CPACT is a business association with the primary objective of fostering stronger commercial relations between Pakistan and Canada. Our Offices details are as follow:
Montreal
3333 Boul. Graham, Suite 700
Mount-Royal, QC, Canada H3R 3L5
Tel: +1 514-360 5200
Toronto
1212 Dundas St W, Suite B
Mississauga, ON, Canada L5C 1E2
Tel: +1 647-478 8264
Tel: +1 647-709 7816
National Capital Region (NCR)
437 Temiskaming Cr.
Ottawa, ON, Canada K2J 0V5
Tel: +1 613-454 5695
Lahore
517 Siddique Trade Center
Gulberg Lahore Pakistan 54000
Tel: +92 432-576 4524
info@cpact.ca Fax: +1 514-360 5201
Aisha Esbhani's Achievements
Reader
A year ago, 12-year-old Aisha Esbhani, sitting in her home in Karachi, Pakistan, looked up at her bookshelf and realized that it was filled almost entirely with books by North American and British authors. Dissatisfied, Esbhani set herself a major challenge: to read a book from every country in the world, “as well as some extra territories.” To get help, she started a Facebook page for her project, and sent out a call for recommendations.
Not a usual project for a teenager, perhaps. When I asked Esbhani how she became such an avid reader, she told me that as a child, her mother would buy her books like Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella—but while she loved the movies, “the books never really caught my interest. Then, my brother gave me A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. That series began my reading journey!” Well, I’m sure she’s not alone in that regard.
Once Esbhani got her Facebook page up and running, the recommendations came rolling in—as well as the books themselves. “I was sent an unpublished translation of The Kaafir of Karthala from Comoros, it is said to be the only book in English from the country,” she told me in an email. “Translator Allison Charette will be sending me an advanced copy of a book from Madagascar in a few weeks. Also, author Robi Gottlieb from Luxembourg and Karlis Verdins both sent me printed and e-versions of their books that weren’t commercially available in English.” Even former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, has sent her some recommendations.
Now, at 13, she’s already read books from 80 countries—but she still needs your help. (Perhaps as a World Book Day activity?) She’s looking for reading recommendations as well as books; you can see her list of 197 countries at her Facebook page, with books she’s read and books she’s planning to read—as well as those places from which she has not yet found any books published in English.