TCF student is winner of an Art Competition, USA
TCF Family is proud of young Shahid Wajid Ali who is among the winners of 2012 Space Foundation Student Art Contest. TCF Student Shahid is one of the 36 winners (in different categories) out of more than 1,500 global entries! Because the winners are from all over the world, instead of having a ceremony, the space foundation made a video featuring astronauts who announced names of the young winners.
Based in USA, The Space Foundation, sponsor of the 2012 Space Foundation Student Art Contest, is a global, nonprofit leader in space awareness, educational programs that bring space into the classroom and major industry events, including the National Space Symposium. The winning entries of this competition were displayed in the Ball Aerospace Exhibit Center Pavilion at the Space Foundation's 28th National Space Symposium at The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs (April 16-19). Furthermore, all the winning entries were also displayed on www.artsonia.com/space, an online museum of exceptional student artwork.
VI grade student, Shahid goes to TCF Secondary School – Javaid Ikram campus, Gulshan-e-Zia, Karachi. This school is in his neighbourhood. This area is one of the many urban slums sprawled across Karachi. TCF, as per its mission, has taken its purpose-built campuses to such urban slums so that young ones like Shahid can have easy access to quality education. Thousands of children like him are discovering exciting horizons just in their very own neighborhoods when they enter TCF Campuses encompassing a world of opportunities. It was one such opportunity that took Shahid’s work and name across the globe!
TCF South West Regional Team came across Space Foundation Student Art Contest. The team approached numerous TCF schools to involve students and judged hundreds of colourfull, imaginative artwork made by these girls and boys. From the selected entries sent by the regional team for this contest, Shahid’s artwork was declared the winner. A child’s imagination knows no boundaries. He has shown TCF in space! He has done so, using beads, special threads and his intricate, neat threadwork is indeed admirable.
To financially support his family, he has been working at a small embroidery setup in his street. Since the tender age of nine he has been working there learning the art of threadwork (zari ka kaam) his tender fingers have been bruised hundreds of times in the process of learning this art but Shahid has never given up.
Shahid’s father works in a factory too but his paltry income doesn’t suffice when it comes to running the household and feeding the whole family. Shahid’s elder brother works at a medical store and sister stitches cloth bags which are sold to a local vendor. Whatever little amount Shahid earns, the young boy hands it over to his mother who gives him a small pocket money to buy stationary and knickknacks.
Hard working children like Shahid need encouragement. He is gifted and talented. At this young age his artwork has reached USA! TCF Family hopes he achieves much more in years to come.