Alma (Alam Bibi-1898-1986) was a strong willed girl from early childhood, being the only child of her mother. Her father who had married twice had many children who were Alma's half siblings. She remained the "ladli" (loved daughter) to her mother all the way into adulthood, until the mother passed away. As Alma grew older she was married away to Nawab Din from the same village, Tiro Chak and they had five children before she became a widow at an early age.

Raising children in Pakistan in the late 1940's and being a single mother must have given her challenges but she never got discouraged. Alma survived in a man's world. Alma did not let her gender stop her, she always found a way to her things.

Those were the days when people would walk from one village to another, women of course always accompanied by a male companion as a guard. Naturally the day Alma was about to walk by herself, she was discouraged to do so because she was a woman. She did not let those traditional norms stop her before and had no intentions of doing so then. With men's clothes on, including a turban, she went with her thick walking stick, as if she was a Sardar on his way. She walked fearless and alone to the other village simply because she needed to.

Alma had the will, strength and capacity to do what she believed in, and she did not let anyone put her down. She had the capacity to implement, she was a doer. In poor and difficult times Alma would tell her children to never look next door at the neighbour. "Set your eyes forward and walk from where you stand".

In Pakistan of those days she was a proud woman of the Indus Valley, a leader, a real daughter of the soil and product of her circumstance.

Almas youngest son, Hussain Munir (b. 1936) came to Norway alone as a working immigrant in 1970. In late 1972 he was reunited with his young and beautiful wife, Zubeda and their three children as they arrived in Oslo to live with him. The grandchildren and even great grandchildren of Alma are spread around the world in many countries. What lives on is the legend of a strong woman even men would fear a bit, Alma from Tiro Chak.

With this spirit and vision Alma Culture Center (ACC) hopes to spark initiatives to promote positive development in Pakistan and Norway through exchange of ideas and knowledge within culture such as Art, Literature, Sports and Health issues.