| Description | Quratulain Bakhteari grew up in a refugee
camp on the outskirts of Karachi after the creation of Pakistan in 1947. When
Quratulain was earning her B.A. degree as a student between 1978 and 1982,
she worked as a volunteer, organizer, and researcher in the squatter
settlements in and around Karachi. She made major contributions both to
public health and sanitation during this time, providing toilets to 5,000
households through community actions, effectively changing the sanitation and
hygiene practices for more than 35,000 people from 1979 to 1987. After
completing her B.A. degree, she helped new refugees coming from Bangladesh by
providing them with access to basic health care and education. Later, she
earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. and established 2,000 government girls’
primary schools in rural Balochistan, resulting in the enrollment of 200,000
girls — a record in Pakistan’s history. |
