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GOOD PEOPLE GOOD WORKS
Zindagi Trust: Opening the Doors for Pakistani Childhood Education - P1/2 (In Urdu)
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Today’s
Good People, Good Works
will be presented
in Urdu and English,
with subtitles in Arabic,
Aulacese (Vietnamese),
Chinese, English,
French, German,
Indonesian, Italian,
Japanese, Korean,
Malay, Mongolian,
Persian, Portuguese,
Russian, Spanish,
Urdu and Thai.
There are millions
of dreams in the eyes
Standing in the way of life
Some wishes are there
on the faces
They are not concerned
about today.
They are like flowers,
they want to flourish
They want to live their lives
Let’s give them life
Come, let’s give them life.
Come, let’s give them life.
Warm greetings,
kindhearted viewers.
Welcome to
this week’s edition of
Good People, Good Works,
part 1 of our
2-part presentation
on Zindagi Trust,
a non-profit organization
based in Karachi, Pakistan.
This special organization
was co-founded by
Pakistani pop star
and philanthropist
Shehzad Roy to
provide quality education
to Pakistani children.
When you visit the streets
of Pakistan,
the flower sellers and
the hawkers, you'll see
a light in their eyes.
They just need
one opportunity.
And I feel proud
of the school because
after giving them
this opportunity
they can achieve,
they can do anything
in the world.
So all the children
in Pakistan,
that makes me proud,
the way they progress.
The wider impact of that
in our organization
whether it’s
USA’s Zindagi Trust, or
England’s Zindagi Trust
or Pakistan’s Zindagi Trust,
our core group
of volunteers,
our core group
of board members,
we’re all just volunteers.
The idea is to help others
while sustaining and
upholding those values.
Born in Pakistan's
pleasant seaside city
of Karachi in 1977,
Shehzad Roy spent
his early childhood
under the Pakistani sun.
He was
very much impressed by
the education methods
used in American schools
which emphasize critical
thinking and creativity.
In his young,
tender heart, Shehzad
promised himself
that one day he would
share this teaching style
back in his homeland.
After finishing his studies
in the United States,
Shehzad Roy returned
to his hometown and
pursued his long-time
passion for music, releasing
his first album, entitled,
Zindagi, or “Life,”
in 1995.
Music, however, was not
Mr. Roy’s only focus.
He was deeply concerned
about the underprivileged
Pakistani youth who were
not getting the education
they needed to succeed
in life.
Believing that
“quality education
is every citizen’s right,”
in 2002, using the proceeds
from his own concerts
and music, Shehzad Roy
and a few more
like-minded people
founded Zindagi Trust.
"Zindagi" is an Urdu word;
in English you would
translate it as "life".
And we think that
we are giving a new life
to those kids who are
doing very laborious,
menial work with
very little remuneration.
And if I was to quantify
the remuneration,
they work for something
like maybe a quarter
of a dollar a day.
And therefore
they obviously cannot
afford to go to school,
they cannot afford
to buy books,
they cannot afford to buy
other stationery material.
So this model of ours
provides an opportunity
right outside his house.
To encourage
working children
to attend school,
Shehzad Roy came up
with a unique concept
called “I Am Paid to Learn”
which promotes
sustainable learning
in local communities.
They were working children
and earning members
of the family, so I just
came up with this idea
that if I try to
compensate them with
what they lose outside,
maybe they'll
come to school.
So this is how
I started this program.
We started with
a daily stipend of Rs20,
about quarter a dollar.
So if a child
attended our school,
at the end of the week,
per day he got Rs20,
that is a quarter of a dollar
After about 5 years or so,
when we saw
that the children
and their parents had
started understanding
the value of education,
we carried out a trial
in which we talked to
the boys, girls and
their parents, and we said
we are going now to
reduce the stipend to half.
We wanted
to see the reaction,
and we were very pleased
to see that there were
very negligible number
of dropouts.
And we continued
with that model
for another 2-3 years,
and we again saw
that the enthusiasm of
the parents and children
was on the increase
about coming to schools.
When they graduated and
did their primary education
of 5th level, the parents
were very happy.
So we carried out yet
another experiment,
and we went to them
and we said okay, we will
now onwards afford your
education beyond Class 5
in normal schools,
not Zindagi Trust schools,
but wherever you want
to go, and we will pay
for the bills, fees, etc.
but you have to
forgo your Rs10 stipend.
The reaction was
again very overwhelming
and they were
more than happy
to forgo Rs10
and continue education.
Now we have girls and boys
who are in Class 6 and 7,
having graduated
from our schools.
The Zindagi Trust
program provides students
with basic education
commencing
from kindergarten level
through to the 5th grade,
teaching them English,
Urdu, social studies,
Islamiat, mathematics,
science, and computers
at designated
Zindagi schools.
My name is
Muqadus Maqsood.
We are doing addition
and in math
we can learn a lot.
The vocational and
practical teaching methods,
along with incentives for
children to attend school,
make this
a viable solution to
Pakistan's urban illiteracy.
We have developed
a curriculum.
That curriculum
is need-based
and activity-based.
We want our children
to be better citizens
of Pakistan.
Our teaching method
is just interactive;
we try to build confidence
in our students.
The good thing which
we have incorporated
in our curriculum
is life skills: how to have
a better relationship
with their class fellows,
courtesy, greetings,
and how to speak,
how to think critically,
and just bring a change
in their lives.
How does the organization
identify and approach
the children in need?
We have a field team,
whose job round the year
is to go around
in the Board localities,
and also go around
those workplaces
where these small boys
are working.
This field team of ours
keeps identifying
and pinpointing
the potential kids
who would be fit
to come to our schools.
These field people
talk to the kids,
they talk to the parents,
and they also
talk to the employer.
We need cooperation
from 3 ends:
the kid, the parents,
and the employer.
Presently, Zindagi Trust
supports more than 2,800
youngsters studying
in various regions
across Pakistan.
At the moment,
the schools are
in 3 main stations:
Karachi, Lahore,
and Rawalpindi.
The number of students
that have graduated
from the system is about
14-1500 at this time.
And every year
it keeps adding.
Our schools
are not more than about
100 children at a time.
And you'll be very pleased
to know that
we have a very good ratio
of girls to boys.
Sometimes it is 50-50
and sometimes it is 45-55
in favor of boys.
And that's a good part
of these schools.
The Zindagi program
not only brought on
great changes to the lives
of the participants
but also a positive,
selfless attitude
in the hearts of the children
who received the support.
The parents said
“We will work extra hours
to generate half a dollar,
but we want our children
to go to school.”
Another
very good indication
was that these children,
when they came to school,
they also made sure
that they brought
their siblings along, later.
So we have
many such cases where
more than 2, 3 children
from the same family
come and attend
our schools.
Madasam, he says,
“When I grow up,
I want to be a teacher,
because I want to
help other kids like me,”
and he adds humorously,
“I also want to be
a singer like Mr. Shehzad.”
There’s a little girl.
She has
congenital heart disease,
so she has a hole
in the heart, which we’ve
tried to get surgery for.
She wants to
become a doctor and
help other girls like her.
So we’re giving these kids
more role models.
We’re not just
giving them the idea that
“Yes, you get an education
and then you’ll go back.”
We were telling them
that you can progress ,
live your dreams,
get inspired
by the role models
that you now see
and become teachers,
doctors, lawyers,
engineers, not just
be stuck in that circuit
of child labor.
Our children now
are thinking how to
take care of themselves,
how to take care of
their family
with the hygiene
and the cleanliness,
which we want to
make our children think,
that this world is yours
as well.
Additionally,
Zindagi Trust is committed
to promoting quality
government school reform
and improving
the curriculum and
textbooks of the Pakistani
education system so that
the population at large
can benefit.
In 2006, I took over
a government school,
and I turned around
that government school.
I don't know
what good education is;
obviously
it'll change every year,
every 10 years.
It's about human,
it's about nature,
it's about loving
your fellow beings,
it's about loving nature.
If the education is not
pushing you to become
a good human being
then it's of no use.
So being a good human
is to respect
and feel for others.
I think this is what
schools should focus on.
Mr. Shehzad Roy,
our gratefulness
and admiration for your
kind and selfless endeavor.
May your noble mission
continue to help
bring a brighter future
for the beautiful children
of Pakistan.
May life become a hope,
may it become Love’s thirst.
May life become a hope,
may it become Love’s thirst.
Let's pray to God
we share happiness
with everyone,
May life become a hope,
may it becomes love’s thirst.
May life become a hope,
may it becomes Love’s thirst.
May life become a hope,
may it become Love’s thirst.
Let's pray to God
we share happiness
with everyone,
May life become a hope,
may is become Love’s thirst.
May life become a hope,
may it become Love’s thirst.
For more details
on Shehzad Roy
and the Zindagi Trust,
please visit:
www.Shehzad-Roy.com
AND
www.ZindagiTrust.org
Spirited viewers,
it has been a pleasure
having you with us on
Good People, Good Work.
Please tune in next Sunday
for part 2 as we visit
the Fatimah Girls
Government School
in Karachi, Pakistan
and learn more about
how it was transformed
under the dedicating effort
of the Zindagi Trust.
Coming up next is
The World Around Us
after Noteworthy News.
May your heart
be replenished with
the currents of Divine love.
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