INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Pakistanis enchanted by 11-year-old motivational coachPESHAWAR: Several hundred Pakistani university students
sit enraptured as Hammad Safi lectures them on the merits of bettering their diction by watching Barack Obama speeches on YouTube.The
because of his infectious enthusiasm and engaging smile
before the attention of his elders at the University of Spoken English (USECS) in the northwestern city of Peshawar.The pint-sized
motivational coach is already an online star with his own YouTube channel and 145,000 subscribers
Some videos have been viewed millions of times.Some of his advice may sound hackneyed: "every second is a challenge," he says in one video
listen to his speech, said the boy wonder had had a profound effect on him."A few months ago I was really disappointed with life I was
(thinking) about suicide, because there are no jobs and no success in life," he told AFP."Then I saw a movie of Hammad Safi
part of the enchantment.But he is also seen as presenting a positive image of Pakistan, one that resonates powerfully with his
listeners.Discussing Allama Iqbal, a renowned poet widely regarded as having inspired the movement to create Pakistan, Safi says: "If he had
faculty see him as a "nanha professor", or little teacher; a protege who could go on to great things one day -- though what, exactly, they
are looking for from him remains undefined.Safi was studying at a traditional school but also taking English classes at USECS, where he was
quickly noticed for his "phenomenal self-confidence", says director Ammer Sohail.Shortly afterwards, he left his school to be full-time at
USECS, continuing his English studies and embarking on his motivational career.The university, made up largely of working-class students,
now has Safi offer motivational lectures each week, in addition to his growing internet fanbase.His "job", says Sohail, is to encourage the
poorer students, "to give them hope, so that they break their glass ceiling" in a country with glaring education inequality, where more than
40 percent of the population is illiterate, according to UN data."We want it to spread this education awareness to the whole country," he
"People have seen something in him
I have myself seen abilities in him
though sometimes he gives the impression of doing so by rote."I am an inspiration, not only for Pakistan, but for the world
his professors.In his simple room, photos showing him in the company of the Chinese ambassador in Islamabad and the politician Imran Khan
hang over his bed.Posters of cartoon heroes or sportsmen are absent, toys are few
"Batman and Superman are fake heroes, but those are true," he says, pointing to the portraits of Allama Iqbal, Bill Gates and Albert
Peshawar University, who attended a lecture later shared widely on YouTube."This talented child is a good motivational coach" but "he lacks
intellectual depth," he notes
"He can become what they want to do with him, but it will take time."Hassan Amir Shah, the vice chancellor of the public university of
Lahore, where Safi has also lectured, hopes for his part that all the attention "will not drive him crazy"."He still has a long way to go,
many books to read," he tells AFP
"We will only be able to judge him in 20 years, when he is an adult."
