Mohammad Said and Saria Shajahan - Ehsaas Taleemi Wazaif
(Nathwala, Jhelum, Punjab)
Shajahan gets up at fajr to start making his ice-creams for the day. By 8 am he has cycled out to circumnavigate the city and make his earnings for the day. Sakina his wife goes to the outdoor kitchen in 45 degrees to make roti for the family to start their morning meal. Mohammad Said and Saria crawl out from under the charpais stacked on top of each other due to the limited space in their one room house. Rushing to get dressed they walk to school in the scorching heat of Jhelum in Nathwala.
Their father sells ice cream all afternoon in the heat to get the daily income and then buys some groceries at days end. They recently got electric cables in their area and are quick to use their prized possession – a pedestal fan. Mohammad Saeed uses his left hand to right as the right one is wasted due to geriatric muscular dystrophy. Both the children have a keen love of learning and race to school to attend the lessons for the day. Living on a meagre income, the family is fully reliant on the TW to ensure the two young kids in class 1 and 3 are equipped with literacy, numeracy, and life skills.
When we reached her school, Saria walked in gingerly to greet us, in her classroom she transformed into a vibrant student and raced to answer all the questions her teachers asked. She is eager to continue with her education in the Nathwala Govt. Girls Primary School and is nurtured by a group of highly educated and skilled female mentors. Her brother studies in a campus that is further down from their house. Since he is older, he walks for at least 30 minutes in the sweltering heat to get to school. He is a bright student and works diligently to support his classmates in learning. His principal at the Nathwala Boys Secondary School hopes that the Taleemi Wazaif Program will continue to support Mohammad Said and then he could avail himself of the Ehsaas undergraduate Scholarship and study at a local university.
