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Another Storey Added!

Girls High School & College Bagrot Tal (Pakistan)

During our project visit from 9.9.- 3.10. we were accompanied by two longtime friends. Our friend has been donating regularly for the education project for 25 years and was already with us in Bagrot 11 years ago. Her husband visited Pakistan for the first time and described his impressions as follows: "The warmth of the people in Bagrot is overwhelming".

In fact the reception in Bagrot was particularly cordial this year. Not without a reason..

Meetings and Events

In addition to the ever-surprising everyday life in Bagrot, there was a lot going on this year:

• School festival in the BASE Public School Bagrot in our honor with poems, songs and speeches
.
• Afterwards shared meal with the teachers.
• Several meetings with the students of the Girls College Datuchi.
• School function of Girls College Datuchi with poems, songs and speeches. Two provincial ministers, responsibel for the Public Works and Planning and Development departments, honored us with their visit. The latter was for the first time in the Bagrot valley and took the opportunity for a bit of friendly election campaigning. The provincial elections are coming next year. The special note of thr event: All contributions were in Shina, the local language in Bagrot. My acceptance speech was linguistically modest, of course, due to lack of practice. Nevertheless, it was recorded by the photographer of the Minister and posted on YouTube:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_gM4IB0f80
  The school event and background of the college naming were also covered in K2, the most widely read newspaper in the province of Gilgit-Baltistan, and also reported on the Facebook page of the Minister. To my surprise, the reactions where overwhelmingly positive. The mere fact that a German tries to make a speech in the local language was sufficient. The next day I was was known to almost everyone in Gilgit and the surrounding area. Now I know a little the suffering of a sudden pop star. A grandson of our host family described the positive response with the hint that my appearance, my speech was very friendly. In hindsight, I find that is actually unusual for official speeches there. Good fortune.
• Visit to the sewing school for women in the village of Chirah. This project has been sponsored for several years by by the small but nice British cycle tourism company >Red Spokes. Young women are trained as dressmakers in six-month courses. The two teachers are also from Bagrot. For women, contract sewing offers a way to make their own money at home. Traditionally, tailoring is an activity of men.
• The farewell dinner on the last day in the house of our longtime friend with 38 family members was avery relaxed affair. Here, too, a speech was due. Home field advantage: Most family members, large and small, understand my little Shina very well. The many years of practice in dealing with the German visitors makes it possible. Together we learned to look beyond one's own nose.
Milestone

In June 2019, the Provincial Public Infrastructure Minister had upgraded Government Girls High School to Higher Secondary School (=College) and promised to give her the name ‘Monika Higher Secondary School Datuchi’. In September a corresponding plaque was erected in my presence, The acknowledgment of the college, which has been funded by donations since 2005 as a Government Higher Secondary School, does not mean any relief on the part of costs. In accordance with the usual administrative procedure in Pakistan, the first step is the structural expansion of the school buildings. After completion in 1-2 years, there will be a call for applications (about 30) and the selection of teachers and other staff. Realistically, it will take another 3-4 years for the college to run on a state-run basis. Regardless, Bagrot is very proud of the first state college in the valley. Nobody can take that anymore. One mother described the situation as follows: Our daughters now need 12^th grade (2^nd year college), after which they will marry. The minister emphasized in his speech at the school event that it is not enough to educate girls and women. Young women must be encouraged to become visible and active in all areas of public life. There is still alot to do and this takes time, but it is essential for the future of society and the country.

Numbers

239 girls attend the Government Girls high School Datuchi (grades 1 - 10) and are taught by 25 government teachers. Many of them used to attend the project school in Datuchi.

83 students currently attend the Monika Girls Higher Secondary School Datuchi (grades 11 - 14) and are taught by 11 teachers whom we finance with your donations. Due to the current exchange rate ot the rupee, the total costs have fallen a little and currently amount to 1.150 € per month.

Outlook

Unfotunately, my idea to offer toddler care on the school grounds for the children of teachers and students can not be realized. For this the staff would have to be employed by the government for reasons of sovereignty and insurance reasons. The need still exists. The 25 teachers of the government school bring 7 toddlers to school every day for want of care at home or breastfeeding. According to my observation, uninterrupted lessons can not be provided by the teachers concerned. This situation is also known to the school board and applies to all schools where female teachers are employed. The practice is not desired but remedy is not in sight, I was signaled. Some young mothers among the students, however, can no longer attend college because there is no caregiver at home. They live in different villages of the valley, a community initiative at the place of residence is not feasible. I am confident that a solution will be found.

With kind regards!
Monika Schneid
Hamburg, 16.10.2019


Further Informations: Monika Schneid, Marienthaler St. 156, 20535 Hamburg Tel. 040-2503708, monika@monikaschneid.de

Donation Account: Kreissparkasse Tübingen, IBAN: DE31641500200002753609, BIC: SOLADES1TUB, Forum Kinder in Not e.V. Heading "Pakistan".

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