By Jahanara Shiraz | Manager, Academics (Non-formal Education)
Shalook is a 13-year-old boy who lives with his parents and three younger siblings in a low-income community near Walton Road, Lahore. He has enjoyed playing cricket with his best friends on the streets of Lahore since he was only seven and is passionate about the game. When you ask him who is role model is, he would look up at you with a glimmer in his eyes and exclaim “Shahid Afridi!” - his voice full of joy.
Shalook is always surrounded by plastic bats and balls. You would think life couldn’t be more perfect for a young cricket fan, but the truth is he is a child worker in the packaging department of a sports good factory. With tiny hands, and big dreams in his eyes, he spends a major part of every day preparing plastic bats and balls for sale in toy shops.
Shalook’s father is a labourer and struggles to make ends meet for their family. He is a
very hardworking man but has lost a lot of physical strength after a life of hard physical labour.
In the months the family gets lucky, he is able to earn PKR 10,000 (about $100) which is barely enough to feed his family of five. He wanted Shalook, his eldest son, to become an engineer but his circumstances left him helpless and he was forced to put him to work. Shalook earns PKR 2000 (about $20) every month, which is a very big support for his family.
When our Zindagi Trust team learned about Shalook we approached his family and told his father about our Paid to Learn program, where working children get a free education as well as a scholarship stipend if they finish. His father did not need much convincing and was thrilled to learn that his son would be
paid to learn! He told our team that he could now dream again.
“My son will be an engineer and will earn so much that we will never have to sleep hungry again!”
His son had a different dream. Jumping with excitement, he told our team he wanted to learn so much at school that when he won his first big match he could give his interview in English.
Shalook is now in the 5th grade and has his parents’ full support for his education. He is a quick learner and enjoys his homework. In the evening he still goes and plays cricket with his friends. He has adopted his parents’ dream for him to become an engineer but also aspires to play cricket in the local leagues.
We at Zindagi Trust want to thank you in making dreams come true with your generous
donations. We hope that you will continue supporting us in our mission to
educate young children like Shalook.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
