Anmool can now fulfill his dream

The girl Anmool tells us

- My father died three years ago and my mother started working in a factory so there was money to cover expenses at home. She worked all the time but didn't earn much and there wasn't enough money to pay for schooling. That's why I also started working at the factory with my mother. The men and boys at the factory tried to initiate relationships with me and offered me money for sexual gratification. However, as a Christian girl, I cannot get involved in bad and useless relationships. One day, three men and boys tried to get me out of the department where I worked. I started to run, but I fell, hit my right eye into a wall and it started bleeding. After that, my mother never sent me to work again.

I had a great desire to get an education and become an English teacher, but coming from a poor family, I had to forget this dream. I prayed that if it was God's will, he would open the door. Then God heard our prayer and the Danish European Mission partner started building a school for the community. You cannot imagine how happy I was.

Schooling for 300 children like Anmool

At the school, 300 children like Anmool now have the opportunity to take 1st - 8th grade. The school project has been awarded DANIDA funding, which is administered by the Danish Mission Council's Development Department.

The school equips children with knowledge and develops their social skills. They learn to count, write and read Urdu and English - as well as subjects like physics, biology and geography. Students learn to use a computer - and also to express their opinions by participating in class debates and student councils. The school is run on a Christian basis, and at the school the girls will experience an environment where women are considered equal to men.

In many ways, students are empowered to create a better future for themselves and their families. Furthermore, these children will be equipped to make a positive impact on Pakistani society in the long term.

However, the school project doesn't just mean schooling for children who probably wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity to go to school. The school receives a small grant from the municipality, and through this collaboration, the municipality may in the future gain a greater understanding of new ways in which it can make a difference in the community. Seminars are also organized for the children's parents and siblings to build their capacity and give them the tools to lift themselves out of poverty.

Anmool now has the opportunity to fulfill her dream. She concludes by saying that she is also excited to learn how to use a computer and take music lessons.