Diwa Foundation Newsletter May-June 2020

Emergency Food Help Program Pakistan

On behalf of Stichting Diwa I would like to thank you for supporting our Emergency Food Help Program in Pakistan. Your contribution makes a difference and helps needy people to survive in these difficult times. Our team in Pakistan has delivered food packets to 825 families in three phases. The contents of one food packet was enough to support one family for two weeks. People are very thankful and happy with this help.

Since 11 May shops, factories, private clinics and hospitals are open again. Schools, colleges and universities are still closed until July. Many private schools have contact with their students from May 13 and provide them with weekly homework until the schools are open again. Since April, the government has started broadcasting lessons from primary to high school level through national television. One of the national TV chanels has been reserved only for lessons. Despite that, this study year is a big loss for students.

Because of the economic situation the lockdown was lifted, but the corona virus is spreading very fast in Pakistan. It is difficult to control where 212 million people are living and social life is very intensive. Let us pray for the good health and safety of people around the world. We hope the corona crisis is over quickly over.

Kind regards,

Shahlla Gill
Stichting Diwa

Skills Training Center, Francisabad

Due to the lockdown in Pakistan our Skills Training Center was also closed. On 12 May the center was opened again. Our team in Pakistan has made special arrangments to start the courses again. The students of every course are divided into two groups. Each group consists of 8-10 students. The groups will attend the relevant courses on two days per week, such as Monday-Tuesday or Thursday-Friday.

There are clear intructions for students and teachers for giving and attending lessons during the corona time. These instructions are announced in every classroom. Students must wear masks and sit with one meter distance from each other.

Succes stories

In this newsletter we would like to share some success stories and contributions of our skills training center in the community.

Saba Afzal is an ex student of our computer course. She is unmaried and lives with her parents. She has passed high school and after that wanted to learn computer skills. Normally, computer trainings are very expensive in Pakistan, and Saba could not afford to be admitted to a computer school.

She heard about our computer center and then started a computer training by us. At the beginning of this year she successfully completed the basic computer course and applied for a job. She had a positive response and started to work as database operater at NADRA (National Database and Registration Authority) in Gujranwala city. NADRA is issueing ID cards and passports for Pakistani national. Beside her, there are two other students who also received a job at the same office as data collector. We are very happy and wish them a good future.

Amina Abdulla is a student of our tailoring course. She is 25 years old, divorced, and has an adopted child. She could not have any children of her own, and her husband married an other women to have children of his own. This second wife had children, and then Amina's husband did not want to live with her anymore. She had to leave her house with her adopted daughter. Amina is now living with her mother and brother.

She never went to school and cannot read or write. Last year she joined our tailoring and adult literacy course. Amina told that her mother wants her to get married again with the condition that she has to bring the daughter back to her biological parents. But Amina does not want to leave this child. She is very dedicated to learning skills and wants to read and write so that she will be able to earn her own bread and can live independently. She said the skills she is learning are her biggest hope for her future life.