Looking back at my journey as an activist, one weekend in November 2015 stands out as a major turning point. It was the Youth ASK Leadership Conclave (#Yalc2015), organized by Rutgers WPF Pakistan in Islamabad.

At the time, I was a student at MNS University in Multan. The timing was difficult. The conclave started on November 6th, which was the same day as my final university semester exam. I couldn’t miss my exam, but I also knew I couldn’t miss this opportunity. As soon as I finished my paper, I rushed to the bus stop.

The journey from Multan to Islamabad was long—back then, it took more than eight hours. By the time I reached the Margala Hotel, the first day was almost over. I walked into the venue just as the final music concert was ending. If I had been even an hour later, I would have missed the dinner and the chance to meet the other young leaders.

The next two days were an intensive dive into Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). Alongside organizations like Rahnuma, IPPF, Dance4Life, Madadgar National Helpline, and Child Helpline International, we explored what it means for young people to have a voice.

We learned about the ASK (Access, Services, and Knowledge) project and how to navigate the complex sections of SRHR. For many of us, this was the first time we had a safe space to talk about rights that were often considered “taboo” in our society.

On the third day, we moved from learning to action. We held a vote to create regional youth chapters to take this knowledge back to our home cities. This was the birth of the Hamqadam Youth Alliance for Empowerment—or HYPE Multan.

I was honored to be part of this alliance. When I returned to Multan, we didn’t just let the training sit in a notebook. We started doing on-ground and online community sessions. We focused heavily on the rights of sexual and gender minorities, reaching out to groups that were often left out of traditional health programming.

Today, the digital footprint of that time—websites like youask.pk and the dedicated social media pages—is mostly gone. Following a crackdown by the Pakistani government on NGOs working for queer rights and inclusive SRHR, Rutgers Pakistan was forced to close its doors and terminate its programs.

It is sad to see such vital work stopped, but the impact of that training lives on through people like me. The lessons I learned at #Yalc2015 gave me the foundation to continue my advocacy today on the global stage. They may have closed the office, but they couldn’t take away the leadership and the courage they helped build in us.