Tuesday, 13 January 2015

HOPE’s Muzaffarabad Schools: Annual Visit By The Chairperson And HOPE’s Team. DAY TWO.


On day two the routine was just as grueling as day one. Sleeping in barely comfortable accommodations with night temperature reaching zero degrees after a tiring full day of visiting several distantly placed schools, travelling very shoddy, bumpy roads, cut dangerously close to mountainsides giving  the vehicles and the drivers  amargin of only a few feet from the precipitous edge.

It was an early rise for everyone and a quick breakfast. Several schools had to be covered today and losing no time  Dr MubinaAgboatwalla,Chairperson of HOPE and child specialist in Karachi herded her team in to the waiting vehicle and off they went.

Everyone in the team from  HOPE, an educational NGO in Pakistan curled up against the cold. All of them being from Karachi were not only unaccustomed to the winter cold of Azad Kashmir but also to the geography and terrain of the high mountains of the region. The first stop was at HOPE’s School at Gari Dupatta. It is a small town that has evolved over the years around a military base. Small bazaars cropped up first and then residential settlements and eventually everything that goes with a reasonable population including hospitals and schools. One of the pioneers in establishing schools in this difficult area has been  HOPE, an educational NGO in Pakistan whose efforts and contributions in the education sector has been appreciated by all .


The students and teachers welcomed the HOPE team.The teachers were asked about the syllabus methodology, attendance, results etc. And the students were also randomly asked questions from their syllabus and questions related to recent happenings in AJK & Pakistan and around the world and their awareness was generally found satisfactory.
After the official work was done, DrMubinaAgboatwalla, Chairperson of HOPE and child specialist in Karachi  personally distributed warm clothing, coloring books and pencils, sweets and samosas and even biryani amongst all the students and teachers. It was a big treat for everyone and it turned into a very happy occasion.

Our next stop was Mailsi where the whole routine was replicated making all the students very happy with the goodies they received.

Already exhausted the team made a last stop at the school in  DhaniBakalan where the students and teachers  had been waiting all day long for HOPE’s  team to arrive. Everything went very well here too and  DrMubinaAgboatwalla, Chairperson of HOPE and child specialist in Karachi distributed warm clothing and all the other goodies that were brought for the students and teachers of this school.


Completely tired, it was now time for HOPE’s team to once again board their vehicle and descend from the mountains for their long jurney to their base in Muzaffarabad.

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