Learning is fun: Promoting peace and education through movies, documentaries

LAHORE:

The Institute of Peace and Secular Studies (IPSS), in association with Umeed Jawan, screened movies and documentaries promoting peace and education to children in five districts.

Saeeda Diep from the IPSS said that they had captured the reaction of children as they were watching these. A documentary about the children’s reactions was screened on Thursday.

“We filmed over 5,000 students from 40 schools watching films such as Khamosh Pani, Chiller Party and episodes of The Burka Avenger under the Peace Mobile Cinema,” she said.

She said that the children shown in the documentary were largely from low-income and middle-income households, from Muzaffargarh, Lodhran, Multan, Bahawalpur and Lahore districts.

“Most of the children were shown episodes of The Burka Avengers, where the right to education is a central theme,” she said.

“Education is a necessity for us,” said one girl from Naya Din Godh School after watching the movie.

The children vowed to fight for their right to education like the avenger. A girl from Sacred Heart Cathedral School said that she had learnt that children should find solutions to their problems, especially through the use of technology.

Another student from Naya Din School said that it showed how important it was for girls to fight for their right to education. The documentary also showed that the organisers created a festival-like atmosphere for the screening of the movies. Later, they held a discussion on the content with the children.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 12^th, 2015.