Schools: Educating underserved youth in Pakistan

It’s back to school time for the children at Marshall Direct Fund schools throughout Pakistan. While the children spent time with their families, the teachers were hard at work. MDF staff took part in professional development programs with the goal of learning how to better serve the students and provide support to one another. Over the Summer, our new Director instituted an array of new and improved processes that the staff and students have benefited from, including more regular meetings chaired by different staff on various subjects with the objective of sharing challenges and learning from each others’ experiences, increasing confidence and range of skills, fostering leadership and respect for diversity, and improving time management and creativity. We intend to conduct future teacher training on subjects that range from IT development, volunteerism, and human rights, and to facilitate more frequent exchange of ideas between teachers at the different MDF schools.

We are very proud of the 250 students that graduated to the next level last June. We look forward to seeing their smiling faces in class this month. This year we will be implementing the Global Kid Connect (GKC) program in January or February for a fourth year of connecting students on one side of the globe with another! This academic year, we will be partnering with Citizens Archive of Pakistan in order to reach more schools in Pakistan. Students who participate in GKC interact with their peers at sister schools in the U.S. via a classroom blog. On the blog, students exchange letters, pictures, drawings, cards, and collages all within a program that is designed to foster empathy and cultural exchange. The students at Pakistani schools had a lot to talk about last year. They got to go on their very first field trip ever - to a Museum followed by a park! We are so excited for these students to have the opportunity to take part in educational activities that provide a brighter future. We are also proud of the staff and our supporters that help make this possible. 

Please know this project enables youth and their families to obtain credible education, critical thinking skills, and provides a safe place to learn and grow where they can also better respond to natural disasters and other challenges Pakistan faces in the future. Please help us generate awareness – Become a fan of our Facebook page, join us on Twitter, and share with your networks. If you would like to start a MDF Circle group in your community there are various one-time or re-occurring ideas and activities that we would be pleased to share. You can reach us at info@marshalldirectfund.org or at +01(970)963-3150. Thank you so much for your continued support!