and contact address. If you register here at Overseas Pakistani Friends blog, I shall change your role to enable you to post here also. I have to keep some control here to avoid spam but whoever registers here, I change his role immediately except some unknown personnel.
Overseas
Oh and a couple of things I forgot to mention.
Most schools offer a discount for siblings so if you have more than one child it becomes cheaper and
I really MUST emphasise that my kids have REALLY blossomed here compared to when they were in the UK in every aspect of their personalities, behaviour, knowledge and learning. I still have a lot of family back in the UK and Europe with nieces and nephews studying there and there is a big difference.
Dear Mr. Nassir
It is very encouraging to learn that you are extremely satisfied with your decision to move back to Pakistan; in fact it will help many other undecided overseas Pakistanis to reach to some conclusion. If you could spare some time to write more about educational institutions and facilities in Islamabad, it will be very much appreciated.
Thank you and best Regards.
Overseas
Thanks Overseas,
As for your request regarding educational institutions, I would be happy to help since I have 3 schoolgoing children and I like to spend time on their educational needs. Just now the summer break has started which lasts almost 3 months. During this time, most schools have a SUMMER CAMP where they conduct various vocational and fun activities for several weeks. I usually choose to send my children to a summer camp at a school different from the one that they are attending to give them a broader perspective and to enable them to make more friends and learn from different teachers.
The curriculum is British based or American based in some schools aswell as the standard Pakistani curriculum in the government schools. O levels are still the main examination here which is great because Pakistani students regularly TOP THE WORLD CHARTS at results time since they are studying a much tougher course than their peers in the west.
My children have made many friends and they have a great social life with many school events and functions where teachers parents and the kids share in fun and educational activities. They have learnt to read and write urdu and have learnt the basics of Islam as part of their studies. They interact with children of many nationalities and cultures since Islamabad has many foreigners living and working here.
A goood regular school here such as OPF costs between 3-5 thousand rupees per child per month and they have many campuses and many facilites with a good level of discipline.
Private schools such as Beaconhouse, City School, Froebels, Bloomfield Hall, Preparatory etc cost a little more…in the range of 7-12k per month per child but they follow a more western curriculum and are ideal for those wanting to make the transition and plan on their kids going abroad for Degree level education someday.
There are more expensive schools here such as the American School which costs around 90,000 rupees per month per child and has excellent facilities spread over 23 acres, teachers are all qualified and experienced north americans or similar and small class sizes. They are however behind huge barricades and the security is ridiculous. In addition, the nature of the children and teachers here is transitory since they are mostly diplomats children on secondment from other parts of the world and they rarely stay more than a few years. I’d recomment it for children of white diplomats but after visiting and meeting with some of the teachers and students, I decided NOT to send my kids there except maybe for summer camp…once !
The level of education that my kids receive is much better than I had hoped and is indeed much better than in the UK and I am particularly happy that they don’t suffer the inherent discrimination that they did in the west and can freely socialise and build up their confidence and make friendships that will last throughout their lives. The ONLY drawback I have noticed so far is that there is less of a focus on sports and physical activities but I try and make up for this by getting them involved in extracurricular stuff and am pushing the school to increase this aspect of their education to which they seem very amenable but are finding it difficult to find qualified sports teachers. Martial arts are taught tho since the Martial arts associations in Pakistan have a good relationship with the schools.
I hope you found this helpful. Please comment.
I am/used to be an overseaspakistani (UK and Europe) but moved back to Pakistan with my young family in 2002. It took me a little while for us to adjust to the nuances of life in Islamabad but we did and we are extremely happy that we made the right choice.
Having studied, lived and worked in the UK and mainland Europe for most of my life I decided that it was time to discover my homeland and allow my children to learn something about their history and culture and to enable them to learn the language. I was a little concerned at first as I had NEVER in my life even thought about actually living in Pakistan. All I had ever heard were bad stories about the corruption and the lawlessness that existed here and I spent some time travelling back and forth and reconnecting with relatives and friends who went there regularly. I found one consistent thing from this research…that Islamabad was the place I should choose to live.
Everyone that I met who had actually lived in Islamabad loved it and described it as one of the best places in the world in which to live. I moved here in 2002 and although I travel all over the world regularly, I find that I am drawn back to the wide tree lined streets of Islamabad, with its unique architecture and individuality I find it a good place to raise my young children and build a base for their future. Education is excellent here with many private schools and the majority of the population is very educated and well travelled. I did find that the pace of life here is much slower than in the west but in the 6 years that I have been here, there have been dramatic improvements in ALL spheres of life. Quality restaurants and international fast food outlets have sprung up, road and traffic improvements continue at a rapid pace, the traffic police are doing a great job, medical facilities are excellent and my family life here is 100% better than it ever was in the UK since I get to spend more time with them and we get to socialise a great deal. There are many cultural events and functions to go to not to mention the kids educational functions and plays.
Hundreds of families have returned from the UK, Europe, Americas and other parts of the world in recent years and this has led to a great melting pot of diversity and culture and the city is beginning to thrive and take on it’s own personality.
Even though the political situation here is extreme, I remind myself that these past few years have seen turmoil everywhere in every country and I count myself lucky to be here in Islamabad which remained largely peaceful regardless of what was happening in the rest of the world.
Using my experience in Pakistan and skills gained as a professional consultant and manager in the west, I am now offering unique and interesting properties and projects in Islamabad so that others who would like to live in Islamabad, either now or in the future, can safely buy a property and/or make a sound investment.
Salam Nasir. I found your blog very informative. I have been living in Auustralia for over 22 years and am looking at moving back to Pakistan ISA. I am interested in finding out more about your company and how it can help me buy property in Pakistan, Islamabad
What is your email address?
Mine is khurram@netspace.net.au
Look forward to hearing from you
Khurram