Youth is easily deceived because it is quick to hope.’
These are the words of the great Aristotle who developed the very basis of the word that is ‘logic’.
We the youth are optimistic, hopeful, determined and willing to run that extra mile in order to achieve our goals but we the youth also falter stumble and eventually fall down but somehow we find the strength to rise up again and move on. Nature has given us legs for a reason and that is to keep on moving on.
Yes all of us ‘HOPE’ to do something and ‘WISH’ to achieve something but in the end actions speak louder than words.
There is no point in day-dreaming about a specific goal, what is needed to be done is to facilitate the process of achieving your goals. We do not need awareness we need action.
This is the sad state of our country today. Here I am dressed comfortably in warm clothes, wearing a sweater and drinking hot coffee but out there in the streets a person of my age is shivering and shuddering in the cold as he earns just about enough to buy himself one square meal a day either by wiping the windows of cars or selling flowers. I am sure most of you must recognize, heard or met a young boy who sells flowers by communicating in English.
‘Please buy flowers from me. Only 20 Rupees.Dont break my heart’
I actually had the privilege to interview this young lad and upon questioning him on ‘taleem’ which is education, his eyes suddenly piqued interest and lit up. The boy was eager to be educated and felt that the only hindrance or thorn in his path towards acquiring education was finance. Sadly it always ALWAYS boils down to the issue of money.
Do these kids do not have the right to acquire education? Yes they do, barely 2% of our GDP is spent on education and the shady conditions of government schools and the existence of ghost schools help in destroying the whole concept of education. However let us remind ourselves that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. A ray of light, a glimmer of hope and those we the privileged youth of our nation are that illumination.
I have had the experience of currently working for an entity by the name of ‘Taleem Sub Kay Liye’ which is a non-governmental organization initiated by the students of my college. Our aim is to ignite the fire of education in the heart of our youth especially those who have been deprived of education from the start. It is about time that we stop hoping that the great leaders of our country will do anything to help alleviate the poor people from their problems. Let us not be ignorant and as a responsible patriot of our nation, let us be the ones to lead and guide the people of our country. Education is the backbone for development of any country hence if we want Pakistan to flourish then we need to set up a solid foundation first and that can only be provided through
education.
What I have noticed is that if these kids are given the opportunity to acquire education they will gladly embrace it. Not only are they determined but they are clever as well. In my opinion they are more determined than we are as we take everything for granted but these people are deprived of that EVERYTHING and hence when they are introduced with the concept of education they are more than willing to seek and acquire it. Yes the next time you whine toy our parents that you do not want to go to college tomorrow, take a moment and think about the children who are being deprived of the standard of education that you are
getting.
‘Taleem sab kay liye’ is an entity that has made me aware about the need of education in our country. Education does not only include teaching children ‘ABC’ or ‘1+1=2’ no it is bigger than that, Taleem Sub Kay Liye provides children with a platform where they learn discipline, etiquettes, civil behavior, the difference between what is wrong and what is right. These core values need to cement in our youth if they want to responsible mature human beings. In-fact teaching these kids not to litter, to keep your streets clean is an incredible way of making them develop and prosper.
TSKL has many branches and I have had the privilege of being part of two of their most prestigious projects. One being the summer-school and the other being project blue sky (where we basically teach children under the open sky). The look of gratitude that these young children have when you teach them in fact motivates you to continue teaching them, for instance our project blue sky in the beginning had a lot of operational difficulties due to various reasons but yet we continued this project just because of that look of happiness or determination that child gives you while you are teaching him.
In project Blue-Sky at the end of each class, we provide the children with food items such as biscuits, juices and ice-cream. A lot of people tell me that these children only study from you because they get free food. I beg to differ, on the contrary on one occasion I forgot to bring money for these kids to buy them ice-cream and I jokingly asked this kid that because he was not paying attention in class I would not give him ice-cream at the end of class and the kid replied with a serious look on his face that ‘sir hum parhnay kay liye idhar aatay hai, khaanay kay liye nahi, masla nahi hai agar aaj ice-cream nahi khayee hum nay’ (Sir we come here to study not to free, its not a problem if we do not eat ice-cream today) It was at that moment I realized how determined these kids are and how our entity is aiming to transform the lives of these people. Maybe one day I will meet that kid being employed somewhere and earning enough money to eat two proper meals a day.
Education.Englighten.Inspire.
That is the TSKL motto and that is our goal. Revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall. It is our responsibility to bring that change and it is their right to be educated.
Shahzeb Naeem
Project
Manager (TSKL)