Winter Newsletter November 2006 - March 07

 

 

E-News November 2006 - March 2007.
"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts.
Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts.
Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me..
Anything can happen, child. Anything can be."
 Shel Silverstein (Children's Poet.)

FLAME highlights
Dear friends, Thank you for your support for Friends of Literacy and Mass Education. I hope you enjoy reading of some of our developments.

SUPPORT FLAME was selected by the ‘Lord Mayor of London’s Appeal’ Fund to share skills and change lives across the world. FLAME was awarded £5000 on the 6th of February 2007, by Mr Alderman John Boothman, Lord Mayor of the city of London, at a beautiful ceremony in the garden of the British Deputy High Commission, Karachi. This gesture will help equip FLAME vocational training centers for pupils leaving FLAME schools.




The German Women’s Association and British Women’s Association  (Karachi) make combined efforts throughout the year to fundraise to support local NGO’s and charitable initiatives.  Several members visited FLAME schools and awarded a fantastic Rs 10 lakh (approximately £8500) to FLAME, half of which is going into vocational training centers for FLAME school leavers, half will be used to sustain FLAME’s current schools and support the teachers learning and progress through a new English Language training program.  FLAME would like to thank all the women for their hard work and support.




FLAME EVENTS: ‘Songs From The Slums’ FLAME’s annual functions added another angle to learning for FLAME pupils in Karachi this year and brought the many Karachi residents out to the slums in which FLAME works, to really get a feel for the environment in which FLAME pupils live. The confident, vibrant, talent, displayed by the pupils impressed guests and people of the locality. The delicate work to create costumes of the teachers and parents looked great and both Landhi and Karachi pupils acted, danced, sang, recited and made us all proud, leaving us with fond memories of the two afternoons and a real sense of achievement. The performances included dengue fever awareness skits, dances and songs reflecting and celebrating the diverse cultures of Pakistan. An eye catching and unusual range of art work and crafts from the schools were also displayed. Congratulations to all our pupils and teachers!

 

 

	FLAME also successfully hosted a wonderful evening of Nighat Chowdry and her troupe, the reknowned traditional Kathak dancer, to support and celebrate both the culture and heritage of Pakistani culture, and maintain existing education projects. The evening was great success, carpets were auctioned and the dance performance was spectacular, followed by great food, in ‘Oasis’ unique garden setting restaurant, Karachi. Approximately Rs 530,000/ £4500.

 

Adopt a School Over thirty schools have recently been adopted for RS 25,000/ £250 per year. Schools in the UK are working to support FLAME schools in Pakistan. One child named Laura living in Norfolk, England, of just four years old, cried when she heard about FLAME pupils who never previously had the chance to go to school. She decided to have a ‘sponsored read’, she read over fifty books in a week and has helped her class adopt a school and provide education for to up to forty children. To adopt a school and have a plaque made out in your name or make an online contribution please log onto www.allforflame.net For any information or to make a donation contact FLAME’s Karachi office on  rosie@allforflame.org  (0092 215 833 948) or Zammo in London on zammo@allforflame.org (0044 207 280 9442). FLAME Islamabad continues to work tirelessly and has expanded its work into the area of healthcare, plus it has commercial organisations placing orders to support women that have been trained in tailoring in FLAME vocational training centers. NEPAL Bringing Literacy Home, Radio Learning and the Mountain Trust FLAME extended its support to reach deprived children living in conflict affected areas of Nepal via: ‘School On-Air’ Radio Teaching and Counseling Program. Why did FLAME choose to branch out into Nepal? Nepal is in a state of crisis, the war and the poverty have impacted literacy rates and only 27% of those lucky enough to attend school actually pass their exams. Rural areas have been greatly affected. FLAME’s resource manager recently visited some areas and selected the Mountain Trust as a route for FLAME to show support for an existing, innovative literacy project in Nepal. The ‘School on Air’ Project: Nepal. Highly qualified teachers with good exam results from their pupils have been approached, their expenses paid and their lessons recorded and is now aired on a commercial station. The entire year prior to the ‘School Leavers Certificate’ exams, following the government curriculum, has now been recorded. The model is very cost-effective and has the potential to reach up to 45,000 children. The radio teaching program has been running for one year and is distinctly popular. Notices have gone out to many schools requesting them to form listeners clubs, work books have been set to be printed and distributed through the listeners clubs. Students are given the opportunity to be inter-active and engage with the program through letters and calls and give their feedback. They exchange difficulties and curiosity from other students. FLAME’s support for this project began in January.

 

	To read more about the Radio Literacy Program please visit our web site at: www.allforflame.net

 

Thank you for your continued interest and support for FLAME.

 

Photography and articles: Rosie Pannell, Resource manager, FLAME Karachi,
rosie@allforflame.org