Arfa Karim Randhawa-Daughter of Nation.

Arfa Karim was born on the 2nd of February 1995 to a Punjabi family from the village Ram Dewali in Faisalabad, Pakistan. At the age of 5, Afra saw a computer at her local school and was immediately captivated. She immediately asked her father to buy her one.

She stated that she got to know how to operate Windows and software and then began making presentations for her family. Her father, Amjad Karim noticed her skill at such a young age and thought that with some professional coaching she could go far. Looking back, he recalls that she had a remarkable memory, perhaps even a photographic one. He inclined a local IT education and training institute to let her enroll, despite her young age. She succeeded, and the institute themselves recommended that she should take the test for Microsoft Certification.

The management of the institute said it would take her a year to learn about the process of certification for creating Windows applications. Yet over her summer break she studied hard and passed the test in just 4 months. She was just 9 years of age when she became known as the youngest Microsoft Certified Professional. A reporter who interviewed Arfa noted that she was immensely proud of this world record and even included the phrase “Youngest MCP in the World” in her email signature.

Having surprised the institute and Microsoft with her achievement, she was invited by Bill Gates to the Microsoft headquarters in Washington. In the duration of 10 minutes she had to talk to him, she asked him why there were not many females working in IT companies. Extraordinarily she was just 10 at the time, but gender equality concerned her. Afterwards she stated that the proportions should be balanced with “an equal amount of men and an equal amount of women”. At the time 75% of Microsoft employees were men.

When Arfa returned to Pakistan she was hailed an icon and one publication even named her “Pakistani’s girl wonder”. She was presented with many awards from the Prime Minister and President of Pakistan. She was the youngest recipient of the Pride of Performance Award; an award for those who show excellence in their field. Arfa was awarded the Fatima Jinnah Gold medal in the field of Science and Technology by Shaukat Aziz, the Prime Minister at the time. She was then able to represent Pakistan in international forums. Microsoft invited her to be the key-note speaker at the Tech-Ed developers conference in 2006, held in Barcelona. She was the only Pakistani in attendance out of 5000 developers.

She continued to be determined, and her father stated she was concerned to use her skills to help the young. He said, “Arfa’s centre of gravity was wanting to improve human resource development by focusing on education.” She went on to set up a computer training institute for a poor community. Arfa wished to go on to graduate from Harvard or MIT and work as a software developer or a satellite engineer.

At just the age of 16 while studying for her second year of A-levels, she had an epileptic seizure, which damaged her brain. This led to a cardiac arrest. She was taken to Lahore’s Combined Military hospital but was in critical condition. When Bill Gates heard of this news he helped by setting up a panel of international doctors who kept in contact with her local doctors. Her condition looked hopeful when her brain started to respond to stimuli. But after 26 days in critical condition, on the 14th January 2012, Arfa passed away. She was buried at her hometown. After her death, Lahore Technology Park was renamed Arfa Software Technology Park.

Plaque from the Afra Software Technology Park, named after Karim following her death

In her short life she left a huge legacy. She was a role model to many young girls, and her father is proud to remember that those she inspired referred to her as “Arfa aapi (sister)”. Arfa used to say, “Don’t take our generation lightly”, and when her record of the youngest MCP was broken by a 9 year old from India, she responded honorably. She said, “This is exactly what I have been wishing for ever since I got to bring laurels for my country. I am very joyed to see that people are following what I did and have succeeded in beating me. I would say that the other youngsters should follow suit, thereby convincing the people to take us seriously. Our generation is very talented and so should be promoted.” She was just 13 at this time.

Arfa also left behind her personal philosophy, which she had memorised. “If you want to do something big in your life, you must remember that shyness is only the mind. If you think shy, you act shy. If you think confident you act confident. Therefore never let shyness conquer your mind.”

Arfa Karim is the daughter of nation in true sense. She wanted to facilitate Pakistanis. Lets continue her mission of the betterment of Pakistan in every field. Thank You.