Exciting Progress at Open Hands Global: Kadlathia Centre on the verge of Completion!
It has been a bustling year at Open Hands Global sites! The
Community Center at the Kadlathia site is swiftly approaching its final stages of construction. The building is now getting its finishing touches with the application of the last coat of paint.
Anticipation is building among the staff and children as they eagerly look forward to moving into their new home in
February2024.
OPEN HANDS GLOBAL STUDENTS
A big thank you to all our donors for their generous support! We are excited to report the growth of the program to 202 children at the two sites. The new school year in Pakistan begins in March. This year an additional 60 children, for a total of 120, are now attending English medium schools. Our new admissions include 32 children from the Chak Jalal Din (CJD) site and 28 children from the Sheikhupura (SP) site. The students exceled in the admission tests having completed one year of pre-school classes at the Open Hands Global Learning Centre
A change has been made in the choice of schools for the boys. All the boys at the CJD site have been transferred from Station School 2 to St. John’s High School, Rawalpindi, which has a higher standard of education. We hope that they will flourish at this more disciplined Institute.
At the CJD site, all the students in grades 7 to 9 graduated to the next grade, but as a class, they underperformed in physics and math. The after-school program has been strengthened by hiring a more experienced teacher, with a Master’s degree in physics to help students in these subjects.
The morning programs at both learning centres (CJD and SP) have been filled with new students to prepare the next batch of children that will go to school in 2023.
OPEN HANDS GLOBAL COMES ALONGSIDE THE POOREST AND OPPRESSED COMMUNITIES IN PAKISTAN WITH A VISION TO HELP BREAK THE CYCLE OF POVERTY THROUGH EDUCATION. OUR MAIN FOCUS IS TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO GOOD SCHOOLING FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH ALONG WITH A ROBUST AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM.
CHILDREN'S ACTIVITIES
We are supporting students attending extracurricular activities done through their schools and at the community centre. St John’s High School recently held a four-day summer gala and we participated fully by paying the gala admission fees for all 30 of our students along with purchasing water guns for each student and providing two large inflatable pools. The children felt so excited when all the other children wanted to play in their big pool.
NEW SCHOOL YEAR ACTIVITIES
CHAK JALAL DIN COMMUNITY CENTRE UPDATE
The community centre building is fully functional. We are in the process of slowly equipping it with furniture. Other outstanding items include completing the kitchen that would be essential for many shared meals and the memory wall that will be a humble tribute to our generous donors.
SHEIKHUPURA UPDATE
- The SP site is currently a four-room rental space. It is very tight for the 40 children that come in the morning and the 60 children that come after school. We envision to build our second community centre at the Sheikhupura site that would be a comfortable, clean and safe space for running educational and health programs that would meet the wider community needs.We bought two new computers for a total of four computers at the site. These are still too few for the number of children. The main hindrance to getting more computers is the limited space, low voltage electricity and long power outages.We are excited to report that we set up solar panels for this site that will allow the computers, refrigerator and fans to run all day without any additional cost. These panels are portable and will be moved to the bigger unit once the new community centre is built.
- A 25 marla (6800 square feet) piece of land close to the current site was purchase in March this year. The architectural drawings are in progress and we hope to start building in early 2023.Our commitment to making a difference in the kiln worker communities inspired us to include plans for a medical clinic in the future community centre. This clinic will meet the basic medical needs of the children as well as their families who work in the brick kilns. We are looking for donors to support this important initiative.Purchase of a second 30 seater Toyota van and hiring of a second van driver. At the SP site, rental of a commercial van and driver for the additional children. Hiring of additional staff to bring the total to 25 team members in Pakistan.
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Ayan Saleem
Meet Ayan Saleem, a six year old rising star in our playgroup at the CJD site. He is always attentive in class and is a quick learner. He aspires to be a teacher! He loves the rules of etiquette that he learns at school. According to his mom, Ayan makes sure that she and his siblings always say thank you. He also sits them down and teaches them the different things he learns at school. Recently, he was teaching them all about sizes and shapes using tiles he found outside his house. We are excited to follow his progress through the years.
RACHEL AND GRACE
Rachel and Grace are two sisters from SP. Both their
parents were murdered in an honour killing almost
two years ago. Their grandmother, who supports them
now, has gone back to work cleaning homes to have
enough income to care for the sisters. Rachel is in the
Playgroup with Open Hands and Grace will join next
year. Rachel’s grandmother shared English words that
she learned from her granddaughter and was very
thankful that both children will receive free education
through OHG programs. We are so grateful that we
are able to make a difference in the lives of children
that would have no hope otherwise.
SPONSOR A STUDENT
YOUR MONTHLY CONTRIBUTIONS MAKE THE PROJECT SUSTAINABLE AND FUTURE PLANNING POSSIBLE
SPONSOR A STUDENT – $50/MONTH
A FULL SPONSORSHIP COVERS THE SCHOOL FEE, TRANSPORT, TWO SETS OF UNIFORMS, OXFORD CURRICULUM TEXT BOOKS AND NOTEBOOKS.
SPONSOR A SCHOOL FEE – $25/MONTH
ENSURE THAT A CHILD ATTENDS A REPUTABLE SCHOOL WITH QUALITY EDUCATION.
SPONSOR A MEAL – $20/MONTH
A MONTHLY PLEDGE WILL ALLOW A CHILD TO HAVE A MEAL EVERY SCHOOL DAY.
SPONSOR TRANSPORT TO AND FROM SCHOOL – $15/MONTH
SEND A CHILD TO SCHOOL IN SAFETY AND COMFORT. THIS PLEDGE WILL COVER THE COST OF GAS, THE VAN DRIVER AND MAINTENANCE OF AN AIR CONDITIONED VAN.
SPONSOR TEXT BOOKS AND A FILLED BACKPACK – $10/MONTH
ENSURE THAT A CHILD ATTENDING AN ENGLISH MEDIUM SCHOOL HAS THE NECESSARY BOOKS AND SUPPLIES TO REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL.
COMMUNITY CENTRE – $500
DONATIONS OF $500 OR MORE WILL BE RECOGNIZED WITH A MEMORY P
LAQUE WITH YOUR NAME OR THE NAME OF A LOVED ONE THAT WILL BE PLACED ON A WALL IN THE MAIN BUILDING OF THE COMMUNITY CENTRE.