Training session on "Learning Process of Children" at HOPE School.

There are growing concerns that our government educational system is not adequately preparing the students to develop the knowledge they need to live and work successfully in today's complex society. And the underprivilged children who cannot afford to go to private schools wind up studying at government schools. But HOPE is providing them an opportunity to recieve free and quality education at HOPE Schools.

HOPE believes that there is a need for schools to provide opportunities for students to engage in activities that promote in-depth understanding, critical thinking, creative problem solving, and the ability to use knowledge in real-life settings. So that, even the students from underprivileged families can excel in today's fast moving world.

Taking this viewpoint along, HOPE conducted a training event at HOPE Formal School, Zia Colony, which was lead by Zoaib Mirza, Director at USA Adner School of Professional Psychology.

He gave a session on "learning process of children", where he explained and trained the teachers how to act as guides and advisors, building bridges between their students' individual interests and understandings and the common skills and knowledge society expects them to acquire.

 

Strategies used by HOPE Formal School to educate young minds

Sharing knowledge is only difficult, when understanding student is beyond your reach… It has never been easy to teach young minds but the difficulty only arises when the teacher doesn’t understand child’s psychology, the problems he is dealing with, and the difficulties he faces while studying, based on these issues, the HOPE Formal School had designed its strategies, which resulted in a 100% matriculation results.

The HOPE Formal School Karachi, which is run by HOPE, an educational based NGO is situated in a slum area of Zia Colony, Korangi, Karachi catering to the underprivileged children and teenagers living in this area. There are 800 students enrolled in this School, but the level of education which is giving to them is no less than any other private School.  It has only become possible, when the school management realized that in order to teach these young minds, they have to understand their family backgrounds, since some of the children were forced to be a child labor, as their parents were  not working anywhere, in this regard the  management decided to give their parents a job according to their knowledge and skills, so that the these folks could also pursue education since they don’t have to bare any expense of School uniforms or School books  and   very negligible amount or no fees are charged from few students. This strategy secures them from their underprivileged environment.

Counseling is done on regular basis, so that teachers   could understand the child psychology. This could help them in understanding  the student’s problems and motivate them to deal with it, this also helps the teacher to relate topics example according to the child Psychology. Extra time is given by the teacher to students who need it, so that students don’t need to take any help from external sources.

Topics are designed in a form of stories so that students could easily understand the topics and they don’t lose their interest. Furthermore, field trips are encouraged, as per required by the syllabus so that team work, self learning and confidence could be developed in students. Creativity is one of the factors that lead to self expression and this is why, HOPE Formal Students are always motivated to participate in such competitions.

It has also been made sure that a  very limited amount of  homework is given to the students, as normally, after school, young girls  have to do  the household chores and the boys are mostly engaged in part time jobs. Indeed, it is not easy to procure this school in a limited resources, but well managed strategies are leading it towards success!

Celebrating commitment and hope for a better world!

International Volunteers' Day is a chance for volunteer-involving organizations and individual volunteers to promote their contributions to development at local, national and international levels.

This Day was established by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly through Resolution 40/212 on 17 December 1985. Since then, governments, the UN system and civil society organizations have successfully joined volunteers around the world to celebrate the Day on 5 December.

On International Volunteer Day (IVD) , UNV celebrate their commitment and hope for a better world. The main focus of IVD 2012 was awareness of and recognition for volunteers and volunteer organizations. The purpose was  to recognise this commitment, to inform people about the impact of volunteering on peace and sustainable development, and to applaud volunteers for their dedication and impact.

 

 In this regard, the students of HOPE Formal School Karachi visited frère hall to be a part of UNV celebration. The program raised awareness amongst the students about the hazards of floods and the necessary precautions that should be taken during the flood. The program included a docudrama, and photography exhibititon, so that the young minds could relate the pictures and docudrama with reality.

There were about 50 students who were supervised by 3 teachers. These young minds showed a great level of discipline and enthusiasm in learning about the flood affected areas and how does it affect the life of people living there and how volunteers can help the people in need.

A visit to HOPE School, Muzaffargarh.

Recently, our team visited HOPE Semi-formal School in Muzaffargarh which has about 170 students enrolled and 8 teachers employed. The team was pleased to receive a warm welcome from the students. And the enthusiasm and discipline shown by the students were quite fascinating. It gives us immense pleasure to see such innocent souls growing in a learning environment which will be beneficial for their future and for the society as well. These students belong to the underprivileged families who cannot afford to send them to school, but HOPE stands by them. HOPE provides them quality education with free school bags, textbooks, stationery items, uniform etc. During the visit, the team also distributed sweaters among the students.

 

On the next day, the annual day function was also organized, for which, the students had prepared tableaus and skits. Their performances on stage brought out the hidden talent in them and it proved that these children from the underprivileged class have the ability to compete others and excel in life.

The prizes were distributed at the end of the function along with the “Teacher Of The Year” and “Student Of The Year” award followed by Briyani distribution among the students.  
 

Along with the formal education being provided to the students, there is also a vocational center which conducts sewing, cutting and embroidery classes for developing vocational skills in the women of the area.

HOPE Team keeps visiting its schools, hospitals and vocational centers for monitoring purpose across Pakistan, to ensure quality education and healthcare is provided to the people.

Safe Drinking Water - Conversion of PuR into P&G Purifier of Water.

 

Most poverty stricken communities in Pakistan have limited access to safe drinking water, resulting in various water-borne illnesses. Therefore, HOPE has been actively involved in providing access to safe water across the country to poor communities.

In June 2009, HOPE began its safe drinking water campaign in the slum areas of Karachi. The project included the distribution of a water-purifying agent known as PuR. This water-purifying agent comes in a sachet, and when mixed with dirty water, removes 99% of germs and bacteria, leaving the previously dirty water now drinkable. From June 1 to July 30, HOPE distributed 1.2 million sachets of PuR. Demonstrations were also held to show the community members how to use PuR and emphasize the importance of safe and clean drinking water to a person’s health. Buckets, coolers and spoons were also distributed to the families.

In 2010, when floods struck the country, millions of people were left homeless. With little or no access to safe drinking water, diseases such as diarrhea and gastroenteritis became rampant. Part of its relief efforts entailed provision of clean water. HOPE distributed PuR to 40,000 families—15,000 in Peshawar, 10,000 in Muzzafargarh, 10,000 in Sukker, and 5,000 in Thatta, along with buckets, coolers, spoons, and ICE material. Demonstrations were held and people were handed out brouchers, in order to ensure proper usage of the product. In total, 1.8 million sachets of PuR were distributed.

In 2011, HOPE joined hands with Procter & Gamble Campany Cincinnati, Ohio and signed a ditribution accord that gave HOPE the rights to distribute "P&G Water Purifier", a water purifying product to various international and local NGOs.

The product name has been changed from "PuR" to "P&G purifier of water".  The product is backed by P&G’s unmatched assets of extensive research, development and market goodwill, corresponded by HOPE’s wide-ranging field experience in coordinating disaster relief in Pakistan.

After the distribution agreement with P&G, HOPE has contacted more than 80 INGOs, donor agencies, community based groups and partners to distibute P&G Water Purifier for provision of safe drinking water in flood affected areas and distributed about 17 million P&G water purifier sachets various INGOs such as WHO, UNICEF, Save The Children, International Federation of Red Cross and International Medical Corps.

Moreover, HOPE distributed these sachets to an estimated 285.000 families in rain affected areas in Sindh in 2011 alone.

HOPE strives to provide access to safe drinking water to millions of poverty-stricken people accross Pakistan and takes it as its responsibility to help all those people in need.