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Lahore: The image of Pakistan as a country of extremists, where schools for girls are periodically burned or where militants force their own writ is challenged from time to time.
The latest challenge has come from 12 teenage girl students from Lahore, who have won the Asian final of a Nasa-affiliated space settlement design contest, held at Gurgaon, India in January this year. The A-level students from Lahore Grammar School for Girls were a part of the winning team that comprised three schools - including two from India.
The competition as such required well-coordinated team work as well as many complex calculations to produce a multi-media presentation on a human settlement in space where conditions to sustain life could be recreated.
"It was a challenge as we had only 24 hours to prepare a presentation for judges from the US, and there were many complexities along the way," said Maryum Rahim Shaikh, one of the winning contestants.
The team defeated competition from across the continent, consisting of 60 other teams, to win the Asian leg of the competition and with it an invitation to visit the Johnson Space Centre in Texas, where they will compete in the finals. They become the first-ever team from Pakistan to succeed in the prestigious event.
But, there is a hitch. So far, they have yet to find sponsors who can help with travel to the US.
Companies and government bodies have as yet failed to offer help, even though in official circles there has been much talk of projecting a "softer image" of Pakistan and of promoting science education.
"We cannot understand why no one is ready to support us," said winning team member Anza Javed.
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