#Jalozai Camp: 140 characters and countless dreams

IDP Student Union uses twitter to organise itself, increase awareness about education.

PESHAWAR:

From call rates of cellular phone companies to lessons in English language, @union_profile tweets it all.  At first the tweets seem to be from someone seeking followers, but curiosity arises when you read: “The school in camp three will remain closed, while camp 2 will not be having its examination because of a programme- Media Officer, IDP Student Union”.

Last year Pakistan crossed the 20 million mark in internet users, but areas in the war-torn northwest still struggle for basic sources of communication, and internet and social media remain a distant dream.

But the Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDP) student union is all set to change that. The union, comprising 300 people living in Jalozai camp, have decided to join hands to increase awareness about education. Their method of communication? Twitter. Although the Jalozai camp has one computer and no internet, the union remains active on twitter by using text messages sent to 40404.

Sajid Khan Afridi, a lean 22-year-old who belongs to Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency, says that after spending a year at the camp he realised that the majority of displaced children were out of schools and their parents were not interested in educating them. “It forced me to think that we should set up an organisation to look for students who are not attending schools in the camp,” he said, adding that when he chipped the idea to his friends, they agreed to form a union.

The next day, 10 of his friends assembled at a ground behind the camp’s mosque and decided to look for children out of school.

Afridi is the chairman of the union and is assisted by 20 secretaries in his endeavours for IDPs’ welfare.  “We have so far admitted at least 400 children in school,” Afridi said

The union has also been successful in getting the camp’s examination centre shifted from Pabbi, 20 kilometers away, to the camp itself. They persuaded the administrator and officials to establish a centre in the camp where students can give their Secondary School Certificate exams.

“I keep all members informed of news and necessary information through text messages and our Twitter account,” said Communication Secretary Fazal Rehman.

“When our members point out a problem faced by any IDP student in school or the camp, I contact other members and then meet to resolve the matter,” he said.

Rehman keeps himself updated with all news reports about IDPs and communicates their issues to other members of the union.

Finance Secretary Umar Mukhtiyar said that all members contribute money to the organisation, which is then spent on union activities and given to those in urgent need.

“All political parties offered us financial help, but we decided not to accept any money from them,” said Mukhtiyar.

Maqsood Khan, a field officer with the Centre for Excellence for Rural Development (CERD), said that initially they faced problems in mobilising IDPs, but now with an active student union they have no problems working at the camp. He added that the union helped them enrol many children into schools.

“Our next plan is to convince parents to send their girls to schools. We also want to persuade them to allow polio teams to vaccinate their children,” said Afridi.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 24^th, 2012.