Educating 1800 child workers in Pakistan

Sher means lion in English. Fourteen year old Sher Ali definitely seems to exhibit the bravery which is the defining character trait of his namesake animal. He first showed this bravery when he and his family fled from war-torn Afghanistan when he was seven years old, and came as a refugee into Pakistan. He remained brave when his father’s kidneys were about to fail, and remains brave to this day, as he works as a trash collector and seller in the local mandi (vegetable and fruits market) during the day to support his family.

This bravery is apparent in his smile as he poses for a photograph in front of the leftover vegetable sacks from the day’s batches of produce brought into the market. Sher wakes up at 4 am every morning and comes to the mandi where the day’s produce is being brought into the market, in fiber sacks. These sacks, after being unpacked, are often discarded by the vendors, and are the source of daily income for Sher Ali and many other refugee children like him. After scouring the whole market for these sacks, Sher sells them to a seller for $0.008 apiece. On a lucky day, he will make a daily income of $3. This contributes to his total family income which is made up of the daily earnings of his siblings only, because his father is chronically ill and too weak to work.

Fourteen year old Sher is a student at a Zindagi Trust school in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. This school specializes in non-formal education for working children, covering basic primary education in an accelerated two year course. It was through a door to door recruiting campaign that our Zindagi Trust team in Rawalpindi found Sher at the local vegetable market, and encouraged him to join the program. Now in the equivalent of the second grade, Ali spends three hours at the school every day, after his 10 hour shift at the vegetable market.

Sher is the only one amongst his ten siblings who is attending school. He is an exceptionally bright and quick student, and often scores the highest marks in his English course. ‘I feel so happy when I am in school. Since I started studying, life has become so much easier; I can read street signs and labels in shops’ he tells one of his teachers.

Sher’s bravery again shines through as he speaks about his ambitions in life. “I want to become a doctor, so I may cure all the sick who cannot afford treatment, in my country”

Please continue to support bright and brave students like Sher through our program.

Links:

• http://www.zindagitrust.org