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Background
Around the vicinity of Rehri Goth, there are around 200 small and large slums, where nearly 500 women work. These women do have jobs, but their children are left unattended. They spend their days playing in the sea and get involved in activities like collecting seashells, and glass, and even drug addiction, leading to heroin usage when they grow up. They become victims of extremism in such circumstances.
Seeing this situation, in February 2011, we conducted a survey and discovered that only 2 localities, Sadiq Khaskheli and Musani, have approximately 300 children who do not attend school. They are either street children or wander.
For these children, we started a school on July 5, 2011, with one room in our office and a volunteer member of the organization. We operated the school by collecting donations from the community and various organizations. A local polio worker, who had a monthly salary of 15,000 rupees, supported the school with 10,000 rupees every month. We continued to run the school for four years in a rented plot with no rooms, just a tree. Afterward, we consistently collected donations from our community and organizations. Fortunately, our school now has its 1,000-square-yard plot with 9 rooms, 4 washrooms, 1 student canteen, a playground, tap water, electricity, and other amenities.
We have also partnered with the Sindh Education Foundation. We apply for grants every year, and in 2021, we became partners. Currently, we receive support for staff salaries and monthly expenses. At present, our school has 300 students whom we provide with free education and books.
However, we have a shortage of facilities, including rooms, furniture, a computer room, a library, a staff room, a head teacher's room, an admin office, a shelter, solar panels, clean drinking water, and more. Additionally, many children come for enrollment daily, but we cannot admit them due to a lack of resources. If we can get the mentioned facilities, we can provide quality education to the children of the fishing community in this area. We have 15 years of experience in the education system, and unlike other schools in the area, we operate on a non-profit basis.
The parents of
these fishing community children cannot afford to send their children to
private schools because they lack income, and their daily livelihood is based
on fishing, which is declining day by day.
1. Economic and social situation in the target region.
Rehri Goth, an
ancient settlement in Karachi, is primarily reliant on fishing for its
livelihood. The chemical waste and solid waste from Karachi's industries have
polluted the sea. There was a time when the sea was clean, and the fishermen
were prosperous. They used to find good catches nearby, but now, they have to
go much farther into the sea for a good catch. This requires more fuel and
provisions, which have become more expensive. Even though they spend 6 to 7
days in the open sea, when they return home, they often find an excess of fish
and prawns, which they sell for very little money. This makes it challenging
for them to make a living, and they struggle to support their families or
provide education to their children in such circumstances."
2.Development challenges faced by the population. If it
is a project for renovation or rehabilitation of existing facilities, please
indicate when the original construction was done.
"This project
will be a renovation in which we only require support in terms of construction.
The Sindh Education Foundation is currently supporting us in terms of staff
salaries and monthly expenses. However, we do not save enough money to carry out
additional construction work or provide educational facilities to the staff and
students in the school.
3. Initiatives by the applicant to address the challenges
above. Please indicate why you cannot resolve the problems on your own and why
you need assistance from the GGP/KUSANONE.
"Fisherman Association for Community Empowerment is a non-political and non-governmental social organization. It is a community organization where the entire team works as volunteers, and there are no paid workers. Although we lack resources, we have experience, and we work collaboratively with various local and international organizations. We have raised 9 million rupees in donations for the school from 2011 until now, from our community, corporate sector, and stakeholders. If we receive this grant, we can do even better work and provide free and quality education to the children of the fishing community."
