An 18-year old undergraduate student and an aspiring writer, Farah Deeba Akram, used to pen down the lifestyle of people belonging to different strata of the society. One day while walking in the slums and jotting down her observations about life outside the posh areas of Lahore, she gave biscuits to the street children who were constantly looking at her bag. “I don’t need the biscuits”, said one of the street children. “I wish to have a pencil and a copy from your bag”. Farah was greatly moved by the quest for formal education shown by the street children and decided to provide them their basic right to education. 

Hence, under the shadow of a tree, the Aalam Bibi School had its humble beginning in 2005 when Farah made a routine to go every day in the sub-urban industrial area of Kot Lakhpat – then notorious for drug addicts and street criminals. Meanwhile, she rented a small house of almost 4-marla (101 sq. meters) in the same locality and converted that into a school building. She started a door-to-door campaign for the importance of education and enrolled 60 students in the first batch. Initially, the school was run solely by her pocket money and funds donated by her father, Muhammad Akram. Farah was the only teacher and the administrator of the school. Soon, her family and friends joined her in the cause of Aalam Bibi and started volunteering at the school.

In 2008, the renowned columnist and philanthropist Munno Bhai visited the school and wrote a column “nikki jae kurri”. Hereafter, the utmost dedicated, selfless humanitarian work of the young and determined Farah got nationwide attention. Many generous donors joined this social cause. With every passing year, the number of students got increased, and currently, in 2020, more than 700 students are studying from the playgroup to the university level with the support of Aalam Bibi. Education has brought a positive change in the lives of children and their families and has already uplifted the community.