Ghalib Khalil was just 15 when he started the Rescue Pakistan Foundation and made an exceptional name for himself. It was during the 2010 flooding in Pakistan that he recognized how little the government was doing to help the victims. Khalil’s national pride as a Pakistani has been made evident by his efforts to improve the lives of future generations in his country.

Raising roughly $100,000 to build new schools and provide free education for youth, as well as providing food to those in need within flooded regions of Pakistan, Khalil worked to increase the human capital of his nation.

Galvanized by the support of the youth in his country, Khalil worked to fill a void his government would not.

As Khalil described in a televised interview with BBC, he tried to reach out for government assistance during the flooding but was turned away. Instead of giving up, Khalil turned to the people for support to help those in need.

Through all of his efforts, the biggest factor making the difference has been the national pride of Ghalib Khalil.

When asked by theextraordinary.org what his biggest inspiration was, Khalil said, “My biggest inspiration is Pakistan itself. The country had been facing millions of problems since 64 years but it didn’t give up and never will it. The country is being betrayed by its own people but she loves them as a mother. I wonder what a great inspiration we have still we find it around us.”

Driven by the patriotic love of his country, Khalil’s work through the Rescue Pakistan Foundation earned him recognition by Youth Service America as one of the 25 Most Powerful Influential Young People in the World.

“Pakistan has given me an identity in this planet,” he said in an interview with UrbanDuniya. “A land to live, and why not? I feel really blessed and proud to be a Pakistani. Pakistan has given me so many opportunities and challenges which I’d never be able to thank my country for. My country is my challenge, my faith, my pride, my life.”

– Daniel Liddicoet

Sources: The Extraordinary, Urban Duniya, Hoping Pakistan
Photo:  Flickr