Cosmos Radiance 31 May 2013 Rotary Club of Karachi Cosmopolitan Volume 23, Issue 11 IPP Justice (R) Majida Razvi on her appointment as Chairperson of Human Rights Commission Sindh, Board of directors and Justice of Peace President : Rtn. Mansoor Faruqi IPP : Rtn. Justice (R) Majida Razvi Promote International Convention Month The yearly RI Convention is an opportunity for a rare fellowship with men and women from many lands. There are no strangers in a Rotary Convention. Intro- Vice President : Rtn. Tasneem Kirmani ductions are unnecessary. To participate in friendship, one has to show oneself friendly. One’s personal enthusiasm imparted to others makes it the greatest convention Rotary has ever held. President Elect: Rtn. Samiuz Zaman “A Rotary convention is a powerful thing, and a first convention is an Directors & Chairmen : experience you never forget. Lisbon has been chosen for this year’s convention. Lisbon is A Harbor for Peace . And peace is the theme of Service Projects: Rtn. Justice (R) Majida Razvi this convention. As Rotarians, we work toward peace in many ways. We do it through humanitarian service . We do it through our belief Public Relations : PDG Shahab Balkhi in Service Above Self . And we work toward peace simply by being who we are . Every year, when we come together for a Rotary convention, we see, Membership Development : PP M. Hamid for a few days, the world as it could be . We see people of all colors and cultures come together. We work to build a better world. Club Administration : PP Sibte Jafri I hope you will join me, and your fellow Rotarians, as we celebrate this year of Peace Through Service together.” The Rotary Foundation : PP Saifullah Khan - Sakuji Tanaka, RI President 2012-13 Executive Director : PDG Dr. Ali Akhtar Eight members of RCKC had registered for the RI Convention this year, due to dec- lination of Visa to some key members, the entire team has cancelled the trip. Treasurer : PP Aarij Kirmani GSE Team comes back to Pakistan Front : Rtn. Zubia Iqbal, Rtn. Asiya Shakil, Secretary : Rtn. Asiya Shakil Rtn. Ruqaiya Faruqi, Rtn. Tasneem Kir- mani, Anne Shaista Hamid, IPP Justice Majida Razvi (L to R) Sergeant-At-Arms : Rtn. Zubia Iqbal Back: PP Aarij Kirmani, PP M. Hamid, Rtn. Naim Suhrawardy, President Mansoor Faruqi, PP Sibte Jafri, GSE Team: Komal Dawani, Faiza Aziz, Ammar Mursalin, Sara Rizvi (guest), Misbah Iqbal, and Daddy PP Azhar Rizvi (L to R) Page 2 Cosmos Radiance Rotary International Group Study Exchange 2013 District 3271 (Pakistan) & District 7510 (USA) Group Study Exchange (GSE) is a flagship program of The Rotary Foundation. It is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for businesspeople and profes- sionals between the ages of 25 and 40 who are in the early stages of their careers. The GSE program is being upgraded to the Single Vocation Team next year onwards, and will be called Vocational Training Team (VTT) . In 2012-13, the 4-week exchange program took place between Rotary District 3271 (Sind and Balochistan, Pakistan) and District 7510 (New Jersey, USA). This year’s ex- change program was an outcome of the visit of District 7510’s DG Dwight Leeper and his team to District 3271 in July 2012 . Komal Dawani, Ammar Mursalin, DG Dwight Leeper, PP Azhar Rizvi, Faiza Aziz, After an extensive selection process of team leader, PP Azhar Rizvi of RCK Cosmopoli- Misbah Iqbal (L to R) tan was selected as the Team Leader . Followed by the leader, team selection started and from over 100 applicants, a team of 4 members and 4 alternate members was selected after rigorous screenings and series of interviews. The GSE Team 2012-13 comprised of Ammar Mursalin, Faiza Aziz, Komal Dawani and Misbah Iqbal . The team prepared a presentation about Pakistan, learnt from past GSE teams and selected souvenirs for host families before the team traveled to the host district. GSE team embarked upon this journey with a lot of unsure sentiments; varying con- cerns were mostly about the right choices of food, jet lag, pets, host families, the Faiza Aziz, Misbah Iqbal, RI President Elect exact schedule, what to say and what not to say, etc. Ron Burton, GSE Team Leader RCKC PP Azhar Rizvi, Komal Dawani, Ammar Mur- salin (L to R) GSE Team with PDG Megan Jones and the Host Families Mahew Holt, Kiki and Shobha Shahani, Komal Dawani, Rtn. Glen Paul, Ammar Megan Jones, Jim and Gwen Williams, Lynda King, At Lincoln Memorial with hosts Mursalin, PDG Ahmad Azmy (L to R) Christene Venditti Rtn. Jim and Gwen Williams GSE Team with Host Families: Louise Wil- Faiza Aziz, Ammar Mursalin, Rtn Ann GSE team with hosts Michael, Byron son, Ali Chaudary, DGE Tulsi Maharjan, Walko, Rtn. George, PP Azhar Rizvi, Ko- Miller, Melvin Kevoe, Samuel Lamparello (L to R) mal Dawani (L to R) at Kean University Joe Horner, PP Azhar Rizvi Volume 23, Issue 11 Page 3 Rotary International Group Study Exchange 2013 District 3271 (Pakistan) & District 7510 (USA) Beginning on March 16, 2013 and ending on April 17, 2013 were the actual 30 days of the GSE Program that changed the perceptions. From the team being a GSE team coming from Pakistan, they transformed into the peace and good will ambassadors from Pakistan. This change took its time to be understood and accepted. The team experienced an unmatched hospitality of the host families, well managed exchange program itinerary, friendly Rotarians of District 7510 and a true American experience during the brief stay. The GSE team stayed in Somerset, Mercer, Hunterdon and Union Counties of New Jersey and attended 15 Rotary meetings where presenta- tions were made about Pakistan . The team observed inter-faith in its true sense where multiple cultures and religions Faiza Aziz, Misbah Iqbal, PP Azhar Rizvi, peacefully co-existed. Community involvement in volunteer work, educational institu- RI Director Andy Smallwood, PDG Dr. tions for kids with special needs, dedicated parking spots for disabled/handicapped Ali Akhtar, Ammar Mursalin, Komal people, care and love for pets, similar family values, religious festivities and infrastruc- Dawani at the District Conference ture were the key areas which the team observed during the program. The team also had the opportunity to visit New York, Washington DC and Gettysburg during the program and saw the historic monuments and museums providing a com- plete picture of the US history. District Conference marked the close of program. PDG Dr. Ali Akhtar alongwith his daughter Hena and her family, joined the team in this event, where the team shared their experience in the form of a video montage presentation and the four team members were honored with Paul Harris Fellowship by DG Dwight Leeper . Club Presentation in Rotary Inter-County The GSE Team 2012-13 has brought back two projects: ‘Water Purification’ and ‘Make Meeting Life Easy for Autistic Kids’ which will be done in collaboration with District 7510. PDG Dr. Ali Akhtar, in his capacity as DGSC 3271 and ARC Zone 6B has committed him- self to assist by providing contacts and funds. GSE Team in Rotary Hour - Radio Show Vocational Visit to Advertising Agency Rotary Peace Pin being given to PP Azhar Rizvi by Rtn Hogie G Hol- ger Hansen (up) and Rotary Pin by PDG Julie Ann Julian (down) Club Presentation at Rotary Cub of At the Midland School - School for peo- Watchung-Warren New Jersey ple with special needs Page 4 Cosmos Radiance Social Meanings of Language Policy & Practices: A Critical, Linguistic, Ethnographic Study of Four Schools in Pakistan Muhammad Ali Khan, doctoral researcher at Lancaster University and senior instructor in the Center of English Language at Aga Khan University, was the Guest Speaker at RCKC on 17th May 2013. The topic was his recent research paper as titled above. Mr. M. Ali Khan shared his investigation of the language-in- education policy and practices of Pakistan. He also explained the ways in which everyday language practices in schools contribute to the reproduction or contestation of linguistic ideologies, language hierarchies and social relations. Data for his research work was gathered using a number of different methods, mainly observation, Guest Speaker audio-recording, note-taking, interviews, photography and adminis- Mr. M. Ali Khan Raju Memorial Sculpture, University of tering a questionnaire. Dhaka, Bangladesh The findings of Mr. Khan’s research suggest that languages on display in schools are an important resource for investigating the language policy, linguistic ideologies, hierar- chies and power relations at micro, meso and macro levels. They constitute a sociolin- guistic order in which standard varieties of English and Urdu dominate the public space. According to a BBC report, the fastest growing languages in the world are Eng- lish and Urdu (in that order). Fortunately we have both languages in our country, but unfortunately we are not benefitting from either. Language policy is like a Rtn. Ruqaiya Faruqi, Rtn. Zubia Iqbal, Guest Mrs. Najmus Sehr multilayered onion. The PDG Shahab Balkhi (L to R) Saleem Siddiqi, PP Sibte Jafri, Rtn. Naim Suhrawardy layers include legislation The orthographic aspects of languages on display reconstitute the socio-political and and political processes (at economic struggles embedded in the history of asymmetrical power relations. At the policy level, they show a clear contradiction between the spoken language practices the outer layers), and, observed in schools and the clearly defined boundaries between languages shown in the display, states and supranational agencies, institutions, and classroom practitioners (at the heart of the onion) Volume 23, Issue 11 Page 5 Social Meanings of Language Policy & Practices: A Critical, Linguistic, Ethnographic Study of Four Schools in Pakistan At the policy level, the multilingual makeup of Pakistani society is misrepresented by only displaying the officially-mandated languages.