Current Projects

APWA has launched its long awaited IT Training program with the intention of empowering women in IT Technology. This project has come about with the support of Collisson Trust in UK; President APWA Mrs. Laila Haroon Sarfaraz met with Ms. Helen Self at the Geneva IAW conference in 2009. She discussed the importance of empowering women in Pakistan, so they could play their due role in the economic growth of the country, and emphasized the need for acquiring IT skills. The Trust came forward and allocated funds for the project.

APWA understands that isolation of women from the mainstream economy contributes to a slow pace of development. In order to fill the existing gap women must acquire skills and expertise to compete and play a positive role in strengthening the economy.

Information Technology is a field that is developing at a rapid pace, opening up new job possibilities. APWA realizes this opportunity and wants to play its role in developing IT skills in women.

The curriculum initially offers Microsoft Basic course, and currently female students from impoverished areas are undergoing training.

In the second quarter beginning September, APWA plans to introduce Search Engine Optimization and Content Management System (Joomla) as advance courses to the students selected from the first quarter. The project is an ongoing IT Training, and APWA hopes to train 100 students in Basic & Advance Computer Programs by the end of this year.

Project is Funded by The Collison Trust UK

Project Director IT – Shazia Israr

Yousuf Goth, on the outskirts of Karachi bordering Baluchistan and twenty-five kilometers away from APWA Headquarters, is a slum with dirt tracks full of potholes instead of roads and garbage spread all over. There are no proper schools or clinics within five miles, hence over a decade ago APWA set up a community centre and clinic. Subsequently, APWA was fortunate to find a donor who constructed a double-stored sixteen-room building which is being used for a school, with a clinic setup on the first floor.

The newly established Dallas Chapter of APWA has come to our rescue, along with the Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMANA) who both generously provide the needed funding. This has gone a long way in alleviating the pain and miseries of the patients, who have to travel miles to come for treatment in a proper clinic.We have now employed a doctor who, being a Balochi herself, speaks the language and has affinity with the locals. She is also a Sonologist, which is an asset. With the doctor, Lady Health Visitor, a male motivator, a night watchman and an ayah, the staff-team is complete and has been working to serve the community since the 1st of August 2009. We urgently required a medical unit to enable us to serve the adjoining Goths, who also have no access to any medical services.