Karishma Ali is from a remote village in Pakistan’s Chitral valley. After her spectacular football game, she is now setting examples with social work in her hometown where like other parts of the country, coronavirus has adversely impacted the lives of people.
The 23-year old football enthusiast is the first girl from her area to have played football at a national and international level. Last year she was named among Forbes’ ’30 Under 30′ in Asia. She has also previously represented Pakistan at the Jubilee Games in Dubai, and her team was the first women’s team from Pakistan to participate in the AFL International Cup.
When the COVID-19 pandemic handicapped the lives of many, Karishma would spend hours driving on bumpy, mountainous roads with her father and uncle delivering much-needed supplies to the local hospital and underprivileged villagers. Items bought with money she raised, mainly through social media.
“As of August, they had supplied one month’s worth of rations to 300 families, and donated 155 N95 masks, 53 goggles, 250 PPE suits, 650 surgical masks, 400 pairs of surgical gloves and 76 face shields to the DHQ Hospital Chitral,” the report underscored.
“The men work as daily wage labourers in different cities in Pakistan and what happened after the close-down, many industries and businesses closed down, they had to return home, and people were finding it really difficult, a lot of families were in need,” shared Karishma, as she spoke about how the virus has changed things in her hometown.
She also mentioned, “Ten years from now I want to see at least 10-20 more girls like myself who come back from Chitra after they’ve achieved their dream and work for the other girls that I was not able to reach out to and, slowly, I see a progressive society where men and women are working equally, where women do not have to stress about traditional customs and be able to freely do what they can and see that I was part of all of this change. I want to see more women in leadership positions and then sit back and enjoy. This is what I wanted to fight for,”.
