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BY CAROLINE LINDEN

“You’ve got to get there and teach them to read and write and think…and that I think is the biggest job for our society […] and if we keep at it relentlessly, 30, 40, 50 years from now you will have a good part of the work” –Ateed Riaz (The Citizens Foundation)

This quotation from Ateed Riaz of the Citizens Foundation seems, for me, to resonate with the broad ideals of those involved in GES. The Citizens Foundation is a non-profit organization which works to bring educational opportunities to children in the slums of Pakistan which they may not have received otherwise. This organization really is a success story: they run 600 programs throughout the country and enroll 80,000 students for a price which equates to 13¢(US)/month/child. In comparison, state-run schools, they argue, are largely a failure and often have empty classrooms with low budgets and frustrated teachers. The Citizens Foundation has worked to complete Pakistan’s school system, closing the gap between these children from the slums and other educated children around the world.  Their website highlights the story of Saqib Shaukat, their first student to be accepted to one of Pakistan’s leading educational institutions on a scholarship. This shows huge strides for an organization which often does not begin educating until the children reach age 10.

Ignoring the great success of the organization, I find it more inspiring to look at the children themselves. These children often work long hours outside of their classes, and many, according to the article accompanying the video, do not even know their true age. Yet, despite their past, they still have great hope for their future. One girl expresses the dream of becoming a doctor, not because of the wage she would earn, but because she would be able to help people feel better.  Going back to Ateed Riaz’s explanation, the most important thing is to teach our future generation the importance of gaining knowledge and using it, as these children want to, in a way that will help others reach the same enlightenment. As a young boy who attends the school says: “I started [school] late because I was working, but [my brothers and sisters] don’t have to.”

For members of the GES community it is reassuring to see such a success story. As Riaz says, if we keep working relentlessly we can make great strides in bettering this world, and motivate others to do so as well, and that’s all any of us ask for.