Banking on education

Sometimes the simplest ideas if put into practice properly can be extremely effective. An example of this is the Social Action Project being implemented by Kiran Kumari: a book bank; a simple but effective concept.

Being a school teacher in Sindh, Kiran knows well the hurdles faced by economically disadvantaged individuals – especially when it comes to educating their children. So it was only logical that when Kiran completed her Active Citizens training she would start a Social Action Project to make the education process less costly for parents who struggle to make ends meet.

Kiran asked her students to donate school books to her so that other, less fortunate children may use them. She also reached out to friends, relatives, and other teachers in the area for any reusable books that they could spare. With the help of her students she got rid of any erasable markings from the books and covered the books with clean scrap paper to protect them.

A large section of Kiran’s class consists of children whose parents don’t have a steady source of income. To make ends meet they work odd jobs – mostly as manual labourers. Kiran made a list of students who came from such homes.

As the donated books started coming in Kiran let the more deserving children know that they could use the books from her book bank free of cost. Her two conditions: that they take care of the books as if they were their own, and that they return them to her at the end of the term.   

Kiran first ‘tested’ her social action project in April, and nearly 60 students were able to make use of the books provided by Kiran. According to Kiran parents who rely on daily wages to get by this was an added bonus.

When asked about her plans for the project, Kiran replies: “I have decided to do this activity every year collect books from last batch and provide to next batch. Through this more than 100 students can get benefit from my book bank”.

Active Citizens - partnering for stronger communities

A life-time’s learning can sometimes be condensed into a sentence or two. The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu did just that when he uttered words to the effect: “Give a man a fish; feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish; feed him for a lifetime".

This line of thinking is just as relevant today as it was many centuries ago. Helping someone by providing them with money or food or shelter – although commendable – is not a long-term solution. By providing someone in need with the means to earn a living not only enables them to provide for themselves but it also has a positive effect on their morale and self-esteem.

Green Town is a residential area of Lahore with a high rate of unemployment and a low education rate. The residents of Green Town by and large live in poverty, and putting food on the table regularly is a struggle for most.

Shumaila Naaz is a professor in the Management Sciences department of the Superior University in Lahore. Shumaila teaches a course on community development which includes an end-of-semester project that students need to complete to pass the course.

To help her students gain a better understanding of how their efforts – no matter how small – to make their communities a better place to live can have far reaching effects, Shumaila organised an Active Citizens training workshop with the help of Chanan Development Association (CDA) – an Active Citizens partner.

After they were done with the training, a group of her students came up with a formal plan to help women in Green Town earn a living and provide for their families. Their proposal? To raise money to fund the purchase of sewing machines for the women of Green Town.

The women selected by the group fall into certain categories: women who are widowed; women who are divorced; and women whose spouses live with disability.

The proposed project also had a personal significance for one of the members who has lived in Green Town for more than 11 years but has never lost hope for better days for his community.

The students were able to raise Rs. 75,000 by reaching out to donors with the help of a well thought-out project proposal and an effective communications campaign which included the distribution of pamphlets, and a door-to-door campaign. With these funds they purchased 17 sewing machines.

To ensure that the sewing machines would not be resold the group members attached a condition with their distribution: the women who would receive the machines would pay a fee of Rs. 250 to the group each month. In this way the recipients would gain ownership of the sewing machines and through the fees collected the group would be able to finance more sewing machines for other deserving candidates. In short a win-win situation.

A distribution ceremony for the machines was arranged by the group at a local high school of Green Town. A large number of the residents attended the event and praised the Active Citizens for coming up with this clever yet simple plan to strengthen a community that gave its members the tools to be more self-reliant. 

The Gypsy School

Ramshackle gypsy settlements are a common sight in nearly all cities of Pakistan. With no fixed occupations and no land, members of the gypsy community live in uninhabited areas till they are forced to leave by the local authorities. Gypsy children are often seen begging for money or food at road sides, shops, and in residential areas. Gypsies have always lived on the fringes of society and are usually viewed with suspicion.

But these children like all children are entitled to education. This realization did not escape Faisal Idrees, a young Active Citizen from Multan. Faisal decided to do something in his capacity to rectify this situation.

Faisal enlisted the help of two of his friends and together they formed a youth group to facilitate the provision of education to as many gypsy children as they could. According to Faisal: “Every parent wants to send their children to school but most people, and especially marginalized communities do not know about Article 25 A and the right to education”.

Another problem that these young people faced was the sad fact that the money these children collect by begging contributes to their family’s income. And so parents with no fixed source of income can sometimes perceive education of their children as a threat to their family’s well being.

Faisal and his friends decided to set up a make-shift school in the gypsy camp and started a door-to-door campaign to convince parents to let their children attend it. In the beginning this seemed to be an uphill task as not most parents were reluctant to loose the income brought in by their children, and they also viewed the strangers with suspicion.

But despite the resistance the three young people resolved to march on ahead; by the third meeting with the community members they were allowed to set up their ‘school’.  Since they did not receive any support from the gypsy community in terms of a place to hold classes in, they started teaching in the first free space they could find. On the first day of class 4 children showed up. Gradually the number of students started increasing. By the end of the first week they were teaching 22 gypsy children. By the end of the year the school had 138 students.

According to Faisal, initially the group members pooled in their money to buy the necessary supplies to run their school, but as the number of children steadily increased these meagre funds started proving insufficient. To overcome this Faisal and his friends came up with a simple yet smart solution: they met with principals of different private and public schools of the area and convinced them to put up a box in the school where students could donate used books and notebooks. At the end of each week members of the youth group visit these schools to collect the donated books and stationary items. 

Notebooks which have been filled using pencils are erased and made ready for use again. And books which cannot be used are sold and the proceeds are used to buy pencils and other stationary items. 

Faisal and his friends are now allowed to use empty tents to hold their classes while the tenants are away but have to empty it once they return. The irony is not lost on the youth group who have dubbed their school the Gypsy School. 

The youth group has enjoyed other successes besides providing these children with basic education. One of these is convincing parents to admit their children to the local public school. So far 28 children have been enrolled in this school. Consequently these children have stopped begging and now lead a much healthier life style.

Children attending the Gypsy School are also encouraged to give up begging through stories and activities. The group of young Active Citizens hopes to dissuade as many children from begging as possible and to facilitate their admission into schools.

Faisal and his friends now aim to reach at least 300 children by the end of this year.

Education at all costs

It takes 45 minutes to get to Soban Gali from Abbotabad city. The road ends where the hills get too rocky, and from there Samina Mumtaz’s house is a 5 minutes hike. Like all typical villages this is a close-knit community where traditional roles for men and women have been defined generations ago. Samina has lived here all her life.

According to Samina: “women (of the village) are considered to be a burden on their families and are mainly seen in the role of housewives. Women are restricted to their homes and education is not considered necessary for women”. Growing up in this rural setting Samina experienced this gender bias first hand.

Despite these obstacles Samina never for one moment felt inferior to any one in any way. As Samina puts it, her struggles and achievements are a testament to the fact that what a man can do a woman also do.

Being the driven individual she is Samina soon found her way to an Active Citizens capacity building workshop in Abbotabad organized by the Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP) – an Active Citizens partner. Among other things the four day training focused on areas that Samina was interested in such as gender sensitivity, and dialogue. On completion of her training Samina’s desire to work voluntarily for the betterment of her society found a new focus and direction.

With renewed energy Samina plunged into her pet project: a free school for the village children. For a few years now Samina had taught a few children of the village in a room of her house. Now she resolved to increase the number of her students and make their learning experience as fulfilling as possible.

There are no private or public schools within 10 Km of Soban Gali; parents have two options: either let their children walk for miles unattended or not send them to school. They usually choose the latter.

For Samina education has a special significance. She not only views education as an essential asset for all children but also sees it as a tool to empower women of her community in the long run – by not only educating them but also changing the mentality of the male residents of the village education and hence decreasing the gender bias prevalent in her community.

In the Active Citizens training programme Samina along with other participants explored dialogue and how powerful well thought out and executed dialogue could be. It was now time to put her learning to the test. She started a door-to-door campaign in her village to meet parents and discuss the importance of education with them, and encourage them to send their children to her school. She also developed links with another local NGO who promised to provide her with books and stationary for free.

Soon Samina saw the number of her students increase to 63. Out of these 63 students 35 are girls and 28 are boys. But it was not all smooth sailing; Samina faced resistance from some corners of the society who saw her as an agent of change. In their opinion Samina was trying to destroy the cultural norms and values of their society.

Another attitude prevalent in Samina’s community is the reliance on aid by donor agencies and NGOs. A large number of the village residents hold the view that being poor entitles them to monetary aid. Samina faced stiff opposition from this segment of the community as well.

Undeterred Samina carries on her mission to provide free and quality education. She views this as her responsibility towards the children of her village. She hopes that one day the situation of other communities and ultimately that of Pakistan will be improved by providing education to all segments of the society, and that progress will come through a participatory and self-reliant approach.

Where there is a will there is a way

Shahzeb Shah lives in Mirpur Bhatoro, a small town of District Thaatta in Sindh. The education rate of Mirpur Bhatoro unfortunately has never been high and most the residents of the area live in poverty and below the poverty line in some cases. Most families make ends meet usually through partaking in agricultural activities.

Shahzeb is one of the fortunate ones who had access to education growing up in Mirpur Bhatoro. As a matter of fact his mother is the principal of the town’s only public school. Growing up in an educationalist household Shahzeb was quick to notice that even with an educational facility present people still hesitated to send their children to school.

After attending the Active Citizens training offered by the British Council through a local partner Sindh Radiant Organization (SRO) Shahzeb decided to investigate this matter further and ultimately take steps to improve the state of education in his town.

With the help of other young people Shahzeb went door-to-door to investigate whether children of local households were receiving an education – and if not, what was preventing them?

Soon this group of Active Citizens discovered that parents who were usually reluctant to send their children to school headed families that lived in abject poverty. Their children usually helped them with household chores, worked odd jobs, and sometimes even begged from passers-by on the streets to bring some change home.

With great effort and patience they convinced parents of out-of-school children to send their children to school free of cost.

After conducting this initial research Shahzeb and his friends started the second phase of the project: they convinced Shahzeb’s mother to let them use the school’s facilities to offer free classes to out-of-school children. It did not take much effort to convince her and the arrangement reached was that Shahzeb and his group members could use two class-rooms in the evening when regular classes were over to offer free lessons to deserving children.

Soon the free tuition centre was up and running and the two class-rooms were brimming with children. Shahzeb and his friends pool in their funds to buy books and supplies for the school.
Nearly 80 children attend the free tuition centre, out of which 50 are girls. Besides providing lessons in basic English, Urdu, Sindhi, and Maths Shahzeb’s groups also concentrates on character building classes and providing awareness about hygiene.

Shahzeb and his youth group have made a point of making learning fun for their students. Children are encouraged to indulge in physical exercise when not in class. In fact learning in a safe and enjoyable environment and being coached in sports like cricket and football are some of the things that children look forward to each night when they go back home. And the satisfaction of making learning an enjoyable experience is what makes Shahzeb and his friends continue teaching at the free tuition centre.

The rewards of education

Sadaf Javeed is a resident of village Dehri Maira located in a remote area of Abbottabad. Mos t people of the village live below the poverty line and live without basic amenities. The major source of income of the villagers is farming and raising livestock.

The literacy rate is also low with a 55% educated male population literacy rates amongst female as low as 20%. The low female literacy rate can be attributed to a scarcity of education facilities that cater to female students in the area or close to it. The nearest middle and high school are located about 17 kilometers from village.

Although lacking in education, the female members of the community are very hard workers and contribute equally if not more in the day-to-day tasks ranging from raising crops and daily chores. According to Sadaf even though women make huge contributions to the community they still feel unappreciated and think that they are excluded from the decision making process by the men.

Sadaf believes that one way to empower women and give them confidence is to offer them opportunities to educate themselves regardless of their age. Education not only helps women recognize their rights and become independent, but also increases their capacity to make larger contributions to their families and the society at large.

This is especially true for mothers. An educated mother can take care of her children and family in a better way. She can provide better guidance, be a better role model, and be more aware of her child’s health. An educated mother also places a higher priority on ensuring a good quality education for her children.

Sadaf decided to hold adult literacy classes at her own home. She invited the village women to attend these basic education classes. The women embraced this opportunity to learn but they faced resistance from their male family members: it was a difficult task in some cases to convince men that the women would spend time allotted previously to work and chores to attend classes.

In a bid to win the support of the male members of the village Sadaf, her mother, and aunt organized groups of women to hold discussions with male heads of families of the village about the importance of education at any age and to convince them to let the women of their household to attend the adult literacy classes.

Sadaf’s adult literacy centre started off with 10 members which has steadily risen to 28 members. Sadaf also reached out to different NGOs and government organizations and was able to secure free of cost books and stationary items for her literacy centre.

Teaching did not prove a hard task for Sadaf who has impressive credentials with a bachelors of arts in education and a masters of arts in Political Science. She did have to be very patient with women who could not read or write at all. To reach students such as this Sadaf adopted a visual style of teaching: she uses cutouts of letters and numbers, and pictures of places and animals to make learning a fun and interactive process.

For Sadaf the reward for her hard work and patience is the new-found confidence in her students and the ways in which education has made their lives easier and richer.

A second chance for mothers

Providing opportunities for education to young mothers has a two-fold effect: an adult has a second chance to get an education that they could not when they were younger, and secondly young mothers are more likely to raise educated children. Educated mothers also have the option of educating their children at home if they cannot afford the tuition fee or other expenses that are associated with sending a child to school.

The main reason that young girls don’t attend school is their family’s poor economic condition. Additionally, when a poor family is faced with a choice between sending a boy or a girl to school, more often than not they will opt for educating the male child.

A Social Action Project (SAP) named Steps Against Illiteracy was started in an impoverished area of Karachi to fund a school providing classes to young mothers and their children at a cost as low as possible, and sometimes free of cost for especially deserving students. The school is called “The Citizens Foundation School” and offers classes three days a week in the morning and afternoon.

Some of the goals of the school are to enable the students to write and read basic Urdu and English, and to be able to perform calculations for day-to-day tasks such as shopping and planning the household budget.

The school is meant to run for three months. In this time its students will not only gain knowledge that can be applied to daily tasks but will also give them the background and confidence to apply to a “proper” school. The Citizens Foundation School may be a short-term venture but its benefits may very well last for a long time.

Helping the helpless

How often have we walked or driven by the slums near our neighbourhoods and turned our heads away, pretending that we can’t see the suffering of the dwellers? The answer would be: countless. Tooba Hassan is an Active Citizen who chose not to ignore the miserable conditions of slums. She launched ‘Crystal Future’, a Social Action Project seeking to bring about a positive change in the lives of the less fortunate.

Having identified a slum area by the name of ‘Baykah Saeeda’ in F-11, Tooba decided to take its barely functioning school under her wing. The school was in a dilapidated condition with one teacher to cater to 50 students, no roof and an obsolete syllabus. Tooba introduced printed material and activities using Oxford workbooks to make learning a more interesting experience for the children. She also managed to raise funds from friends and relatives for a temporary roof. Her prime focus, however, was developing the children’s soft skills and moral values – an area of personal development most people ignore. Tooba worked to enhance the students’ reading and writing skills, build their confidence, teach them about hygiene and cleanliness and create awareness about social issues such as domestic violence.

When asked why she volunteered spending time in the slum school, Tooba said: “We wanted to help the slum kids become good citizens. If they acquire education, it’ll be easier for them to earn a respectable living”.

Tooba’s biggest challenge has been getting individuals and organizations on board to support her cause. Many NGOs are not interested in helping out unless their work is publicized, a sad reality Tooba discovered when she contacted some organizations to provide counselling for victims of sexual abuse.

Her motivation to keep going comes from the change she sees in the area she has adopted. The children, who once had an air of dejection surrounding them, are now active and engaged members of the community. For Tooba, there can be no better reward.

Tipu Sultan Public School

Pakistan’s public school system is in a shambles. Not enough public schools exist in the country and when the public is provided with a government-funded school, the quality of education provided isn’t always up to the mark. The Rizwana Group decided to start a primary school in Sahiwal that would provide education to out of school children of the community. The school is named the “Tipu Sultan Public School” and offers classes from preparatory to the fifth grade.
Tipu Sultan Public School is not just a run of the mill school; it focuses on providing a quality education to all students. Traditional rote-learning methods have been abandoned in favor of teaching students basic concepts and providing them with a clearer understanding of the material.

The group launched an awareness campaign about out of school children and the benefits of educating them. Thanks to their efforts the group was able to attract a considerable number of volunteers to participate in the project. Presently all the teachers are volunteers. The group also raises funds to provide as many free books and school bags to needy children as possible.
The children attending the school come from a diverse background. The students vary from children whose parents can afford to pay for their education to children whose parents do not have the money to put them through primary school. With 150 children enrolled the school provides education completely free of cost to 15 of them.

One key goal accomplished by the group members was convincing parents who had never sent their children to a school before, to enroll their children in the Tipu Sultan Public School. Most of the children that attend the school have never attended school before. Luckily their first school happens to be run by a group of people who view providing education not as a job, but as a responsibility.

Traditions that need to be defied

Progress can be defined in a number of ways, but some that come to mind immediately are: moving forward, adapting to circumstances, and evolving. It is surprising then that the way we teach children in primary schools and what they are taught have remained more or less unchanged over the years. This lack of progress is what motivated a youth group in Multan to start a Social Action Project (SAP) to help rectify the problem.

The group is named The Janbaz Youth Group and their SAP aims to correct education at its very root – primary school. The SAP was conceived and is being led by Noshaba who is a trained psychologist. The group holds the view that the only way to move forward is to motivate children to do better in school and keep them interested in the material being taught. A key contributing factor to this is implementing a fun and interesting way of teaching in primary schools.

So far the group has managed to arrange four training sessions for primary school teachers focussing on modern teaching methods and techniques. These sessions were attended by 28 teachers in all. Typical areas of discussion in these training sessions are traditional teaching methods that are still being implemented in primary schools and their limitations, and advantages of adopting modern teaching methods.

Progress can be defined in a number of ways, and one of them is being brave enough to challenge established conventions when there is a better way to do some thing. The SAP started by The Janbaz Youth Group does just this – it is a step taken by a group of young people to replace inefficient and dated teaching methods with newer and better ones, it is a step in the right direction; it is a step towards progress.

High hopes

Rizwan and his sister Aseya are residents of Bangyal – a village on the outskirts of Islamabad. At first glance Bangyal is no different from any of the other numerous villages and towns surrounding Islamabad. Sadly the residents of this particular village also face similar problems as those faced by residents of other villages: poverty, unemployment, underdevelopment, and education.

There are no government run schools for children in Bangyal. The closest school run by an NGO is at a distance of 7 – 8 kms from the Bangyal community.

Rizwan, like all unemployed young men of his community looked for a job wherever possible. But his case is a little complicated: Rizwan and his sister suffer from a degenerative bone disorder – a condition that has progressively worsened over the years.

Among the various offices visited by Rizwan visited in hopes of finding employment was the office of Special Talent Exchange Program (STEP) – a local NGO and an Active Citizens partner. When the Active Citizens programme began STEP offered him a place on the training programme. As a consequence of this training he resolved to do something for his community: to set up a school for the children of Bangyal.

This brought Rizwan to the next question: how would he fund the school? Rizwan received help for the initial funding from other participants from the Active Citizens training that he had attended. Rizwan along with 30 volunteers (mostly from high school and university students) collected scrap and sold it for recycling. Within a period of a few months this group of motivated young people managed to raise nearly Rs. 50,000.

This money enabled Rizwan to start his dream project but he still needed funds to buy school supplies and books. For this he approached a number of NGOs and commercial organizations. For his troubles he was rewarded with some financial help, school supplies like a whiteboard and books; an organisation also had a bathroom constructed in the school.

Among the people approached by Rizwan was a multinational Pakistani organization with headquarters in the UAE. This organisation provided Rizwan with funds to start a shop of motorcycle parts.

The shop now set up and running generates a modest profit which Rizwan uses to pay for the expenses for the school and provides him and his family with a meagre salary.

But Rizwan’s journey is not complete yet; talking about his goals Rizwan says: “(some day) I want to turn this school into a university”.

Old papers, new votes, and a ragged school

The Gulberg Rangers (G-Rangers) has six active members and is headed by Zunaria Earl West. The British Council’s Active Citizens training enabled them to initiate three Social Action Projects (SAPs) which focus on the poverty stricken areas of Lahore. They started three SAPs: Ragged School, Voting Awareness and Raddi (paper) Collection and Rehabilitation.

The Ragged School focuses on primary education teaching; beginner’s English, Urdu and Mathematics are taught to children who cannot afford to go to school. The children are also taught ethical and moral behaviour as well as civic lessons such as how to cross the road safely, not to litter, etc.

Voting Awareness aims is to educate individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds about the importance of exercising one’s right to vote for the candidate of their choice. Volunteers and members visit neighbourhoods and contact 200 – 300 homes a month. They encourage citizens to use their votes wisely and not to “sell” them for money.

The Raddi Collection and Rehabilitation project was conceived with the help of Formation Awareness and Community Empowerment Society (FACES) to increase the sustainability of their SAPs. The G- Rangers go door-to-door collecting cardboard and newspapers to sell. In this way they help the community dispose of unneeded material in an appropriate way and generate funding for their other Social Action Projects.

Get up, stand up

Ghotki is a district of Sindh with a population of more than 970,000 and a very low literacy rate – estimated to be 29% for men and just 11% for women. Most schools of the area lack proper libraries and recreational facilities like playgrounds for students. The children and young people who are enrolled in schools are unaware of most of their rights and entitlements as students.

The Ghotki Active Youth Group was formed by young Active Citizens who wanted to improve the way schools are run in their community. The group reached out mainly to secondary school and high school students and talked to them about their rights and what they can do to demand them in a proper manner.

Some of the issues faced by the young people of the district highlighted by the group were a lack of learning and recreational facilities, a lack of higher education bodies, absence of a youth forum, the need for more coordination, networking between the young people of the district, and a lack of counseling services for young people – educational or otherwise. The denial of the rights to access to information and freedom of expression is also a source of concern.

Student rights awareness sessions were conducted in four schools by the group. About 200 students were reached by the group during the course of their campaign. A speech competition was also arranged which gave students a platform to voice their grievances with the school management and to make their demands known.

To ensure that student rights are safeguarded in different schools, the group members also helped organize a student youth group in a local high school and provided training to its members.

Funds for the group’s activities mainly come from donations from group members. Additional funds are raised through sponsorship from local businesses. In all, the group members were successful in raising about Rs.22, 000 to finance their awareness campaign.

An education in hope

Huddled in a small room in a Baloch neighbourhood of Quetta, Sadia talks about why she runs a school for children in her home. The school itself is a modest affair: a spare room devoid of furniture. The children sit on the carpeted floor as does their teacher. Sadia lives in a small house – partly brick and cement, and partly mud walls and thatched roof.

When asked what inspired her to start a school for her neighbourhood children, Sadia replied: “There should be a safe and happy place for children where they can play, make friends, and learn together”.

Her neighbourhood – Killi Allahbad, is relatively conservative and is said to be a stronghold of a local political party with a separatist agenda. According to Sadia, the young people of the area are mostly unemployed; the illiteracy rate is also high. The nearest primary school for boys is at a considerable distance and the nearest school for young girls is even further away. According to Sadia it takes children approximately 20 – 25 minutes to walk to the nearest public school.
Since most of the people of the neighbourhood do not own cars their children have to walk to school. Because of the daily deteriorating security situation and the rising crime rate most parents had stopped sending their children to school. Their biggest fear: kidnappings.

Sadia attended the Active Citizens training in 2011 along with her cousin, Fouzia. Although the problems faced by the Baloch are complex and multi-dimensional and there is no one simple solution for them, Sadia felt that education is one important piece of the puzzle. Without education she says things will only get worse. This passion for education led Sadia to approach a local NGO who were generous enough to donate books and school supplies for children free of cost to her.

Sadia then convinced her family to let her use an unused room in their house for the purpose of holding classes in it. They not only let her use the room but also helped her decorate it and equip it. In a month’s time Sadia’s make-shift school was up and running. Her neighbours welcomed the move and gladly sent their children to Sadia’s make-shift school. Sadia charges the parents of the children a nominal fee of Rs. 50 – which they are happy to pay. This money helps her cover the school’s monthly electricity bill. Sadia’s students include her own brother, a nephew, and a niece.

But the hard work does not stop here: Sadia attends her high school classes during the day and teaches the neighbourhood children in the evenings. Looking at the happy faces surrounding her it is not too difficult to see the gratification that she derives from her Social Action Project and the sense of contribution to her community that keeps her motivated.