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| "My mom is afraid of me studying abroad because she thinks I'll stand out too much. I asked her: 'How is that any different than here?'" (Karachi, Pakistan) |
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| “My father made this business and I took it over from him. He was a self-made man. His own father died young, so he only studied up to fifth grade. He quit school and started delivering food and tea when he was ten. Eventually he bought this small table, and grew it into a restaurant with 27 tables. He wanted us to have a better life. With all the work he put into us, I should have accomplished more. But I was responsible for my own destruction. He sent me to one of the best high schools in the city, but he was always at work. So I had no supervision and all I did was play video games. He worked so hard for me and I didn’t even study. But my son will be different. He’s going to be an important man.” (Karachi, Pakistan) |
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| "I know I should take him for more outings, meet his teachers, and watch him do his homework, but I'm always at the shop. And I'm too tired when I get home to do much more than sleep." |
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| “The last business I worked for got attacked. It started with phone calls-- making threats and asking for money. My boss refused to pay. Then one day, two men on motorcycles pulled up and started shooting. The security guards ran away. My friend was shot. A few days later, the calls started again. My new business is too small to get extorted, but I still feel the effects. All my materials cost more, because the cost of extortion gets passed all the way down the supply chain.” (Karachi, Pakistan) |
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| “On her sixth birthday, two of her friends came over and brought her presents. One of the presents was big, and the other was small. The friend who’d brought the big present was laughing at the smaller present. It was so hard for me to not intervene. I was so used to telling my daughter how to act and what to say. But I decided that this time I’d sit back and see how she responded. “I like both my presents the same,” she said. And I remember feeling so proud, because I knew that what I’d been teaching her was working.” (Karachi, Pakistan) |
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