Arfa Karim Randhawa (2 February 1995 – 14 January 2012), was a Pakistani student and computer prodigy, who in 2004 at the age of nine years became the youngest Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) in the world, a title she kept until 2008. She was invited by Bill Gates to visit the Microsoft Headquarters in USA. A Science park in Lahore was named after her as Arfa Karim Technology Park.
Arfa was born in a family that hailed from the village of Chak No. 4JB Ram Dewali in Faisalabad, Punjab. After returning to Pakistan from a visit to Microsoft headquarters, Arfa had numerous interviews with television and newspapers. S. Somasegar, the vice president of the Software Development Division, wrote about her in his blog. On 2 August 2005, Arfa Karim was presented the Fatimah Jinnah Gold Medal in the field of Science and Technology by the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Shaukat Aziz on the occasion of 113th birth anniversary of Fatima Jinnah. She also received the Salaam Pakistan Youth Award again in August 2005 by the President of Pakistan. Arfa Karim is also the recipient of the President's Award for Pride of Performance,a civil award granted to people who have shown excellence in their respective fields over a long period of time. She is the youngest recipient of this award. In recognition of her achievement Arfa was made brand ambassador for Pakistan Telecommunication Company's 3G Wireless Broadband service named EVO in January 2010.
Arfa Karim has also represented Pakistan on various international forums, she was invited by the Pakistan Information Technology Professionals Forum for a stay of two weeks in Dubai. A dinner reception was hosted for her there, which was attended by the dignitaries of Dubai including the Ambassador of Pakistan. During that trip, Arfa was presented with various awards and gifts including a laptop. During the same tour she also flew a plane in a flying club at the age of 10 and received the first flight certificate. In November 2006, Arfa attended the Tech-Ed Developers conference themed Get ahead of the game held in Barcelona on an invitation from Microsoft. She was the only Pakistani among over 5000 developers in that conference.
In 2011, at the age of 16, Arfa Karim was studying at the Lahore Grammar School Paragon Campus in her second year of A Levels. She suffered a cardiac arrest after an epileptic seizure which damaged her brain on 22 December 2011, and was admitted to Lahore's Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in critical condition.
On 9 January 2012, Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft, made contact with Arfa's parents, and directed his doctors to adopt "every kind of measure" for her treatment. Gates set up a special panel of international doctors who remained in contact with her local doctors through teleconference. The panel received details about her illness and provided assistance in diagnosis and treatment. Local doctors dismissed the option of Arfa being moved to another hospital due to her being on a ventilator and in critical condition. Relatives and family members of Arfa have lauded Bill Gates for offering to bear her treatment expenses.
On 13 January 2012, Arfa Karim started to improve and some parts of her brain showed signs of improvement. Her father, Amjad Karim Randhawa, said Microsoft had raised the possibility of flying Arfa to the US for care.
On 14 January 2012, 16-year-old Arfa Karim died at 9:50 PM (Pakistan Standard Time) at Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Lahore. Her Namaz-e-Janaza was offered in Cavalry Ground Lahore at 10 AM on 15 January 2012, and later at Faisalabad the same day. The funeral was attended by Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif. She was buried at her ancestral village Chak No. 4JB Ram Dewali, Faisalabad.
(Funeral Cermony of Aarfa Kareem)