Pakistani scholars in UMass program revel in multi-layered learning

Aqsa Asghar stands with other Pakistani students who are studying public policy in a national program being administered by the UMass Civic Initiative as they watch the Chesterfield Fourth of July parade. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS
Published: 07-17-2024 9:28 PM |
AMHERST — Being on the University of Massachusetts campus for nearly a month, her first experience outside her native Pakistan, Mahan Aslam has found Americans courteous in not bothering her when she’s not wearing a traditional headscarf.
“In the U.S., people are so positive and appreciate the small things,” says Aslam, a medical student from Turbat, Balochistan, who also runs a community initiative for young girls known as Baloch Zaalbol Hub. “You can feel more appreciated here than in Pakistan.”
For Tirlok Kumar Varyani, a fourth-year medical student from Lasbella, Balochistan, there is culture shock, particularly striking when seeing the diversity in American society and inter-religious harmony, as illustrated by visits to both the Jewish Community of Amherst and the Hampshire Mosque. “Everything is unique for me in my first time out of Pakistan,” Varyani said.
The presence of so many houses of worship also was something noticed by Aqsa Asghar, a fourth-year law student from Rahim Yar Khan, South Punjab. “We don’t have any synagogues or Buddhist temples there,” Asghar said.
Asghar, Varyani and Aslam are three of 20 scholars from various regions of Pakistan, out of 18,000 applicants, accepted into the Study of the U.S. Institutes for students and scholars, a program of the U.S. Department of State. With funding provided by the U.S. government, the program is administered by the UMass Civic Initiative, a part of the UMass Donahue Institute.
The comparative public policy-making program for Pakistanis is one of three concurrent summer programs through the Civic Initiative. The others include 18 political science professors, from 18 countries, learning about American political processes, and 20 students from Middle Eastern and North African countries studying entrepreneurship.
Mick O’Connor, a staff member for the Civic Initiative, said that for the Pakistanis, the State Department wants to encourage best practices in public policy-making and civic institutions, bringing people together to show how they can collaborate and be effective leaders. “The hope at the end is people to return to their country and engage in their community,” O’Connor said.
An extensive alumni network is maintained for professional opportunities for the scholars, as well as grants that they can later seek to implement projects.
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Seminars are focused on public policy, on topics including education policy, vulnerable populations, immigration and environmental policy, at the local, state and federal levels.
On Monday, the students began their day with a role-playing exercise on a case study of an environmental topic.
Speaking in the atrium outside the South College classroom following the two-hour session, Varyani said that they identified a problem and implemented a solution, understanding the process and steps to achieve that solution.
“We learn from there and can then apply it back in Pakistan,” Asghar said, who, with a love for law and justice, hopes through the program she will understand the intricacies of policy formulation, gaining a broader perspective on the legal landscape and enabling her to make more informed and effective decisions during her professional life, possibly as an attorney or a judge.
As a community leader, Aslam said she plans to use the knowledge and skills acquired from the program to further her efforts in empowering young girls. “It will be beneficial to me,” Aslam said.
The students also like that, aside from the policies they are learning, it is a cultural exchange program, and while housing is provided by UMass, they get to interact with others from across Pakistan, as well as people from countries around the globe.
But the 24-hour homestays where students get to live with local families and see family structure and American ways of living, such as the foods and even their pets, will be most memorable.
Aslam said the homestay gave her comfort that she made the right choice to apply. “I do belong here, as well,” she said.
They also have gone on visits, to the Peace Pagoda in Leverett, Flayvor of Cook’s Ice Cream in Hadley, Insomnia Cookies downtown, and done community service, helping out at the Amherst Survival Center and Food Bank Farm.
A tradition for the scholars is to be spectators at the Independence Day parade in Chesterfield.
“It was a unique experience,” Asghar said, adding that parades in Pakistan often emphasize military traditions and tend to be national in scope, rather than local.
“Everyone was so welcoming,” Asghar said.
An image of what the United States is from Pakistan is a country that others should aspire to be like, but the students note that the program doesn’t shy away from the challenges, whether it be the continued legacy of harms caused by slavery or issues including immigration, homelessness and incarceration.
Aslam said she realizes that problems exist. “I thought the civic initiative would show U.S. only as the greatest,” Aslam said. “But they are telling us the good side, the bad side and every side of the U.S.A.”
As the students leave UMass at the end of the week, they will spend several days on a study tour that will bring them to New York City, Washington, D.C. and Richmond, Virginia, before flying back Pakistan to return to their communities and their studies.
While all three expect to remain in Pakistan for their professional lives, Varyani said he could return to the United States for medical practice and his license as surgeon, while Asghar said she hopes for chance to study at Harvard Law School.
Aslam, though, said she’s committed to the well-being of those in her hometown and looking forward to returning armed with her newfound knowledge.
“I feel like it’s my duty to do that,” Aslam said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.