The 8th of January is celebrated as the Sindh Education Day by the Sindh civil society. Fatima, a lecturer at the Sindh University, decided to work alongside members of Sindh Youth Network. They opened up a tent school to teach children in a slum of Naseem Nagar, Hyderabad.
Saima Jafri is an active member of the Women Action Forum and actively volunteers for several organizations to create an impact in the society
The slum has a population of around 300 people
Men of the families look for work on a day to day basis. The women collect trash from the roads, whereas, they rely on their children to beg on the streets to make their ends meet.
Saima and her co-workers spent around Rs10,000 to get the school up and running
Rs3000 was spent on hiring a teacher, a water cooler was arranged in Rs1000. The remaining amount was used to get a rug to cover the land and get stationary for the kids.
She herself has taken the responsibility of teaching English to the kids
A huge number of volunteers have also contacted her for teaching a number of subjects. She eventually aims to spread these schools to Hyderabad and nearby villages.
Her story was also picked up by the local newspaper
She took to twitter to tweet about the school
Today I started this tent school in slum area of hyd . population of 300 and it has no school .the kids beg for a living @AWGoraya @salmanhydr @no_bhashan_plz @makorro @mustikhan pic.twitter.com/zFBhrRjKL1
— Syma J (@no_rules1in) January 8, 2018
People showered her with support and encouraged her to not let her resolve break
That’s the best thing one can ever do it 🙂 Love Ya Girl
— سیلئ یوسفزئی (@Selai89) January 9, 2018
Hats off to you ma’am. All prayers and best wishes for you and for these kids??
— Nadz (@nadzdar) January 9, 2018
Blessings and ?.
— Salman Zaheer (@Thailatex2017) January 9, 2018
Hats off 4 u my dear sister….
— Liaquat (@Liaquat10258933) January 9, 2018
Such initiatives must be actively appreciated. One of the biggest reasons why tolerance and plurality is a far stretched idea in this country is the lack of education. Initiatives like these give a shoulder to the efforts of the government and make their jobs easier. We should try and support them in every manner possible.
More power to you, Saima. You are a ray of hope in this society!
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Cover image via: @no_rules1in / Twitter