Family of student killed in US sets up foundation to provide scholarships
new york — The parents of Sabika Sheikh, a Pakistani exchange student who was killed in the deadly mass shooting in a Texas high school two years ago, have started a foundation to keep her memory alive through providing university scholarships to low-income Pakistani women, according to a report in The Houston Chronicle.
Sabika Sheikh, 17, was among the 10 people killed in the May 18, 2018, shooting at Santa Fe High School near Houston, Texas. Thirteen others were wounded.
Her parents, Abdul Aziz Sheikh and Farah Naz, have created the Sabika for Peace Foundation to expand educational opportunities for those most in need, the
Chronicle said.
“I’m always worried that we might forget (Sabika),” Farah Naz, the mother, told The Houston Chronicle during a Zoom interview with the family from their Karachi home. “But starting this foundation I know this is impossible. I know if I continue working with foundation, she will always be with me.”
The foundation is a partnership between the Sheikh family and several prominent nonprofit organisations, including the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund and the American Council for International Education (ACIE), the report said.
ACIE, the American Institute for Foreign Study and the International Education and Resource Network are providing a seed grant of $300,000 to establish the foundation, which will support programmes to “honour Sabika’s memory”, including by providing scholarships to fund university studies for low-income Pakistani
women, particularly those with civic engagement aspirations.
Naz, Sabika’s mother, said that ACIE representatives approached the family prior to the coronavirus pandemic with the idea of honouring Sabika’s legacy through an educational foundation.
The Sheikh family said the scope of the foundation will target scholarships for universities in Pakistan for now, but will eventually expand to offering exchange opportunities for American schools “so that the connection and ties” with the United States continues, said Sania Sheikh, Sabika’s sister. —
I’m always worried that we might forget (Sabika). But starting this foundation I know this is impossible. I know if I continue working with foundation, she will always be with me Farah Naz
Mother of Sabika