Despite tragedy, TEDx event in Karachi, Pakistan goes on
About a month ago, on an April morning just a day before their event, organizers of TEDxBahriaUKarachi in Karachi, Pakistan hurried to finish preparations for their big day. The only problem? The city was shut down.
Weeks earlier, a blast in the Abbas Town neighborhood of the city killed 45 people, while another in the Landhi neighborhood killed three. Pakistan’s parliamentary election, set to enact the country’s first transition from one civilian government to another in 66 years, was soon approaching, and the country was in crisis.
Just three days earlier, a bomb attack on the office of a Pakistani political party killed three people and injured 30. The city shut down in mourning. Co-organizers Furqan Hussain and Sana Nasir struggled to plan an event in a city shuttered.
Co-organizers Furqan Hussain and Sana Nasir
Undeterred, Furqan searched for a shop that was open to buy supplies to create a sign for the event, while Sana worked to print event materials. “Furqan had to paint and prepare the TEDx stencil on his own along with extensive travelling across the city just to find any shop that was open and was doing business,” said Sana. “We had to deliver as much as we had promised. Karachi has been under crisis for long and us being Karachiites have learnt to survive through such days.”
The TEDxBahriaUKarachi team
The most difficult part, said Sana, was creating an event that would live up to the talks from TED she had seen, and the TEDx events she’d read about. “Under the TEDx banner we had to glue everything together and create an entire TED environment, the one that enlightens the mind and lets everyone take home at least one idea that can change their lives after that,” she said. “Our theme ‘Ideas for Survival’ coincidentally proved to be right on.”
But as signs were painted and programs printed, tragedy struck and another blast occurred. Shops and homes were wrecked. 10 people were killed. 25 were injured. Sana and Furqan were inundated with text messages and phone calls from people asking if the event was still on.
“We were confused and really heartbroken because it felt that all our hard work was about to go down the drain,” Sana said. “However, we as a team didn’t lose hope; we managed to inform everyone that the event was still on.”
And on the event went. Five speakers gave talks to an audience gathered together to share ideas — even amidst tragedy. Speakers included Maria Memon, a journalist from Lahore, Pakistan who was named a CNN Journalism Fellow in 2011; young Karachian inventor and teacher Syed Adnan Sabzwari; and Dr. Sabir Michael, a professor of sociology at Bahria University’s Karachi campus, who was born blind, but refused to let it prevent him from obtaining higher education.
Audience members watch the event
“The one thing we wanted our audience to take back [with them] was hope,” Sana said. “‘Ideas for Survival,’ the theme, sowed the idea of surviving in situations when there’s less or no hope. Our event, in fact, survived through such a harsh situation when we lost hope ourselves, but the idea to bring a unique platform like TEDx was strong enough to help us through our hard times. That was what we wanted, that same string of hope for our audience to hold on to and our speakers to deliver.
“No one forgets when people come up to them and thank them for doing something good for them,” she continued. “We cannot forget the time when our attendees came up to us and thanked us for short-listing them for the event. They now believed in the power of the ideas, in the power of X. Those were the best and the most unforgettable memories for the curators and the team. It felt as if all the running around and late hour work actually paid off.”
“TEDxBahriaUKarachi brought confidence to the people of Bahria and Karachi in general,” Sana said. “They now believe in themselves that we as a community are capable of bringing change, capable of understanding things, to organize an event with an international reach. The confidence that the voices in their community will be heard by not only them but by the people who belong to different races, cultures, religions and even ethnicities. They got to know what strong ideas are and how those ideas are given the right direction.”
(Photos by Safa Imtiaz Ali and Syed Wajahat Ali)
Six striking TEDxCity2.0 posters to look out for this Saturday
October 13’s day of urban inspiration is not without its visual inspiration. As evidence, we’ve put together this list of six TEDxCity2.0 graphics not to be missed. Below, six amazing graphics celebrating cities across the globe:
First up, TEDxSantoDomingo in the Dominican Republic, whose City 2.0 poster certainly wins for cutest design: whoever knew urban architecture could be so adorable?
After the jump, 5 more favorites!
TEDxMargalla in Islamabad, Pakistan sends over this quote from former mayor of Bogota, Enrique Penalosa, in anticipation of their TEDxCity2.0 event on the 13th.
“City 2.0 to me and my community is a re-invention of our homeland,” says organizer Saad Hamid. “A city where our kids can play, not just with toys, but with ideas. A city where we work, not just to earn, but to learn. A city where the city talks to us, breathes, lives and interacts with us just like a human.”
To celebrate innovation in the world’s cities, TEDxMargalla has created a very captivating Facebook album, City2.0, filled with images depicting urban inspiration throughout the globe.
A first for his team, TEDxRawalLake organizer Salman Saeed was overwhelmed by the success of his recent salon event. He praised attendees for their passion, interest, and inquisitiveness, and for their dedication to pursuing Ideas Worth Spreading in Pakistan.
Shereen El-Feki’s TEDTalk, “HIV — how to fight an epidemic of bad laws,” was shown, and, immediately, discussion was sparked.
“Great controversies arose among the audience,” said Salman. “By the end of the talk, [people were asking], if a person [can be] deported from a county on the basis that the disease would not spread after deporting the person, what if it happened in our own country, Pakistan? Could the spreading of AIDS stop by this solution?”
Soon, an interest in HIV and AIDS education was inspired, and “any reasons were discussed that proved that AIDS can’t be spread by living with the person,” Salman reported. “People living together in jails; students studying in universities; office colleagues; workers in factories.”
“[HIV spreading] precaution measures were also discussed,” said Salman, “especially [from the] Islamic point of view—[asking] why Islam doesn’t allow certain acts that can lead into spreading incurable diseases.”
“The main purpose of the discussion was to turn the idea into action,” he said, “and we were successful in achieving it. The idea worth spreading that was shared by the end of discussion was that a conference should be held where great Islamic scholars would be called to discuss the issues regarding unwanted acts in Islam and the reasons of why they are not accepted in order to spread awareness. This was the beauty of ideas worth spreading.”
The TEDxRawalLakeSalon audience was also treated to a performance from Usman Riaz, filmed during TEDGlobal 2012, and the TEDxRawalLake team informed interested TEDx’ers that he is slated to perform at the next TEDxRawalLake event.
During registration, attendees were given cards that read, “x is coming to Islamabad,” and were asked to write an “Idea Worth Spreading” on their card. At the end of the event, Salman said, “the best 4 ideas among all were selected and [those chosen] were called upon the stage to discuss those ideas with the audience,” furthering the discussion of ideas important to the Islamabad and Pakistani community.
After the event, TEDxRawalLakeSalon hosted a discussion and networking session, where inspired TEDx’ers were invited to talk, make connections and digest both refreshments and new ideas.
Submitted by Salman Saeed, TEDxRawalLake organizer.
