Meet the Mashal Kids

Shahzaman joined Mashal in playgroup four years ago. His family came from Kashmir and earns its living collecting and sorting scrap. School has made him confident and sociable, and his sisters, who were kept at home, now come to Mashal for afternoon literacy and sewing classes. He keeps asking his parents to let them come to school with him.

Noor's family lived in Mardan for twenty-five years before moving to Islamabad. She is one of six children. Before she joined Mashal two years ago she supported herself by picking through waste, growing up with little care simply because she was a girl. Noor now wants to keep studying and change her life.

Asad's family left Muzaffarabad after the 2005 earthquake brought their house down. For a time he and his brother earned what they could around the Bari Imam shrine, until Sohail, Mashal's admin manager, persuaded him to come to school instead. He sells flowers and shopping bags after class, and says school has given him back his self-respect. He wants to join the police and protect children like him.

Cousins from the Bara region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sabia and Ayesha arrived in Islamabad with no prospect of an education; girls where they grew up were not allowed to attend school. Sabia walked more than two hours with her older sister to reach Mashal, and says she would do it again. She loves maths and science and wants to serve in the army. Ayesha loves to dance, and wants to become a doctor.

Raza's family comes from Larkana in Sindh. After his father lost his job through illness, the family went through several very hard years. At Mashal, Raza found a talent he had never had the chance to show: acting. He appeared in the short film “Walk to the Moon”, and wants to act for a living.

“Against all odds I wanted to study. I am not afraid. I am confident now, and I want to be a doctor.”

Iqra is the first girl in her family to go to school. She was taken out and sent elsewhere for two years before finding her way back to Mashal, and she persuaded her younger brother to join her. She says every house should have someone in it who is educated.