The Story of Pace2Life Welfare Foundation ®

Waqas Ahmed was born with cerebral palsy. As an infant, a bout of typhoid left him unable to walk by the age most children take their first steps; by age five, doctors confirmed the diagnosis. He could not eat, drink, or move from one position to another without help, and in a country where disability often means being written out of ordinary life, that could easily have been the end of his story.

It wasn’t.

Homeschooled by his parents and grandfather, Waqas learned to operate a computer using his nose, going on to work as a freelance web developer for four years before completing his matriculation privately. He was later admitted to Government College University (GCU) Lahore; one of Pakistan’s most respected institutions. Where he didn’t just study, but pushed the university itself to change: his advocacy led to the installation of wheelchair ramps across GCU’s departments, and the university’s first accessible washrooms, making GCU Pakistan’s first public university to offer them. He went on to complete a B.A. in Urdu Literature.

In 2007, with a handful of friends, who were also students. They founded Pace2Life Welfare Foundation with Rs. 50 monthly donation from their pocket money.

The idea was simple, and it still is: charity delivered hand to hand, to people who are too often overlooked. His own words for it have never changed “my charity from my hands.”

• 2007: The Founding
  • Pace2Life Welfare Foundation is founded by Waqas Ahmed and a small circle of friends, with Rs. 50 and a plan to help disabled and underserved people directly.
• 2009: Formal Registration
  • Pace2Life is registered as an NGO with the Social Welfare Department, Punjab, and obtains its NTN/NGO status — a small paperwork milestone that made a much bigger promise official.
• 2011: A Policy Win
  • Following sustained lobbying by the Pace2Life team, Governor Punjab Sardar Latif Khan Khosa announces a 50% tuition fee waiver for disabled students at government universities across the province — reported by Dawn. Around the same time, Pace2Life takes part in the National Steering Committee for Pakistan’s National Plan of Action for Persons with Disability.
• 2011-2013: Reaching the Un-Reached
  • A disability-awareness lecture series takes Pace2Life into university campuses across Lahore, featuring noted rehabilitation scholar Dr. Khalid Jamil. Wheelchair distribution ceremonies begin in earnest, soon extending beyond Lahore to Balakot and Jhang.
• 2015: Gojra Vocational Center
  • Pace2Life establishes its first Free Vocational Training Center for Women in Gojra — the seed of what would grow into a much larger education program.
• 2016: Ambulance & Dispensary
  • Pace2Life inaugurates a free ambulance service for Lahore’s Walled City area, and opens its first free dispensary at Bhaati Gate — bringing consistent, everyday healthcare to a community that had rarely had it.
• 2017: Standing with the Cerebral Palsy Community
  • Pace2Life joins Step Up Pakistan’s World CP Day awareness walk at Greater Iqbal Park, Lahore. Covered by Daily Times, with Waqas Ahmed’s own story front and center.
• 2018: Recognition
  • Waqas Ahmed receives the Youth Icon Award in recognition of his work.
• 2019: Chowk Azam, Layyah
  • A new vocational center, rehabilitation center, and free dispensary open in Chowk Azam, Layyah, on land donated by Haji Waseem Zafar — extending Pace2Life’s reach well beyond Lahore.
• 2020: Answering a Crisis
  • As COVID-19 lockdowns cut off daily wages for thousands of families, Pace2Life shifts fast: a ration drive that starts with 180 families grows to over 650 packages delivered within weeks, alongside sanitizer stations installed in public areas.
• 2021: Rehabilitation & Transition Services
  • At its 55th wheelchair distribution ceremony, Pace2Life announces a new Rehabilitation and Transitional Services initiative for the disabled community, with GCU Lahore’s Vice Chancellor acknowledging the foundation’s work as chief guest.
• 2022: Beyond Punjab
  • Relief work extends into Balochistan, reaching flood-affected families in Pishin district — proof that a foundation that began in one neighborhood of Lahore had truly become a national one.
• 2025: The House of Development
  • Pace2Life inaugurates the House of Development in Lahore — its most ambitious project to date: a dedicated center bringing health, education, and rehabilitation together under one roof for differently-abled individuals.
• 2026: Ilm-o-Hunar Grows Up
  • What began as a single project becomes three real schools — in Gojra, and in Narwaa and Laari villages near Balakot — with the Gojra campus expanding its classrooms to take in even more students.