Khamis Chaudhary

Khamis and I were introduced through a fellow Change Maker (who will be featured very soon!). Once I befriended Khamis on Facebook, the first thing I noticed were the number of friends he had. Eventually I realized why. Khamis was constantly tagged in numerous posts by other people for various reasons- when someone needs blood at a hospital, if a blast happened and volunteers are needed, if someone needs a resource for travel, if someone is fundraising money for the needy, basically Khamis is very active on Facebook and well-known in his community. He definitely proved to be the go to person for anyone who needs information for almost anything because of his sheer drive, passion and go getter personality. He has connected me some amazing people already who I am working on some projects with. I have yet to meet him but read below to find out more about why he is a Change Maker of Pakistan! 

“Life is very interesting. In the end, some of your greatest pains, become your greatest strengths. There is going to be stress in life, But it’s your choice whether you let it affect you or not!" 

-Khamis' motto to live by

Khamis is a 25 year old student from Lahore Pakistan, studying Multimedia design. When he was 13 years old, Pakistan was struck with a massive earthquake killing thousands of people. He was immediately drawn to help the victims but since he was too young to be in the field, he decided to raise money for those affected. That was the turning point in his life and the beginning of a journey that continues to this day.

While Khamis has had experience working with local and International NGO's, typically he works on his own with his team. His extensive interests lie in development of Women's rights, Youth development, Interfaith Harmony, working against religious extremism and most importantly just working for humanity. He says "Social activism is in my blood. That’s the only thing makes me happy so quick... the feeling of self-satisfaction to help humanity. I’m more focused on relief works during bomb blast, earth quake and other disasters." (The recent bomb blast in Lahore that killed over 2 dozen people, Khamis was out at the hospitals visiting the victims and survivors.) During Ramadan, I saw Khamis' and his team's daily updates as they provided Iftar every single for 30 days for various groups of people such as imprisoned women, transgender community, people in hospitals, road side iftars, senior homes etc. Their dedication was surreal to me! 

He quotes the famous Abdul Sattar Edhi Sahab and his mission is to follow his steps,  

"There is no bigger religion then Humanity and Humanity have all the religions in it. Every religion teaches us humanity."

Social work and working for other is an addiction for Khamis. He says he has seen a lot of changed in Pakistan over the past 8 years. He fees that people are becoming more educated and aware about social issues and Human rights. Even though there is still a lot of work to be done, Khamis along with his team, are doing their part in changing Pakistan. Other than making an impact on those who need, he inspires people daily to make a difference. When people get in to the field of social work because they were inspired by Khamis' amazing work, that fuels his fire and makes him strive even harder. 

One thing Khamis would like to share about someone who has never been to or heard of Pakistan..

"People here always want to help people, to host others people and to give their best. Someone who hasn't been to Pakistan would love the culture, honesty and peace of Pakistan, again Hospitality is the best part. We have skilled and talented youth which makes up 70% from the total population of Pakistan and are impacting the world such as Malala and many others. There are always two sides of every story, you have to come visit Pakistan to learn the better side of the two stories" 

I hope you guys feel as inspired as I do when I first met Khamis. He is your go to guy in Lahore for any resources. Thank you Khamis for taking the time to work so hard on this first feature with Uzair and me. Enjoy the video below! Pakistan Zindabad!