Maqbool Akhtar may look like any other taxi driver, ferrying customers all day and striving hard to make ends meet.
But this 46-year-old Pakistani doesn’t believe in merely eking out a living and saving his earnings only to sustain his family.
He has set a higher goal – that which is noble too. He dreams of opening a school in his province back home, which will also provide free education to those who cannot afford it.
It is this dream that drives Maqbool. His Dubai earnings are helping him build the school, which he plans to start in his family house.
“This is just a small contribution to my country. This dream has stayed with me for many years now. I and my family – who stay in Pakistan – are working hard to realise it. I am saving for the dream school, ” the cabbie tells Khaleej Times.
Maqbool holds a diploma in automobile engineering from Pakistan. His wife is masters in Islamic Studies. His five daughters and a son always score over 90 per cent in school. “My wife had done her bachelors before marriage. But I made sure she completed her master’s degree after marriage. She worked briefly in a school before we had children.”
Maqbool first came to Dubai in 1995 and worked here for some time before going back to Pakistan.
He came to Dubai again in 2002 after working as a counsellor in his province of Sialkot. He earned living by helping his brother in business in Dubai.
The business got shut for some reason and Maqbool started working as a taxi driver. “I tried getting other jobs, but in vain.” More
By Sana Altaf/Dubai khaleejtimes.com
