You See Clear

Babur Jahid

Babur Jahid is a 21 year old entrepreneur from Kabul, Afghanistan. His family was relocated a number of times to escape the violence that was constantly going on around them. His father held a variety of positions in government and their family faced brutal oppression. Babur saw his father beaten at the pharmacy buying medicine, and his sister was also attacked while walking him to school.

When the family returned to Afghanistan for good, an Afghan-American family friend offered to assist in the tuition of a school in Kabul for Babur. Babur received a scholarship that covered approximately 90% of the cost, and the rest was paid for their friend.

Jahid was drawn to America by a scholarship as an exchange student. He moved to Virginia for a short while and after that lived with relatives in Toronto, Canada.

Babur was drawn to Carleton University to learn about health issues and “the relationship between lifestyle and population health.” (Rubinstein) I his sophomore year at Carleton, he was involved in a program that “facilitates collaboration between faculty and student researchers and the broader community on ideas and projects that contribute to building sustainable communities.”(Rubinstein)

This is where Jahid learned about social entrepreneurship and credits this program to the start of You See Clear. You See Clear is Babur’s business that seeks to provide affordable eye care for the needy in Afghanistan. He states that “He realized that women need to see to be able to do manual labor, and that kids need to see to go to school.”

Babur is an amazing example of an entrepreneur who takes advantage of and makes the most out of every opportunity presented to him. From fleeing the violence in his home, to helping children see their future.

“Social Entrepreneurship with a Clear Vision: Carleton’s Babur Jahid.” Carleton Newsroom, 20 Feb. 2020, https://newsroom.carleton.ca/story/social-entrepreneurship-clear-vision/.