Shafaq (Pakistan)
A field trip to a remote area of Pakistan was a turning point in the career of Shafaq Masud, AusAID scholarship recipient for the International WaterCentre’s (IWC) Master of Integrated Water Management (IWM) program.
The visit to the province of Sindh to see the new one-room school Shafaq’s organisation had provided for the impoverished community, and the overwhelming gratitude of the people for this small endeavour, brought a ‘new spirit’ to Shafaq.
She knew at that moment that she wanted to work with and for communities in grass roots projects which would improve the lives of people in her country.
Shafaq Masud
Since completing her Master of Integrated Water Management in 2009, Shafaq is doing just that. She is now the Coordinator for Monitoring and Evaluation for the Pakistan Wetlands Programme, a scheme which develops community-based measures to conserve biodiversity and to promote the sustainable use of wetlands resources.
Shafaq’s research project during her course at IWC, “Monitoring and Evaluation in Managing Wetlands in the Murray and the Lower Murray Darling Basin – Practice and Possibilities”, enabled her to get a focused yet critical understanding of this field at a cross-sectoral and multi-disciplinary level, and thereby to pursue her career in this area where her interest and passion lie.
In her studies Shafaq has found that curriculum design and methods of teaching in developed countries are more pragmatic than the theory-based approach generally taken by developing countries.
“However, my IWC masters degree in IWM provided both,” she said, “with hands-on experience through case studies, and role-play-based assignments where we had to ‘pretend’ to submit our projects to actual conservationists, policy-makers, donors and other stakeholders involved.
“I think the application of these skills acquired through our in-class learning and field-trips has a very direct link to my current job. In this regard, the IWM program not only provided a platform for conceptual understanding of the subject, but also enabled us to polish our research, report writing, presentation and communication skills which are in high demand in this field.
“In a nut-shell, I can say that this program has enabled the students to develop a constructive and logical approach to take-up any assignment or task – and I think that is one valuable skill that can be applied to any setting or organisation.”
Shafaq now uses the network she built up during the course with lecturers, students and other professionals to gain guidance for improving her work in her new job.
“In other words,” she says, “the IWC IWM program not only provides a forum for information exchange in its duration, but the learning opportunity continues on beyond the classroom and the course.”
For Shafaq Masud, inspiration from a remote province in Pakistan and an AusAID scholarship to the IWC’s Master of Integrated Water Management have allowed her to realise her vision for making a difference in the world, by working with and for the community in water management.
