Educate 1,000 Underprivileged Girls in Pakistan

Meet Sumaira

Sumaira Shaheen lived in Bunni Behk Village in Pakistan’s Punjab province. Her father taught Arabic and with his meager income, he could hardly feed a family of 11. Education was a luxury the family couldn’t afford. To make matters worse, her father believed that girls should not be educated because they become rebellious and disobedient. So Sumaira, along with her eight siblings, did not go to school. The staff at a local DIL school came to know about the new residents in the village and came by to visit. They reasoned with the family to agree to send the girls to school. Given the family’s financial situation, Sumaira and all her sisters enrolled free of cost.  Sumaira is now 12 years old and in Fourth Grade. She is an intelligent girl ranks at the top of her class.

Meet Noor-ul-hudda

12 year old Noor-ul-hudda lives in Sagyoon Village in southern Pakistan. When Noor  was only three years old, her father suffered business losses and went into debt. The family suddenly found itself very poor. When a DIL school opened in her village, Noor’s mother put her to work with a food cart outside the school. A teacher noticed  her and asked Noor why she wasn't erolled. Moved by her condition, the teacher assured her that the school would provide for her expenses. Noor registered for kindergarten the next day while she continued to man the food cart during break. 

“Now my parents are very happy to see me studying and supporting my family. I am thankful to my teachers for their  support,” shares Noor.

Meet Dilshad

Dilshad is the second youngest of 10 siblings in a poor southern village in Pakistan. She  did very well in a DIL school all the way through Eighth Grade. She wanted to continue but family members intervened and Dilshad was forced to stay home to tend for her sick mother. A motivated girl, she did not give up. She asked DIL for a scholarship and promised her family that she would do her share of the chores. They relented and she enrolled in high school. 

Dilshad now wakes up early, fixes breakfast for everyone and then gets ready for school. When she gets back, she does the household chores and supports her family by sewing and doing embroidery. However, she continues to be at the top of her class. Dilshad aim is to ensure girls in her village have the right to go to school. 

Because of your support, DIL can continue to provide girls like Dishad, Noor and Sumaira with the quality education they deserve. As 2012 comes to a close, we find ourselves grateful for your generosity and humbled by the thousands of DIL students and teachers whose indomitable spirits inspire us all.