
Community Service Initiative (CSI)




LSU’s Community Service Initiative (CSI) is designed to encourage students and young professionals to pursue volunteer work, learn about causes close to their heart, and work with organizations that deliver impact. The LSU CSI team selects motivated individuals, across the income spectrum, to be placed in organizations spanning several thematic areas, namely:
1. Poverty Alleviation
2. Health
3. Education
4. Gender Equality / Empowerment / Women’s Rights
5. Child Protection / Child Rights
6. Rights of People with Disabilities
7. Environment and Climate Change
8. Peace & Non-Violence
9. Journalism & Development Communication
10. History & Culture
LSU CSI’s annual placement cycle includes the Summer Cycle (from June to August), Fall Cycle (September- November), Winter Cycle (from January to February) and Spring Cycle (March- May). Prior to each batch of volunteers starting their internships, LSU CSI arranges orientations or workshops for the selected volunteers / interns to sensitize them to the social issue and the activities
.
Click below to view photos from various internships / volunteer projects over the years across Lahore, Karachi, Islmabad and Quetta:
Youth Social Leadership Initiative (YSLP)
Drawing on our pool of dedicated and innovative Community Service Initiative (CSI) volunteers, each year our Youth Social Leadership Program (YSLP) supports youth groups as they develop their own social impact projects. So far, we have supported 22+ projects since 2016. These youth projects receive mentoring, operational support, network linkages, and social media publicity for their cause. To qualify, candidates are required to have prior community service experience, and pass our initial phase of concept and team evaluations.
Some of the YSLP projects over the years include:
Aghaaz
A group of students from different schools came together to teach critical thinking and empathy to students at an underprivileged school in Lahore. They taught middle school students every weekend for over 8 months, and devised a unique blend of role playing, storytelling, arts and creative activities with which to approach a range of difficult subjects like gender equity, religious freedom, public accountability, human rights, etc.
Hope for Tomorrow
Two A Level students who are visually impaired started this initiative to raise awareness of how people who have physical disabilities should be termed ‘differently-abled’, as they too can function at the same level as ‘normal’ people can through different means. They used project funds to buy two computers, install the screen reader software JAWS and teach other visually impaired people at a local disability center how to use the computer and start learning. They were also able to setup a telephone exchange and teach the disabled to work as call-center operators to being earning an income.
RIZQ
Three undergraduate students started an initiative that aimed to collect and redistribute food that would otherwise be wasted at restaurants and weddings. They spent time developing methods of verifying the need for food support in low-income households, storing donated food overnight, packaging and distributing food via a network of vehicles and ‘Rizq-shaws’. Today, RIZQ is a national NGO doing excellent work in the field.
Child Abuse Awareness Project
A freshman from LUMS and a child abuse survivor, collaborated with LSU to design a project aimed to create awareness about the issue as well equipping children, adolescents, and young adults with the knowledge and training to combat it.
The First Step
Three college students came together to help the transgender community by encouraging and supporting motivated individuals to get access to occupational therapy (art and handicrafts) and generate revenue to support a micro-health insurance program to improve productivity and quality of life, as well as a preventative care regimen for community health. Project funds were used to arrange further fundraising events and activities on-campus and at businesses to treat cases of asthma, liver disease, and other ailments in the transgender community. It has recently branched out to raising funds to provide ration packs and relief funds for affected communities across Pakistan.
Lives That Matter
A group of students founded this initiative after interning with LSU at Khawaja Sira Resource Program and working with the Transgender Community in Lahore, over a course of 4 weeks. After learning about the various challenges faced by the community, the initiative aimed to help the transgender community to acquire skills and training for gainful employment.
Parwah Foundation
A group of students joining hands to launch a social project which aims to provide quality education to children in low income schools and communities.
Project Zeest
Students from Feminist Society at LUMS (FEMSoc) came together to develop a curriculum about gender rights and taught it to students at low income schools over the course of 2-3 day workshops.
Taabir
A social initiative founded by a group of undergraduate students at LSE which aims to empower the underprivileged youth of Pakistan by teaching critical thinking through Liberal Arts Education
Project Pehchaan
Project Pehchaan was founded by a group of students from different schools with the aim to socially uplift the transgender community by normalizing their presence within our society as well as to lessen the stigma and stereotypes commonly associated with them while economically uplifting transgender individuals by providing them with opportunities to become sustainably employed.
Chiraagh
A social project, founded by an undergraduate student in 2016 with the aim to bridge the socio-economic gap by empowering the youth of Pakistan. Today, Chiraagh is working as an independent project working to help and assist students enrolled at public and low-cost educational institutes with interpersonal, professional, and financial needs.
LDS
A project initiated by students at LUMS which collaborated with LSU to conduct seminars that encourage discussion and discourse on a variety of topics. The purpose of the talks was to promote a culture of discussion within the LUMS community, but also to provide realistic understanding of various career options in Journalism, Development Studies and other fields.
Ride for Life
Ride for life is a student run non-profit organisation that aims to improve the access of safe drinking water across Pakistan. Over the years, it has installed water filters and coolers in several underprivileged communities and water polluted areas in Lahore and its suburbs which included mostly schools, and a water treatment plant in Barhmanabad, a village near Burki Road, with the aim to minimize the predominance of water borne diseases like cholera and diarrhea. With the slogan of "Quench the Thirst", the initiative strives to ensure that no individual is deprived of clean water - one of the most basic and fundamental human right. Ride for life is now called, ‘Maa E Safa’ and is actively working with the same aims and objectives across Pakistan.
Blood Donation Society and Welfare Organization (BDSWO)
A group of friends from Lahore, Peshawar, Islamabad, Faisalabad and Karachi, coming together to raise funds to arrange monthly ration for various communities and organize blood drives, food drives and school supplies for students in need.
Dream Catcher Initiative
A youth project that aims to create small moments of happiness for these children and help them create fond childhood memories by fulfilling their wishes and dreams. The team organized sessions at schools and orphanages in Islamabad and learned about the children’s wishes after which they arranged toys, chocolates, clothes and other items for them.
The Unorthodox Student (TUS)
A social initiative founded by A level students with a purpose of equipping students with skills such as critical thinking, entrepreneurship, financial literacy and career management as well as mental health and gender awareness are made accessible to the most underprivileged.
Aspire To Be
Through motivational storytelling, public speaking, science workshops, interactive activities like games, painting and others, a group of students O and A level students aimed to encourage underprivileged children, especially girls to never give up on their dreams and keep working till they achieve it.
Project Uraan
An initiative launched by a group of students with the aim to serve the community. Founded during Covid in 2020, Project Uraan held ration distribution for those severely impacted by Covid-19 followed by a variety of one off projects including a tree plantation drive, an awareness campaign for animals, Eid party at an orphanage and a workshop at a low income school on character building, public speaking and arts.
Stemsational
A student-led organization that aims to incorporate STEM into low income schools across Karachi through comprehensive curriculums and intensive boot camps.
Kaavish Foundation
A group of students from across Pakistan collaborated to address a number of social issues through multiple initiatives including Street Paws Project - Animal Welfare Initiative, Mashal e Rah -Women Empowerment Initiative, Sehat Ki Tameer-Health and Sanitation projects, Dream Catchers -Educational programs for underprivileged children and Stay Clean Stay Green - Environmental conservation projects
A Healthy Mind
The project seeks to partner with NGOs that work with beneficiaries who had gone through traumatic experiences and require therapy. The project team consisted of graduate students of psychology which partnered with professional psychologists to arrange pro-bono counseling sessions after initial survey with the client.
Tameer
A social initiative founded by A level students with the aim of helping students laern new skills through games and activities.
Chaaon
Three undergraduate students from Government College founded the initiative with the goal to conduct awareness sessions at various secondary schools with experts on Child Abuse. Their secondary area of focus is fostering an awareness and acceptance of animal rights, and they wish to conduct ‘Pet Day’ activities in schools, colleges or public places.
Rah-i-Rast
A civic awareness project initiated by a couple of A level students, that aimed to generate support and funds for primary education and vocational training for out-of-school students. The project specifically targeted children who are illiterate or school drop-outs to improve their chances of social mobility.


















Library Initiative
We work with our partner network to implement community development programs that provide young people a chance to give back to the society through long term, immersive experiences. A recent addition to the two programs mentioned above is the 'LSU Library Initiative,' which aims to engage and encourage the youth to build libraries in low-income schools, orphanages and communities.
The heartening impact of developing the SOS Children’s Village library in 2015 and setting up two reading corners at Al-Shafiq Orphanage and Gulistan-e-Saida School in Lahore over the following years has encouraged us to design a structured program that will motivate youth volunteers to think out of the box and transform rooms, corners and courtyards into libraries. We hope to bring the same joy and curiosity to people across the country as we witnessed over the years, and empower the youth to make a meaningful, long term contribution for the betterment of society.
Over the past year, LSU has complete libraries in Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi, North Balochistan, Quetta and currently in the process of setting up libraries in Dasht and Gilgit (See details in Library Initiative tab)


Peer Mentorship Program

Over the years, LSU has worked with children of all ages from unprivileged communities and it's always been a heartening experience seeing their resolve to continue their education and pursue careers despite all odds. However, by the time they reach the last year of school or college or even finish school, they often run into various difficulties and challenges due to lack of guidance and support at that crucial stage.
LSU team has put together the 'Peer Mentorship Program' as a way to bridge that gap and help them pursue their dreams. We engage undergraduates, post graduates or professionals residing anywhere across the globe, willing to volunteer a few hours each week to guide students from remote areas and low income schools across Pakistan.
LSU has been working with Developments in Literacy (DIL) to provide mentorship to students at their various adopted schools in Karachi, Khairpur, Islamabad / Rawalpindi and Kala Shah Kaku.
Past Projects: Speak For Yourself
Schools catering to low-income students suffer from chronic under-funding, and often lack even basic infrastructure, extra-curricular programs are the least priority, and students rarely get to participate in activities that build soft skills like communication, teamwork, self-confidence, and general knowledge. To address this gap, the Speak For Yourself program envisions an afterschool public speaking club that goes a step beyond communication skills, incorporating thematic content related to democratic values, human rights, law and order, etc. to broaden critical thinking, challenge regressive world views and impact negative attitudes towards women and ethnic, religious or sectarian minorities.
In 2016, SFY program operated at 5 low-income public, NGO, charity or trust schools across Lahore and train 15 – 20 students at each school, with a 50:50 gender ratio across the group. The program included students from Grade 6 – 9, so that standout performers can be groomed to run the public speaking program once the project ended. At each school, participants took part in a competition to round off the program with achievement and recognition. Survey and FGDs across a 10% sample were used to measure how attitudes and perceptions changed over the course of the project.
Watch a documentary series following the experience of on of the 5 public speaking coaches selected for the project:


Past Services
Counseling:
The LSU Education Counseling Program offered college counseling services as several multi-session courses for individual students, covering areas such as customized admissions counseling for each student, assisting with college essays, personal statements, references, etc.
Public Speaking:
LSU provided students with the chance to take their first step into this exciting and rewarding activity by developing basic pubic speaking skills like argument delivery, speech writing, presentation style,etc., and preparing a base of analytic skills for use in more specific forms of debate such as Model UNs, Parliamentary Style debates, etc.
MUN
The LSU Model United Nations Training course was designed to introduce students to Model UN and provide them with the requisite skills to excel at this public speaking format. Developed for students between the ages of 14 – 19, the course focuses specifically on training young delegates in effective resolution writing, research and diplomatic negotiation. Issues and topics stimulated an interest in international relations and global politics through discussions and simulation, helping students improve their performance at school MUN Conferences. The course prepared students with sessions for orientation to the format and specific skill development, and then allowed students to practice in two Model UN Simulations.
Extempore Debates
LSU aimed to promote a culture of informed debate and discussion amongst students by providing training courses in Public Speaking and Extempore Debates. Our courses were structured to train students in techniques and skills for Parliamentary Style Debates (U-17 and U-19 age groups). The Extempore Debates program at LSU had the honor of hosting several of the most experienced debate coaches in Pakistan as instructors.