By Salman Madani | Business Development Officer
Razal Memon, a small peasant hamlet nestled among fields of wheat and cotton, is located in Khairpur, Sindh. When DIL-IRC set up a school there in 2000, female literacy rate was an abysmal 7%. Today, every school-aged girl in the vicinity is enrolled.
Even more impressive is the fact that 2 girls from the school are qualified engineers and 7 are currently enrolled in engineering universities.
Before DIL put down roots in Rasal Memon, there were only 2 public schools for the village kids so only a handful of girls would enroll. But once these girls completed 5th grade, they were considered too old to be seen in the company of boys and not permitted to continue their education. The only options left for them were housework and fieldwork.
However, the new DIL-IRC school was an all-girls school and that changed everything.
Nosheen, the first graduate from Razal Memon School to join engineering university, is currently working as a lecturer at Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University. She says, “DIL provided us with everything: textbooks, school supplies and a quality education. While the community was against the girls getting an education, the DIL School reformed their thinking. I vowed that I would provide financial and moral support to children who need it—the same way it was provided to me—and encourage them to attend the very same school that has transformed our community.”
Eighteen years later Rezal Memon is a transformed community. Girls education is paramount, as evidenced by the long waiting list for nursery, 65 girls to be exact.
By Salman Madani | Business Development Officer
By Salman Madani | Business Development Officer
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