Self Service and other changes to the Breakfast Programme
After the admission of some new students in mid-November, the daily breakfast programme for kindergarten students at the SMB Fatima Jinnah Government Girls School has grown to support 231 students from KG 1 and KG2. As a result of the increase in student strength along with inflationary pressure in recent weeks the cost of the programme has increased to around Rs. 16,000 per week.
The major expenditure on the breakfast programme consists of milk and eggs:
Milk: Rs. 2756 @ Rs. 800 per carton
Eggs: 13 dozen @ Rs 90-95 per dozen
As always, the breakfast menu includes milk, flavoured with Rooh-Afza (a local rosewater flavouring), and fresh fruit/vegetables/eggs etc. depending upon the season. The current menu has been winter-ized and boiled eggs are back, which the children really enjoy in the chilly mornings. Other items that make an appearance on the menu include apples, bananas, bread and butter, boiled potatoes and hot noodles.
The breakfast programme has had a positive impact on the health of the young students. Where previously we saw kids passing from weakness or malnourishment and reporting to the health room, the school nurse reports that the incidence has decreased since the advent of the breakfast programme. She also reports that allergies and fever complaints have reduced, indicating that the nourishment at the start of the day helps to prevent children from catching infection from each other.
Recently, a self-service initiative was started in the Breakfast Program to have the students serve themselves. This helped them learn the concept of waiting their turn in line in a disciplined yet friendly atmosphere. The little children, who were previously helped with every little step from being given a filled plate to being sat in their chairs, are really enjoying this new independence. They walk into the breakfast room, pick up their breakfast from the counter, carry it to their seats and clear their tables after they are done and they enjoy performing each of these steps on their own with lots of energy and excitement. This added spring in their steps at the start of the school day goes a long way!
They also learn basic dining etiquette as well as the importance of good and timely nutrition. They have also been taught to make it a habit to thank God before and after their meal. Most of these things sound pretty basic, but many of these children had never used a napkin while eating and had no idea that used tissue paper, for example, needed to be binned properly in a trash can, so teaching them these little things from an early age has become an important part of the breakfast programme.
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First up, a big thank you to all our supporters for making our work with these amazing children possible! The team at Zindagi Trust has been busy with the new term at the Paid to Learn schools across the country since our last update in August. We hope you enjoy the latest highlights from our schools:
Design for Change – Pakistan
Students from across our network of schools for working children brainstormed and submitted their creative ideas to the world’s largest Design for Change School Challenge, where children aged 8 to 13 identify and propose solutions to the problems their local communities face. Encouraged by their success in the event last year, when teams from our schools won the Jinnah Prize, the Quickest Impact Prize and the Most Environmentally Friendly prize, our teachers and students got to work and once again prepared some great projects for the competition this year.
Some of the ideas our students developed projects for this year include an effort to promote awareness about safe drinking water, a school enrollment drive, a project that converts electric poles on the street into beautiful tools of religious awareness, as well as a handwashing drive. The students have enjoyed brainstorming for ideas and working on putting them into practice. The school enrollment project in which our students reached out to working children on the street like themselves and educated and encouraged them (and their parents) to join school has already borne fruit with some on-the-spot enrollments!
The results of the competition will be announced at the end of the month and we are hopeful once again of a good show.
Ramadan Carnival
Late in August, we had a two-day Ramadan Carnival for 300 of our students in Karachi, thanks to the support of Coke. The students from the urban slums of Manzoor Colony, Mehmudabad, Haji Usman and Zia Colony – where we run four non-formal schools for underprivileged, working children – took part in the event. They were brought in buses from their homes or auto-shops to the spacious SMB Fatima Government Girls School, which Zindagi Trust manages as part of its public school reform project. The school was decorated with festive lights and theme trucks ready with games and gifts.
The Coke team and our teachers arranged games and competitions for the students. The event kicked off with a freestyle art competition, the top 30 contestants of which were awarded and their work displayed for all the students to see. Later, some of the students played cricket, another set played tug of war and some enjoyed the jungle gym in the corner of the Fatima Jinnah grounds. All the while, volunteers were decorating the faces of the eager students with hearts or butterflies in face paint, or taught them a sport they hadn’t played before, like basketball.
These carefree, fun activities held in a bright, festive and spacious environment were a rare experience for these children, who come from impoverished backgrounds and spend most of their days working hard on the street. The children were delighted at the opportunity to express themselves freely by something as simple as running around in a big playground!
At sunset, all the students, teachers and coordinators enjoyed a lovely Iftar meal. Later, all the children were given gift hampers, the highlight of which were cricket bats which the students couldn’t playing and posing with. The most unforgettable moment of the night came right at the end, when a continuous fountain of shiny coloured confetti was showered over the children who cheered with glee as they danced through the red-and-white rain like the rockstars that we know they are.
Beautify Your School
Earth Day was celebrated at all our schools with a “Beautify Your School” activity which promoted a commitment to keeping our environment clean and green. The students cleaned their schools and the area around them, collecting litter in bags and depositing it in marked litter bins.
For children living, working and indeed studying in urban slums where treating public space as a garbage can is considered the norm, this yearly event goes a long way in spreading awareness about the importance of a clean and healthy environment, not only among the students themselves but also their families and the people they work with at car-repair shops and general stores, etc.
The teachers also joined the students in this effort to demonstrate that cleaning up is everyone’s job and must be done with commitment and pride. The children were reminded that littering their school and their street was one step towards destroying the earth. Later, the children were asked to write a sentence each about the dangers of not caring for the environment and the importance of cleanliness to integrate the message into their everyday learning.
Get in Touch!
Please let us know what you thought of our programmes. We would love to hear your feedback about more events and activities that we can organize at our school, so if you have an idea about something our children would enjoy, please write to us - leave a comment here, shoot us an email, or catch us on Facebook or twitter! Thank you for reading and have a lovely day.
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We are very obliged to our donors, supporters and well-wishers from all walks of life, who maintain an interest in supporting our noble cause. With heartfelt gratitude thank to each one of you for extending support to Zindagi Trust projects. Children studying in mainstream secondary education are very grateful for the support that you all are providing them in getting education.
Todays' update will highlight about Irfan & his family. Irfan is a student of grade 6 in a private school of Rawalpindi region.
About Irfan
Irfan is brilliant graduate of Chah Sultan School, run by Zindagi Trust. After his father left his job due to an illness that confined him to his bed, Irfan and his brother started working at a general store to make ends meet. This meant that he could not go to a regular school.
His father was a school teacher before his health rendered him unemployed, yet his interest in education brought Irfan to a Zindagi Trust primary school for working children. Irfan was a keen student in school throughout his time at the school until he graduated in Class 5.
After graduation from Zindagi Trust's non-formal primary education programme, he was placed in a mainstream school called M.C. Boys High School in Millat Colony, Rawalpindi, where he is currently studying in Class 6.
Irfan continues to be a model student and stood 4th in his last exams. All his teachers are very happy with his performance and his attitude. His class teacher says that Irfan is intelligent and punctual, and that his academic performance is seeing a steady improvement. Irfan takes his studies seriously and spends his evenings revising his work with his father. His favourite subject is science and he wants to be a pilot when he grows up.
