By Jahanara Shiraz | Manager, Academics (Non-formal Education)
From the very first day that Yashwa enrolled in a Zindagi Trust School for working children, his has worked hard on his studies and kept up his good grades. His teachers follow his progress keenly and always encourage him to pursue his dreams. He is currently in Class 5 and has great ambitions for his future - he wants to become an engineer and build a greater Pakistan for his parents and his nation.
Yashwa grew up in a slum in suburban Lahore. He always saw his parents struggling to support him and his other five siblings on the meagre earnings from his father's work at a welding workshop. When he was barely old enough to be in grade school, Yashwa joined his father and started working as a helper at the workshop.
Our Academic Field Coordinators found him and convinced his parents as well as the workshop owners to allow him to come to school in the afternoons. He enrolled in an accelerated program which gets working children through primary school in just over two years. Today, he is in the fifth and final grade of this program. He still helps his father at the workshop, chipping in four hours every morning before going to school in the afternoon.
Yashwa has faith that his education will make a huge difference in shaping his life. He is thankful to Zindagi Trust, and most of all to supporters like you, for enabling him to get an opportunity to chase his dream. Check out Yashwa speaking about his school and work and future plans here: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
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