Zymal Umer is the youngest ever entrepreneur from Pakistan. She is the founder of an innovative social project dubbed Zee Bags. This is her story.
Zymal Umer – A Profile
The nine year old girl never liked cluttered surroundings or dirty streets of her hometown, Sargodha. When she was only six years old, she got an idea to use newspapers bags and sell them to assist needy children. The idea popped into her mind when a shopkeeper sold her something inside a newspaper bag.
She planned to help the underprivileged orphan children from SOS village, an orphanage consisting of 14 houses with 10 children and one nanny in each one of them. Her parents helped bring the idea to reality and before they knew it, they were venturing into a social entrepreneurship project.
Zymal sold her first bag for Rs. 70 and used the money to help an orphan girl named Sana. This encouraged her to put more effort into the project and start on a journey to help the deprived. She makes these bags at home using some old newspapers. Each bag is sold for the same price, i.e. Rs. 70.
However, sometimes people pay extra amounts to help her in her cause.
Zymal sells hundreds of bags and uses all of that money to buy things for the children of the SOS village. Her parents help her arrange special events for the orphan kids.
A Social Entrepreneur in the making
Despite being so young, she already has 3 years of social work experience. Zymal recently received the Prince Abdul Aziz Award for Children Pioneer / Ecopreneur Award in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She was also awarded TIE youngest entrepreneurship award and received a gold medal from the Federal Secretary of Education.
This little girl wants to make Sargodha a far more greener city. She wants the eco-friendly bags to have a two-fold effect by uplifting the living standard of the underprivileged people and help in decreasing pollution caused by plastic bags. The 9 year old has every intention of providing better education and health facilities for other kids who might otherwise find such services to be unaffordable.
Those willing to help Zymal with her project against illiteracy, poverty and pollution can make and sell similar bags in new and unique styles. More information is available at the Zee Bags Facebook page.
