These days, Pakistan is plagued by a plethora of problems and one of the grave problems that we are facing is the acute crisis of electricity, which results in power outages that can last for long hours in some parts of the country. Well, by some parts we mean the cities generally, because in villages, people are still living in the Dark Ages, apparently.

But, during these awful times, it's only we, the youth of our country, who can bring a new optimism, a change for our people. I don't mean donating a lot of money, or sending a hefty amount of supplies to the needy; just a small contribution which lays the foundation for many more to come. Keeping this in mind, a group of young, motivated students from Lahore American School's National Junior Honour Society (NJHS) led a project to help those around them.

About National Junior Honour Society

National Junior Honour Society is an international organization led by students with the aim to assist their community. The members of NJHS need to possess certain qualities in order to be a part of this prestigious society. Firstly, they need to have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or above to be eligible to apply. The faculty selects students who, in their point of view, deserve to be a part of NJHS and possess unique qualities. The induction takes place every year, and new members are welcomed. The selected students then elect officers, and plan ahead by making a schedule for the coming year. They help victims of tragic events or natural disasters, lend a helping hand to the poor, and lead many other community service projects. This year, their plan was to equip some villages with bio-fuel tanks with the funds NJHS had collected over the years.

Our project…

Our Advisor, Mr. Alex Weir, proposed this idea to us in early December. His friend Mr. Ivan had been placing several of these tanks in different villages around India and Pakistan. When the idea was proposed, we all accepted it instantly, as there was no better way we could serve our community. In villages people live in very unhygienic conditions, being exposed to harmful and polluted substances on daily basis. One thing that is an essential part of their life is cow dung. Women work with it all day, making dung patties and using it as kitchen fuel. When burned, cow dung releases harmful substances in the atmosphere. Bio-fuel tanks use natural wastes like cow dung and convert it into useable fuel which can produce enough quantity of electricity that can be used by many families. A bio-fuel tank not only helps in improving the living standard of villagers, but it also provides several families enough fuel to generate electricity without much expense as the main energy source, cow dung, is readily available to them at no cost.

The project starts…

We chose Chunia, a village which is not very far from the city of Lahore and another village called Denanath. As the next step, we negotiated with the village heads and successfully got the permission to initiate our project. We decided to install one bio fuel tank in each village and both the tanks cost us Rs.80,000, which didn't seem a lot when we saw how much it helped the villagers. After the preliminary steps, we were ready to move forward and get the work done. We dug holes in the two villages to make room for tanks and placed them in with the help of the villagers.

In order to make the tank work properly, a large amount of buffalo dung has to be placed in the container on daily basis. To balance it, an equal amount of water is also filled in the tank. The solution produces methane gas which can be used for cooking and producing electricity. Both cow dung and water are available in abundance in villages. Once installed, a tank can provide electricity and gas sufficient for 15 years for several families of a village. This simple mechanism can greatly improve the quality of village life. Mumtaz, a villager of Chunia said, "We cannot thank you all enough for what you have done for us. This is not just a tank; lives of many now depend on it. We can now sleep peacefully, knowing that in the morning we will have some electricity to complete our daily chores."

Being the President of the Society, I felt this was a small yet significant step towards ushering in a new era of change. My purpose in writing this is not to brag about what we did but to show a way to others, so they can also follow it. I don't understand why our government does not vigorously pursue this idea to make a difference to the lifestyle of 70 per cent people who live in villages. And it's not only our government's duty; educated and well heeled people living luxurious lives in cities must help their village brethren by making things better for them. We all should take out some time from our busy schedules and dedicate it to our underprivileged communities. The good act must be spread. Inform those around you, get together and do something about these problems, leaving your footsteps for others to follow.