Dear Friends of AFK,
Bonjour! I’m delighted to welcome you to the newly-launched website of the Alliance Française de Karachi. Here you’ll find information about us, our classes, our events and workshops, the certifications we offer, and our newsletter. A special feature: our archived images which go all the way back to the 1960s. We have been in Karachi for a long time and it’s been fantastic every step of the way.
I currently serve as the President of AFK’s Executive Committee, a post I’ve held since December 2016. The role of the Executive Committee is one that most AFK members don’t often get to observe in action. We provide guidance and advice to AFK’s administration in matters relating to the running of the organization, local issues, and the direction in which we want to see the Alliance go.
We’re involved with fundraising, relations with Pakistani and French businesses, local administration, and much more. We are a purely voluntary team, with each member of the EC having a thriving career in different areas of business, the arts, entrepreneurship, and the Karachi community. Each one of us has a firm commitment to the promotion of French language and culture, and a desire to a thriving relationship between the two countries of Pakistan and France.
My own relationship with the French language started when I was a high school student. I began to learn French in eighth grade and continued with formal instruction through university. When I returned to Pakistan, I joined the Alliance Française in 1996 to keep up with the language, but quickly found myself in the middle of a thriving community of students, teachers, and cultural aficionados. The Alliance Française continues to fulfill a vital role today in Karachi’s cultural scene, more than twenty years after I joined. I’m pleased and proud to be part of it for the long run.
As your President, I hope to continue the fantastic work of Executive Committees past. We have taken on a number of projects to improve the facilities, including a cafeteria renovation and the construction of a new Pole de Residence to accommodate visiting scholars and researchers. We will continue to promote the arts, supporting concerts, exhibitions, talks, plays, conferences by French and Pakistani experts. We will continue to raise funds for the sustenance of AFK in future years. And we will always support AFK’s main mission: to teach the French language to all people in Pakistan.
We are open to feedback on any issue that requires our attention. Please feel free to get in touch with me through the AFK Front Desk, or the contact form provided on this website. I look forward to serving you throughout 2018 and beyond.
Sincerely,
Bina A Shah