Teaching tolerance

On a recent trip to Karachi, Pakistan, I met a woman who has invested her time and money in children, none of them her own. To try and set right the wrongs of children living in poverty - their basic right to a decent life through a comprehensive education, nutrition and health programme, cannot be an easy task. Meet Shabena Mustafa, an ardent restorer of Child Rights, for a group of 60 children.

Widowed at 19, there isn't much this compassionate woman is afraid of. When her maidservant's daughter was refused admission in a sewing class because she could not read and write, Shabena decided to start a free school.

Shabena's garage was an ideal place and she appropriately named it "The Garage School". Her children, for she calls them that, are fortunate in that she is not only interested in teaching them how to read and write, but has redefined education for them. her students learn hygiene and grooming, have been vaccinated for Hepatitis B, and carry I.D. cards with their blood groups listed. They are provided milk and biscuits at break time. They learn sewing and painting. They are taken for outings to amusement parks, museums, and movies.

Shabena meets their parents to encourage them to send their daughters to school. And unlike any other school, Shabena charges them a fee, not for attending school, but for each day of school they miss.

But the most interesting demographic bit of information, which impressed me was this - in a country like Pakistan, where religious diversity is practically non-existent, Shabena has children from different religions enrolled in her school. Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, and Christian girls and boys sit together under one roof, and learn and play as one family.

Shabena teaches them about all the four religions represented in her school. Thus on Guru Nanak's birth anniversary, she discussed Sikkhism, and when Diwali came round, she explained why that festival is celebrated. Twelve-year old Tanveer, wrote about the uniqueness of his school: "We're all brothers and sisters, inside our school as well as outside. Nobody in this school has a separate religion. We're all just human. If we work hard, one day, we'll become something." An underprivileged child writes.

The children are responsible for keeping their one-room school clean. They have remodelled the garage into a cheerful space. They have painted the walls, put up posters and their own art work. A donor provided the desks and benches. Most of the teachers (except one) are volunteers, offering their services free of charge.

As Shabena's school continues to grow (at present it runs in three shifts), she is on the lookout for more teachers. Shabena works full-time for an airline and devotes her free time to managing the school. A large part of her job consists of writing letters and paying visits to organisations like big pharmaceutical firms to get subsidised vaccines and medicines for the school. The school is run entirely on donations send in by wellwishers.

Shabena owes her determination and refreshing broad-mindedness to her mother, 90-year old Bilqees Ahmed, who attended Crosswhaite College in Allahabad in late 1920's. It was Bilqees who urged her daughter to go back to University and complete her education after she became a widow.

In an interview with "Amma", which is what everybody calls this gracious and dignified lady, always dressed in white, she spoke charmingly of her school days in Allahabad.

A classmate of Indira Gandhi she remembers visits to Anand Bhavan. Amma spoke of the boat rides on the Ganga. She said, "Who din kitne acche the. Ab to kya se kya ho gya." (Those days were good. Now everything has changed)."

The aim of the Garage School is "to teach the children social and religious tolerance, respect for human rights and the importance of caring for others."

NIGHAT GANDHI

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