I’m back in Islamabad, working with the communities our Pakistan team has developed such strong relationships with. When we go and visit them, it feels a lot more like visiting family than anything else.
Shah Allah Ditta, a small school in the outskirts of Islamabad, was the newest school in Pakistan when we went to visit – we were even there for the school’s official inauguration!
Even though the school was young, the community had quickly taken to the new teacher, Rabia, ad what she was doing for the community.
“I love the teacher so much that I want her to teach my children until they are all grown up,” said Bakhti Sultana, a mother of three children at the school. “Then, she can go get married, but until then, I want her to stay here and be with my children!” to which Rabia responded: “I’m not interested in going and getting married. This is what I want to do right now, everything else can wait.”
New schools can always use a little of a lot of things, and Shah Allah Ditta was no different – the classroom was just one room on a larger lot with a farm. Rabia and her family grow everything from wheat to pomegranate and onions.
Rabia had more land than she was able to tend to by herself now that her parents were getting older, so we decided to do what we could to help her and her capacity to produce food for her, her family, and the students!
We got her some tools to help out on her farm — wheelbarrows, rakes, sheers, scythes and axes. She had been using many of the same tools for years, and we hoped that this would make her work in the fields a little easier!
This change made possible by Mankind Is My Business
Meet Sam!
Sam developed an interest in forced displacement, food, and identity while working on her MA. She’s now using this knowledge to support Changemakers 365 on food security and agricultural projects across our countries. When she’s not off on a work trip, she’s busy fermenting beverages, training for half marathons, or listening to podcasts at her home in Minneapolis.
