Shaniera Akram makes a proud Pakistani – there’s no doubt about that, and she’s doing it one tweet at a time! With a Twitter following of 884K plus, she is using her voice to create change in small and big ways.
Shaniera, along with her husband Wasim Akram, started The Akram Foundation in 2014, and has been using it as a platform to bring about change in Pakistan. She uses Twitter to voice her opinions and urge state and social conscience into action. Here are some of the things she’s done to make Pakistan a better place, and we can’t help but love her for it.
1. She started the “Clean Karachi” campaign
After finding syringes along with many other hazardous material on Clifton beach in Karachi, Shaniera initiated a campaign to clean up the Karachi beach in order to make it a safe and clean place for people to visit and spend time with their loved ones. Her tweets reached thousands and the Clifton Cantonment board officials were moved into beach clean up action very soon after. Shaniera followed up with another tweet to thank the municipal authorities for swift action.
” All day every day these workers are in the hot sun cleaning up the filth that is getting washed on our shores. Our ocean is polluted and no matter how hard we work at cleaning the beach rubbish still washes in everyday. We need to fix the source instead of bandaging the problem!” – Food for thought from Shaniera Akram
2. She collaborated with Bikes For Life- Australia to hand out bikes to people in need in Pakistan.
She handed out bikes in rural areas in Punjab and Sindh in collaboration with Bikes for life- Australia. Her team assembled and distributed over 450 bikes to people in need, whether they needed it to get to school, work or even just to be able to reach clean water.
3. She tweeted the Hastag #SheHasAName
After being referred to as “Wasim Akram’s wife” instead of by her own name, at the 6th Islamabad Literature Festival, Shaniera stated she had no problem with it, but she also understood that a lot of Pakistani women could relate to not being called by their own names, and hence, started the hashtag #SheHasAName in order to raise awareness about how women in Pakistan are not being given their own identity, but rather how they are being hidden behind their father’s or husband’s names.
“Please understand I’m not saying women aren’t proud of holding their husbands or fathers name,but we do want a future where we are recognised by our own identity as well. Holding someone’s name comes from love and respect but it should not define who we are as people #SheHasAName” – Shaniera Akram
4. She is helping restore eyesight to people in far-flung rural areas.
Most recently, in collaboration with The Fred Hollows Foundation in Australia, Shaniera helped restore the eyesight of many elderly people in Punjab. She helped facilitate the work of the foundation and helped many people get the gift of sight. She was appointed the ambassador for The Fred Hollows Foundation for Pakistan.
5. She’s In It For The Long Haul!
The final cherry on top was this tweet. When Shaniera was asked by a fan, which team she will support in PakvsAus Cricket tournament? Need we say more?
Shaniera Akram has reached many with her Twitter voice. She has raised the bar for many Pakistani celebs who can do well to use their social media power to empower many others in our society. To list a few, she has spoken on child abuse at a conference held by Catwalk Cares, she has worked with Karwan-e-Hayat on mental health issues, she speaks about, and encourages women empowerment, she calls out people when they are causing harm to Pakistan, or the image of Pakistan. And most importantly, she has taken patriotism to the next level.
Here’s some food for thought. If Shaniera, being one person, can bring about so much change and positivity, what can happen when we all join forces to work towards a better Pakistan?
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Mariyam employs writing as a tool to channel negative energy into positivity. “Little did I know I’d start loving it so much!” Says Mariyam. Food and Fitness are my favorite topics and my favorite pastimes too.
I’ve learnt to surround myself with positive energy, that’s the only way to succeed in life. It helped me become an entrepreneur – a life- long dream. And hopefully it will prove to be fruitful in the future too!
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