What am I doing in Tando Allahyar? That's in rural Sindh (Pakistan) in case you didn't know!

Almost one million people live in Tando Allahyar district located in Pakistan's Sindh province. One million is not a small number but the population is spread over many villages and towns across an expanse of almost 1,500 square kilometers. Yes, the district is about twice the size of Singapore and has less than twenty percent of the island republic's population.

Take Rashidabad, my 'hometown' since September. Rashidabad is less than 35 hectares in size – one third the size of Singapore's Gardens by the Bay. By my guesstimation Rashidabad has a resident population of maybe 2,000. However, the town's daytime population probably swells to at least twice its resident population due to visiting students, patients, employees, etc.

For most Singaporeans, the entire country of Pakistan is considered off limits, so what is a Singaporean-Karachite doing in 'ulu' Rashidabad?

Well, yes, I am a Pakistani by birth so no part of Pakistan is alien to me … technically. The reality is more complicated.

Pakistan is an interlinked mosaic of different cultures and linguistic regions. As a Karachite, my DNA is quite different even from urbanite compatriots from Lahore, Peshawar, Hyderabad or Islamabad. Often we speak a different language. Culture, including dress, gender roles, food and religious traditions vary widely.

A Karachite from the twenty million strong City of Lights doesn't see the world like a Sindhi speaking farmer from Quba village, Tando Allahyar district. The Quba resident grew up hearing tales of Watayo Faqir and his beautiful poetry. She is entirely indifferent to Shakespeare's (Sheikh who?) plays and sonnets taught to many Karachites in school.

Karachi, after all, is Pakistan's answer to New York city (no kidding). On the contrary, Tando Allahyar is primarily an agricultural area producing some of the country's finest mangoes. Though it is adjacent to one of Pakistan's oldest and finest agricutural universities.

But I digress. What am I doing in Rashidabad?

I am here to experience Pakistan beyond cities and locales familiar to me. I am here to live life to the fullest; an acknowledgement that leading a full life often requires escaping the hustle and bustle of cities like our own Singapore. It means no riding subway trains, no CNBC financial news or shopping malls. Instead one must stop and smell the roses and enjoy the world's simpler pleasures.

But mostly, I am in Rashidabad to interact with kids and teach them English in the process. I do that at the Sargodhian Spirit Trust Public School (SST), Rashidabad; a boys boarding school established in 2005.

Selfie time with SST students!

As for my time with SST students? I will spare you tales about teaching the next generation of leaders, etc. Instead, let's just say I will try to stop myself from tearing up when I leave Rashidabad next month! It's hard not to get attached to boys with boundless enthusiasm and energy – no matter how disruptive they may be inside the classroom!

In summary, Rashidabad is much more than a dot on the map. Rashidabad is about teaching and learning. Learning is the reason I am in Tando Allahyar. Who knew teaching is simply another word for learning?

Imran is an adventurer, blogger, consultant, guide, photographer, speaker, traveler and a banker in his previous life. At the time of writing, Imran is living in Rashidabad until December 2017 while a volunteer at the SST Public School. He is available on twitter (@grandmoofti); Instagram (@imranahmedsg) and can be contacted at imran.ahmed.sg@gmail.com.

The spirit of sacrifice and the genesis of Rashidabad Model Village, Pakistan

New towns are not born. They are created. Though it is not often a new town's inception is draped in tragedy. Except in Rashidabad's case. Rashidabad is a small settlement in the Tando Allahyar district of Pakistan's southern Sindh province.

Rashidabad's history does not begin with the opening of a hotel or railway station. Instead, Rashidabad's story begins with a tragic death of an air force pilot.

It was in December 1997 that a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) pilot named Flight Lieutenant Rashid Ahmed Khan took off on a routine mission in his Mirage fighter jet.

A short while after take off his aircraft caught fire above a densely populated area. PAF ground authorities ordered the pilot to abandon the plane, bail out and save his life. Flight Lieutenant Rashid disobeyed these direct orders. Instead, he opted to save thousands of lives by maneuvering his aircraft to an unpopulated remote area. In the effort, he sacrificed his own life.

Rashid died in the Sindh desert of Tando Allahyar district between the cities of Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas.

Rashidabad has its own railway station on the Hyderabad - Khokrapar (via Mirpurkhas) branch line. The line sees a weekly train towards Zero Point and onwards to India as well as a couple of daily trains towards Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas. 

Following the death of their only son, Rashid's father – himself a retired PAF officer - galvanized a group of retired Air Force officers and in 1998 created the non-profit Rashid Memorial Welfare Organization (RMWO). The RMWO's objective is “[setting] up model villages throughout the country [Pakistan] by integrating all essential facilities in a well-knit mosaic so as to ensure a positive beneficial outflow to the needy rural folk – all under one roof. Our main thrust is on education, health and vocational training...” Rashidabad is the RMWO's initial pilot project.

The Hunar Foundation operates a vocational training institute in Rashidabad.

It has been twenty years since RMWO's establishment and Rashidabad is a thriving town. It provides not only employment opportunities to nearby local communities but also badly needed essential medical and educational services. Today, Rashidabad houses a hospital, schools, school for the deaf, school for the visually impaired and an eye hospital. More welfare organizations are establishing a presence and in the process of constructing their premises.

Rashidabad has a school for those with hearing disabilities as well as one for persons who are visually impaired. 

Death is an inevitable part of life. Everyone eventually faces death. Normally, one views death as a tragedy - an occasion to be mourned. It does not have to be so. Take Flight Lieutenant Rashid's case. His death allowed hope to enter the lives of thousands of Pakistanis.

This story is not about a tragic death but a happy beginning.

That's me posing for a selfie with students from the SST Public School, Rashidabad! 

Imran is an adventurer, blogger, consultant, guide, photographer, speaker, traveler and a banker in his previous life. At the time of writing, Imran is living in Rashidabad until December 2017 while a volunteer at the SST Public School. He is available on twitter (@grandmoofti); Instagram (@imranahmedsg) and can be contacted at imran.ahmed.sg@gmail.com.