Ray of hope: Where there’s a will there’s a way

Despite financial constrains, former fruit vendor refuses to give up his school

ISLAMABAD: As bright-eyed Hina repeats her ABCs, the only shaft of light reflects on her in the Afghan slums in Sector I-11 where she resides with her family in a cramped, dingy mud-house.

Sadam Hussain, 25, while working as a fruit vendor at the Sunday market last winter, saw two little barefooted kids clad in dirty, torn clothes stealing oranges from his cart. He thought to himself that if these children are stealing oranges today there is a strong likelihood they will grow into hardened thieves and outlaws tomorrow.

Shaken to his core, he mused that he must give back to these kids from the slum he grew up in so they could move beyond a pushcart seller.



“I approached a few educated friends and decided on starting a school here.” His friends agreed to teach these children pro-bono, five days a week. However, they only came on the first day and said since there was nothing in it for them they were not interested anymore, he added. Having done his matriculation in science, Sadam decided to teach basic Math along with English and Urdu himself.

“Families living in this slum are the poorest of the poor,” Sadam said, with a somber look on his face. When the school initially started these children were not even confident enough to tell their names, he added. Sadam started this makeshift school with around 100 students, aged between four to 12 last winter and offered a candy to every student for attending classes everyday. “I now have 85 students since the last six months who attend school daily” he said.

Sadam operates his school on a rented space for Rs2,500 per month which consists of a small mud room and some open dirt-space. Due to space constraints, all students sit together while Sadam gives individual assignments and divides his time accordingly. His passion to impart education to these marginalised children grew so strong that he decided to quit his job as a fruit vendor. His brother, who drives a taxi in the capital, pays for the rent.

“I can’t even afford tables, chairs and stationery for these children,” said Sadam. His family is pressuring him to hand the school over to someone who can afford to run it, however, Sadam does not want to give up on this one-room school because he holds it very close to his heart.

He dreams of expanding and having a proper campus but due to financial constraints the task seems next to impossible.

Pakistan has over 25 million out-of-school children and the figure keeps growing every year.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24^th, 2014.