Basnama Ayaz is creating opportunities for nurses in Pakistan

Sep 29, 2022

Basnama Ayaz stands tall on the steps of the Bloomberg Nursing building, looking up. — *Photo by Matt Volpe*

Growing up, Basnama Ayaz was inspired by people in her community who looked after the sick. “I belong to an underprivileged part of the world called Gilgit-Baltistan, in the high mountains of northern Pakistan,” she says. There were no nurses at the time and just a few lady health visitors. Our elders, including my mother and grandmother, were the ones providing care to sick people.”

Ayaz wanted to be one of them.

She completed her Grade 10 education, then won a place in a nursing program at the renowned Aga Khan University in Karachi. During her studies in Karachi—facilitated by a kind brother who made it possible for her to live away from home—she learned much more than how to be a nurse.

“I actually first realized the status of woman in that society,” says Ayaz. “A very strong patriarchal system hindered many women in pursuing their education.”

In my family, I will be the only one who has reached the level of a PhD program. In my region, I am the first one to attend a PhD program in nursing.

Ayaz had overcome that obstacle. And how. After earning her diploma, she completed first a bachelor’s, then a masters’ in nursing. Now she’s pursuing doctoral research at the University of Toronto’s Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing. “In my family, I will be the only one who has reached the level of a PhD program,” she says. “In my region, I am the first one to attend a PhD program in nursing.”

In my family, I will be the only one who has reached the level of a PhD program. In my region, I am the first one to attend a PhD program in nursing.

Ayaz hopes her Afghanistan research can help other countries rebuild their health systems

Before coming to Canada to study, Ayaz taught at the Aga Khan University for several years. In 2012, they asked if she would go to Afghanistan.

“I went as a manager for a training and policy unit, supporting the Ministry of Public Health in developing their nursing curriculum,” says Ayaz. “I worked there for six years and I saw challenges which were harder than in my own country.”

I had to think out of the box all the time. We worked hard and brought female enrolment up from 21 per cent to 47 per cent.

“The patriarchal system was the same,” she says, “but due to war and terror and political instability it was more intricate for women to pursue education. One nursing school I went to assess, in a conservative province, had 100 per cent male nursing students. The only women were myself and a cleaner.”

Ayaz set out to change things for women who wanted to be in health care. “I had to think out of the box all the time,” she says. “We worked hard and by 2018 we had brought female enrolment up from 21 per cent to 47 per cent.”

I had to think out of the box all the time. We worked hard and brought female enrolment up from 21 per cent to 47 per cent.

It was a victory, but she wanted to build on it. Ayaz came to U of T to begin doctoral studies, researching how policy initiatives in post-2001 Afghanistan successfully promoted women. “I wanted to understand the mechanisms that have successfully promoted women’s participation in the health workforce that reached 47 per cent. However, this gain was not across the professions.”

She’s sad and disappointed about the Taliban resurgence, and the loss of hard-won progress for Afghan women. But she is confident that her thesis will still have valuable impact.

“I am hopeful that the recommendations will apply to any conflict-affected country attempting to rebuild,” she says. “How to prioritize, plan, implement and report—all these things are important to re-establish health systems and give people self-determination.”

A bequest for nursing research in Toronto helps women in Pakistan

Ayaz receives scholarship support from an award founded by Mary Kathleen King (BA 1947 UC, MScN 1951). A U of T professor, King shepherded the University’s nursing school to full faculty status, developed its first graduate program and became its first dean. The bequest King left in her will now helps researchers like Ayaz to advance the profession they both love.

“She has my utmost gratitude for her very thoughtful gift,” says Ayaz. “This generous award lightened my financial burden, but more than that, it taught me to give back to the community.”

This generous award lightened my financial burden, but more than that, it taught me to give back to the community.

Ayaz has already set a goal to work with the Aga Khan University after graduation, and later establish a nursing school in Gilgit-Baltistan, where students still need to travel to the south for a nursing education. “A school in that region would make a huge difference,” she says. “That’s my dream.”

And she hasn’t given up on helping women in Afghanistan either. “Badakhshan province in Afghanistan borders Gilgit-Baltistan,” she says, “but the culture is same in both regions. On either side of the border, it feels you are home, and that’s why I feel for them too. I look forward to working for women’s empowerment in the health workforce and in society at large.”

This generous award lightened my financial burden, but more than that, it taught me to give back to the community.