I’m taking you back to Ispalal today, a community right outside of Islamabad. It holds a special place in our team’s hearts – my teammate Fatima decision to take us to visit immediately after we arrived!
As soon as we got there, I felt I was meant to be there to meet the bright and dedicated children attending our non-formal school and experience the love and hospitality of the families that live in the area!
Through our initial conversations, we found that the women of Ispalal were interested in raising chickens right alongside their beautiful fruit and vegetable gardens. And they were on board with ensuring that the majority of eggs laid were shared with the children attending the non-formal school.
“Our children go to school hungry sometimes. If we start raising more chickens, sharing the eggs is the right thing to do. This way, the children can eat and study more and more!” Fauzia told me.
Through additional deeper conversations, we quickly found out that in order to be successful, the women would also need a few other essentials items including high-quality chicken feed and water containers to bypass the issue of limited water access. I knew these additional items would go such a long way to set them up for success.
Noreen seemed to think so too. “We could have found a way to feed the chickens, but when it’s already hard to put food on your table, additional things like chicken feed help a lot.”
Meet Shamaila!
Shamaila is part of the Global Connections team based out of Minneapolis. She supports partnerships and fundraising for Alight’s initiatives with the diaspora, LGBTIQ+ refugees, Rohingya women, and beyond! She is deeply passionate about supporting the most marginalized communities worldwide – those living in the shadows — to reclaim their voice and has found Changemakers 365 a powerful tool to support this.
