For the past year, I have been working with The Hoshyar Foundation, an American non-profit whose mission statement asserts:The organization's primary mandate is increasing women's and girls' access to education in historically underserved localities, particularly South Asia and Afghanistan. We are keenly aware that the cultural politics of development work are best navigated when grantors work together with--rather than initiate or direct--local initiatives. The organization seeks to work with communities that have already identified a need to promote female education, and to make its grants of resources according to articulated needs of those communities.
Carla Petievich, the founder and executive director of Hoshyar, is a South Asian Studies scholar and professor whose years of research in Pakistan have made her keenly aware of the need to support education in the region. One of Hoshyar's most ambitious projects to date has been a collaboration with the al-Hamd Educational Girls High School. The al-Hamd School is located in Baagarian Village, just outside the city of Lahore, Pakistan. Founded by a remarkable woman with a dream to provide education to girls and young women, it serves more than 150 students in nursery through grade ten. Students contribute a nominal tuition fee - with books, materials and uniforms provided. The school serves an impoverished semi-rural community of families eager to educate their children and enthusiastic about the opportunities that al-Hamd is providing. In May, with financial assistance from Hoshyar, al-Hamd completed construction on a brand-new building, setting the stage for an exciting future in the village.
My own work with Hoshyar and al-Hamd involves curriculum and pedagogy - the teaching practices that go on within the walls of the new building. I visited Pakistan last September to observe the school and to interview faculty and students. I also had the opportunity to meet other educators in Lahore, an introduction to the professional community working for school reform in the area. My next visit will be in January, 2010 when I'll be overseeing a training workshop for al-Hamd's teachers and administrators. Upcoming posts will describe this project in more detail as well as my hopes for al-Hamd and other Hoshyar projects that fuel my excitement about working in Pakistan.
-Beth
