Im sat withHaroon Yasinin the swanky cocktail lounge of Salt Lake Citys Grand America Hotel.
A few hours ago, he got off stage at the prestigious Pluralsight Live conference.
In his hand is a smartphone.
Yasin has been on a journey.
Like many middle-class Pakistanis, he traveled overseas to study, only to drop out after a few semesters.
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I couldnt take it anymore.
I found them so inspirational thatI opened a brick-and-mortar school, he said.
But like any young tech-savvy entrepreneur, Yasins head is filled with words like scalability.
You cant teach many children with just one school.
So, he started touring the country.
Figures from theBonded Labour Liberation Frontestimate there are 2.5 million people working in these slave-like conditions.
They had swollen bellies because of how hungry they were.
And their families had smartphones, because that was a more pressing need than nutrition, he said.
That was four years ago.
The flagship app of the Orenda Project is calledTaleemabad.
This teaches several key components of the Pakistani national curriculum, including Urdu, English and math.
Yasin expects Taleemabad to reach one million users by next year.
Its also eyeing an international expansion into Afghanistan.
Thats a logical move.
During the 1990s, millions of Afghan refugees flooded into Pakistan.
Its also an area where the provision of education is spotty, particularly when it comes to girls.
During the Taliban era, girls were forbidden to attend school.
The consequences of this still linger.
Furthermore, only 37 percent of adolescent Afghan girls are literate, compared to 66 percent of adolescent boys.
Taleemabad receives support from the Pakistani government.
Every year we give a grant to different education initiatives through something called theGulmakai data pipe.
Yasin is an incredible person.
The Malala Fund does some amazing work.
Above all, their work demonstrates the transcending power of something as ordinary as a cheap Android handset.
Its clear that smartphones are no longer a luxury good, but rather a necessity to life.
If we want to help the poorest among us, smartphones are perhaps the best vehicle to accomplish that.
As I walked to the bar to refill my drink, Yasin told me another story.
One time, he visited a village in the Southern Punjab region.
Thats how essential they are.
You might call it a smartphone.
He calls it a tool to ensure the next generation lives better than the last.
