You need Acrobat Reader to download these files.
Starfish Asia
32 Beck Lane
Beckenham
Kent BR3 4RE
UK
Telephone
+44 (0)20 8402 1914
Email
mike@starfishasia.com
|
Response to the Pakistan floods The floods that hit Pakistan at the end of July were mostly centred on the north and western side of the country, in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa Province (formerly NWFP). None of the Starfish Asia schools or projects were close to the flood area. Our co-workers were all involved in tackling the endless crisis of poverty and we thought they should not be distractd by this crisis.
However the floods have spread further, and no one now can remain indifferent to the extent of the suffering and loss incurred in hundreds of communities.
Starfish Asia has channelled some funding to partners who are able to give direct aid and relief to niche communities of suffering and hungry people. We are willing to do much more.
Holy Shepherd Grammar School, Karachi
Have you seen the excellent blog of the Holy Shepherd School? Take a look: click here
|
Exam Results
August is the month for the annual Matric Exam results. So far the news has been excellent from the schools supported by Starfish Asia.
Lahore Christian High School: "Congratulations to staff and students at the Lahore Christian High School for the excellent matric result which was announced four days before. Thanks to God that 11 out of 13 students have passed this year, out of them 4 students have obtained between 600 to 700 marks."
Ghauri Wisdom High School: "Our 10th class consisted of ten students. Five were girls and five were boys. Total six students, three boys and three girls have passed."
The Miracle School: "With the Grace of God we got great Matric result of our 20 children. Only 1 student got less marks in 1 subject but others are excellent."
Holy Shepherd, Karachi: "We got 100% result this year."
Good News for the poor
Ghauri Wisdom High School: The 300 students of Ghauri Wisdom school in Youhannabad have lost the use of their rented school building. However Mr Ghauri has friends in the community and the Lord watches over the school. He took another large piece of land on rent for five years. The land included five or six rooms and the landlord agreed to build more classrooms. For us this is an amazing deal—a simple purpose-built school rising from the ground. It is not perhaps the most beautiful building, but for the 300 Ghauri Wisdom students it is a gift from God. More investment will be needed to bring the school up to the stadard required for Board of Education Registration.
Lahore Christian High School: The school celebrated their annual results day, and also the inauguration of the Lahore Christian College for post-Matric students to prepare them for intermediate exams. The school has a new Principal, and is urgently in need of investment in new furniture and equipment when funds permit. Ashley and Seema, who oversee the work of the Fellowship of Christ, also organised an Easter distribution of food for poor ladies in the community.
St. Peter’s Schoool, Burj Klan: William and Ruth also celebrated their results day and
presentations just before Easter. This is the school near the India border that serves Christian
bamboo plantation workers—and also 34 children from nearby villages with a pick-and-drop service. As
usual they put on a moving and well-planned event. The school has developed its new classrooms
since our last visit and now needs furniiture, for which a special gift has recently been received.
The picture shows two girls at the Results Day ceremony. Tania (on the left) is from Bamniwala, a village 5 miles from Burj Klan. One year ago a Muslim mob attacked the homes of Christians in the village, damaging many homes and making it impossible for the Christian children to attend the local school. A delegtation from the school walked over to Burj Klan and asked if their chidlren could attend St. Peter's. Ruth and William bought a Suzuki pick-up and started a pick-and-drop service.
Justice and Mercy
When I was in Pakistan in March I went to visit a friend who runs a home for disabled children in Shahdara, across the river to the west of Lahore. Khalid has recently become passionately involved in standing up for poor Christians who have been abused and exploited. He was closely involved in the murder case of 12 year-old Shazia Bashir who worked as a maid in the home of a wealthy lawyer until she died last January (see the Starfish Newsletter). Khalid wanted to take me to Sheikhupura, a further half hour journey away from Lahore.
Kiran George was an attractive and sadly simple 18 year-old Catholic girl who had become friendly with a Muslim girl who led her astray. Kiran had then been seduced by a man who made her pregnant and forced her to convert to Islam. Her poor parents were distraught. They found her and brought her home, where she renounced her conversion.
Her seducer then doused her with petrol and set her alight so that she died. This happened in early March. I went to meet her parents. Their faces betrayed their grief and desperation at the loss of a beautiful (if unwise) daughter. Kiran had no education and had acted foolishly. The tragedy of her life was, once again, poverty and ignorance.
The Police took no action against her killer and Khalid was not satisfied with this. He organized a demonstration that blocked the main road, drawing attention to the injustice and forcing the police to take action and arrest the man who had seduced and killed Kiran. He is now in prison awaiting trial. We thank God for the courage and outrage of our friend Khalid (not at present supported by Starfish Asia).Such cases of injustice and the abuse of Christians is tragically on the increase in Pakistan.
Bilal Town Christians witness a miracle
Shamshad and Rubina who direct the Gospel School in Bilal Town -- a colony of several hundred Christian families at the western edge of Lahore -- have at last seen a new school building rise on the plot of land they bought in 2008.
Three classes have been meeting in the open air on this plot for the past year, as funds were not available for the building and there was no space in the rented school premises.
For the children and community of Bilal Town this is nothing less than a miracle and an answer to prayer. They should move into the new school building in the summer of 2010.
Funds are still needed for furniture and equipment.
New school books at the Gospel School
Miracle School moves Miracle School ministries runs two schools with a total of about 550 children. Two hundred come from the families working at the Brick Kiln in Youhannabad 2 -- all Christian families that labour without cease making bricks for small reward. These children moved into their own purpose-built school building in November 2009. Now it is the turn of the 350 children who attend the Miracle School in Model Town. They have used a rented building for the past 5 years, but the threat has hung over the school that the building was needed by the landlord and they would have to move. The deadline was the start of 2010! In God's mercy and through the generosity of several Starfish Asia friends, Miracle School Ministries have purchased a building in the same area and moved in May. The children have been praying fervently for this provision -- their prayers are being answered before their very eyes.
Miracle School, Youhannabad 2 Miracle School, Model Town Foundations for the next generation With a grant from donors in Germany we have now launched the preparation of a Scripture curriculum for private Christian schools in Pakistan. David Diwan, Director of Nirali Kitaben in Lahore, and his wife are taking the lead in preparing a course for schools that will equip a generation of Christian children to know their Bibles and to undergird their faith. David has written: I have appointed someone to gather information about Christian schools. We will build a database of all these. Today I received a phone call from the Principal of a Christian School in Rawalpindi who asked for a Christian syllabus for his school. He was delighted to know about our project. He is going to gather information about Christian schools in Rawalpindi District.” Much more funding will be needed for this project as it proceeds. Please ask us for regular updates and help if you can. This could be one of our most valuable contributions to the future of the Christian church in Pakistan. Click the logo to view the Nirali Kitaben website: Learning the value of schools This insight into life at the Holy Shepherd School in Karachi appeared on the blog of a leader of the North Shrewsbury Community Church, who visited the school recently. January 28, 2010 I wish I went to a school with a name like Holy Shepherd Grammar School or for that matter with one with its values and attitudes only I didn't. I'm now very grateful for the education I've received and the more I visit schools in developing countries the more grateful I become. My friend Dave took me out to visit this school on the outskirts of Karachi, which is supported by Starfish Asia. It's a bit of a trek into a dusty, dirty, poor edge of the city but oh my goodness was it worth it. To understand why this school (and so many others like it) is so inspirational, let me give you some background. Christians are a poor minority in this country and education is the way to get jobs in a country where millions struggle to find gainful employment in even the most basic of jobs. The government schools are often terrible, overcrowded, under resourced with teachers that can't be bothered. Not so at Holy Shepherd Grammar School. They charge 50 rupees a month although that's going up to a 100 rupees. Imagine our shock at the doubling of fees but 100 rupees isn't even £1. Maybe it's a dollar. And for the poorest who can't even afford that, they go free. But they get real value for money. I saw classroom after classroom of happy, smiling, children. I got a round of applause just for visiting. They have a really high retention rate, students come back to work at the school, it's well run, with caring teachers and visionary leadership. The school is run by Anser Javed and his wife Kashi and it has 535 pupils aged from 3-18.
They run in two shifts with the youngsters in the morning and the older ones in the
afternoon. The school has been going about 8 years and is expanding fast. They have a
vision to expand to 1000 students and add a vocational training school for 200 so school
leavers can get extra skills to help them get jobs. It has growing influence in the community
(Christian and Muslim) and teaches with Christian integrity and honesty. It is producing
saints as well as scholars. They're now giving children milk and a banana free each day, in addition to free places, books, uniforms for the poorest who can’t afford £1 a month to educate their children. But more could be done. They want a bus to get the young women safely home in the evening (it's not always safe for young girls to walk home on their own) and teachers being paid £50 a month could probably do with a raise. I don't think it is exaggerating to say that the education offered here is changing lives. Why not consider helping this great school do more. You can read about the school on its blog and you can give through Starfish Asia. We know we can't help everyone -- but we have to help some! |
