It was a dream-come-true for the students and teachers at Government Primary School Sringwari in District Tharparkar. The only classroom of the school had new benches and a running fan – something the children in the remote village of Sringwari had wanted for years. The fan not only provided a degree of relief from the scorching heat of 48 C but also helped in keeping flies and mosquitoes away.

“Now that the classroom has a fan and is properly lit. I am confident about increased enrollment as well as retention of students because of this measure”, says Sajan Das who teaches at the school. The school, like 96 percent^[1] of 4,010 schools in the district, did not have an electricity connection until recently and received a solar power system from Sukaar Foundation with the financial support of Ambassador’s Fund Grant Program (AFGP).

There are 60 students – 40 boys and 20 girls – enrolled in the school up to fifth grade. All students sit together in a single room. “The number of students dropped during summers every year”, tells Sajan Das, “Summer means hot winds, dry weather, and lots of flies and mosquitos with temperature going up to 52 C making it extremely difficult for children to attend classes.”

Lack of electricity is one of the major reasons for high dropout of schoolchildren. “The students have to sit six to seven hours a day in hot and dark classrooms without a fan or lighting. They sweat, feel suffocated and dizzy, and ultimately a significant number of students drop out”, Sajan shares.

This situation prompted the Sukaar Foundation to initiate and implement a five-month project titled “Renewable Energy Solutions for Girls and Mixed Schools” for which it received funding from AFGP.

In addition to Sajan’s school in Goth Sringwari, Sukaar Foundation has installed solar power systems with fans and bulbs in 19 schools in Mithi and Islamkot tehsils of Tharparkar. Approximately 2,088 students (including 789 girls and 1,299 boys) are benefitting from the solar systems.

With the installation of fans and lights in the schools, the students can take lessons without opening windows which used to let flies and mosquitoes come inside the classrooms. This has helped improve the students’ attendance and performance.

The initiative also encouraged the local community and the School Management Council to run a fundraising campaign for purchasing new furniture for the school.

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[1] Press Reader, “Tharpakar tops list of districts with shut schools,” March 20, 2018, by Imtiaz Dharani

(https://www.pressreader.com/pakistan/daily–messenger/20180320/281792809561821)

“It was a horrible night. My husband complained of pain in his chest, and before we could do something about it, he fainted”, said Bilquees – a mother of five and resident of Basti Ludhani Chandia which is a small far-flung riverine community without proper health care facilities in Tehsil Kot Adddu, district Muzaffargarh.

She described her husband Nazar Hussain’s situation as being lifeless with minimal breathing. It created panic in the family. Children were terrified; the younger ones started crying. However, Bilquees remained in her senses and recalled the first aid training she had recently received.

She began performing Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) on Nazar. The first attempt failed, but the second attempt showed signs of improvement in the patient. She continued with it and soon Nazar started breathing again. It was a huge relief for the entire family. “It was like a second life for the entire family. Children’s tears turned into smiles”, said Bilquees as she recalled the fateful night.

The next morning, she took Nazar to hospital where the doctor confirmed that Nazar had a cardiac arrest, and that CPR played an instrumental role in saving his life. Since then, Nazar has been visiting the hospital regularly and taking medicine. After a couple of days’ rest, he returned to his job and is now taking care of his responsibilities as the sole breadwinner of the family. He feels immensely grateful to Bilquees for saving his life.

Bilquees Bibi gives credit – for saving her husband’s life – to the training camp arranged by Society for the Advancement of Nature, Justice and Health (SANJH), with the support of Ambassador’s Fund Grant Program (AFGP). She, as a member of Community Resilience Committee (CRC), was among the 189 women belonging to 14 villages of Kot Addu, Muzaffargarh who received disaster preparedness trainings which included provision of first aid and performing CPR, among other things.

SANJH, during the six-month project, aimed to improve the mechanisms to reduce risks and enhance capacity of communities to respond to emergencies and disasters for protecting lives, property, and taking measures to contain the damage and disruption.

The target communities are confident that they can deal with disasters especially floods and soil erosion, minimize losses, and protect their people, crops, and livestock from damage and destruction caused by natural and men-made disasters.

Hey kids! See what I have brought for you today”, shouts Sadique as he enters his house. His young daughters – Fatima and Heer – run towards him with curiosity in their eyes. He gives them a small bag full of their favorite fruit grapes saying, “This is fruit of your hard work”. The girls are overjoyed on getting delicious grapes which they have been looking forward to for a long time but could not afford due to limited earnings. There were many other things the girls longed for, but could not afford to buy them.

On that particular day, Sadique could bring some grapes because he had made a little extra money by selling the embroidery work Fatima and Heer had made by working overnight. Sadique, himself, worked on a farm and earned a meagre wage. The embroidery work by his daughters helped him earn a few extra rupees. However, it was still difficult for the family to make ends meet, let alone afford the luxury of eating fruits.

Heer and Fatima used to do embroidery during the daytime since the intricate work required a well-lit place but their village Goth Wazir Khan, District Sohbatpur, Balochistan had no electricity to light up their house after sunset.  Working under kerosene lamps was no option as it would affect their eyes and breathing. The shortened winter days would further reduce their output.

The local electricity supply company had no plans to connect the remote Goth Wazir Khan with the main electricity grid in the near future. WDCO’s intervention to install solar power systems in the area with the support of AFGP created a buzz in the area and helped increase the livelihood opportunities locally. Sadique also benefited from their intervention.

With the solar-powered bulbs lighting up their room, Fatima and Heer are able to increase their daily yield of embroidery work. They are able to produce more pieces, which their father sells in the local market and helps them earn extra money. “My daughters’ work is in high demand in the market and additional pieces let us earn enough money to afford the luxury of fruits,” says Sadique proudly. “The monthly yield has increased from 15 to 25 units with the installation of the solar system,” he added.

WDCO has installed 130 solar systems in many households in six villages of district Sohbatpur. This intervention improved living standards of 1,284 individuals (including 655 women/girls and 629 men/boys) of the area. They are hopeful that this intervention will serve as a catalyst in the upward economic mobility of one of the most deprived communities in the country.

“As a doctor, I felt helpless dealing with the child abuse cases. I did not know how to interact with the victims or which forums to approach for support.” says Dr Mona Habib, a young and passionate medical practitioner at the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) in Kasur – the historic town known for being the eternal abode of Sufi poet, Bulleh Shah.

To address this challenge, Grassroots Organization for Human Development (GOHD) arranged sensitization sessions in Kasur under their project “Empowering Communities and Strengthening Response Mechanisms to Child Sexual Abuse” with the financial support from Ambassador’s Fund Grant Program (AFGP).

Dr Mona is one of the doctors who attended a day-long sensitization workshop on child sexual abuse, organized for doctors working at the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) Kasur.

“I learnt about vulnerabilities of the victims of child abuse and ways to help the survivors live a normal life.”, says Dr. Mona. “However, I noticed that there was lack of a support system at most of our hospitals for the child abuse survivors,” she adds.

She started making efforts for institutionalizing a support mechanism for the victims of child abuse. She was finally able to get a Child Protection Committee (CPC) notified at the District Health Authority, Kasur. The Committee consists of representatives of civil society, Child Protection Bureau, Social Welfare Department, and two doctors including a woman. It has amandate to look out for children suspected to have been sexually abused, and report such cases to the relevant authorities and provide health care to the victims. It is responsible for conducting the preliminary investigation of the case and report it to the relevant authorities including Police, Social Welfare Department, and Child Protection Bureau. “The DHQ management has directed all the doctors to report any suspected case of child abuse to the Committee,” shares Dr Mona.

“After installation of the solar power units in our community, our income has increased. We are saving money because ofa concept that was unknown to us, just a few months ago. This has also provided us an opportunity to save our traditional skill: “ralli-making”, Chatoon said excitedly.

Chatoon is a leader of 30-odd household village, Goth Shiv Mandir – Umerkot, a remote location in Sindh. Ralli is a traditional quilt-making art – a shared passion of women from the area – exhibiting their natural creativity, love for the color, and traditional motifs.

ARTS Foundation, with the help of Ambassador’s Fund Grant Program (AFGP), identified 150 households in 10 villages – including that of Chatoon – of Bheel community and installed solar systems to power one fan and two light bulbs. The intervention has had a significant impact on the community members’ lives.

The average monthly income of Bheel household is around Rs. 5,000 (US$ 33). Describing their woes, he says, “Everyone needs light to carry on with their lives. Before the systems, lighting our households was one of our major budget heads. We had to buy battery-powered torches or burnt fuel wood, costing us more than Rs. 600 (US$ 4) per month.”

Chatoon explains, “We are low-caste Hindus, forced to work as peasants in the fields of our waderas (landlords). Our employment and living conditions are almost slavish. Poverty has forced us to take loans from the landlords.” The members of the community are involved in farming, the only occupation that has been passed down from father to the son and mother to the daughter for countless generations, other than ralli-making.
Their women have perfected the art of making ‘ralli’, a craft passed down from generation to generation. The women spend each free moment they can get, in making it, to earn extra money. Chatoon says, “Women tend to the housework, their children and work in the fields. If they get some time out of all this, they spend it in making ralli. Each piece fetches around Rs. 200 (US$ 1.3). The money goes directly in their pockets which they mostly use for grooming themselves. Before we got these systems, most of the time, our women did not find time to make ralli as light goes away with the sun.” he adds.

These days, Chatoon and many other community members are planning initiatives that will uplift their community.

With a blush on his face, Chatoon adds, “I am the only one in our Goth who graduated from high school. After I am done with my field work, children gather at my house to get help with their homework – usually after sunset.”

“The solar bulb in my house is a beacon of hope. My house has become a ”Town Hall” of sorts where we (community members) sit together and find solutions to different problems we face,” says Chatoon, leader of the Bheel community.

It is past sunset in Barra Banda village, District Torghar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Each house is glowing with a luminous bulb, which makes this small settlement of 55 households look like a constellation of stars with dark mountains in the background. Aslam Khan, a student of seventh grade, lives in one of these star-like houses. He is doing his homework sitting under the bulb in his house and is optimistic about getting good grades in the upcoming exams. This is a completely different situation from a year ago when he was struggling with his studies.

His daily commute between school was 18 kilometers which took an entire day, leaving no time for him to study during the daylight while there was no electricity to light up a bulb after sunset. Some nights, his mother would light a candle or a kerosene lamp for his homework. The unpleasant smell and smoke from the lamp coupled with travel fatigue would make him sick, often forcing him to skip his classes.  He recalls those days as “tiring and exhausting” with “headaches and strained eyes” due to the smell of kerosene.

Torghar is not fully connected to the national grid and many of its parts including Barra Banda plunge into darkness the moment sun sets in the mountains. Locals burn wood or kerosene for lighting and warming their houses, especially during extremely chilly winter nights. Fueling this fire also puts additional strains on their budgets. Nearly 500 villagers of Barra Banda including Aslam’s family had a similar fate. Every family would gather in one room to save money on fuel.

The darkness not only left the villagers in darkness but also pushed them towards backwardness by making it hard for their children to study well. The byproduct of the lighting i.e., smoke, negatively impacted the villagers’ health as well as the environment.

This changed with the arrival of Society for Human & Environmental Development (SHED). The organization with financial support from the Ambassador’s Fund Grants Program (AFGP) provided each household with a solar system, and a fuel-efficient stove. They also organized orientation sessions on the installation and daily maintenance of stoves and the solar system. Additionally, they trained 20 young men on repairing solar systems.

This brought about remarkable change in the lives of the villagers. Aslam can do his homework in the light of solar bulbs after the sunset. He excitedly tells, “I complete my homework on time, which saves me from being scolded by teachers and helps me earn better grades than before.”

Not only Aslam is cheerful but his whole family is satisfied with this change. His grandfather enjoys offering his prayers and eating dinner in the light. His mother is pleased with the smokeless house. His father is saving the fuel and medication costs.

Interestingly, the whole village has benefited from this innovative alternative energy solutions project; every household in the village has voluntarily installed one solar bulb in their streets. This means that extra illumination would help prevent crime and lighting would assist in creating a pleasant and safe environment for children and the adults.

As Barra Banda is the only village in the vicinity that has electricity, many people from the surrounding villages visit to see the solar-lit homes and streets. SHED has received requests from at least four villages to introduce a similar project.

“There was no loss of life and property and we were able to put out the fire. We prevented a catastrophe before it was too late,” Ghulam Ishaq recalls proudly. “Fire brigade was late in coming to the incident site, but our ERT was in place and each member knew what to do and how to do it” said a 25-year-old Ishaq who is also chairman of Emergency Response Team (ERT) of village Abdul Hameed Hanji, Jacobabad, Sindh.

When the fire erupted in his village, Ishaq and his team immediately called the fire brigade as they doused water to put out flames and rescued children, women, and the elderly, trapped in burning houses. They used medicines from the first aid kit to treat the wounds of the injured. Their rescue efforts did not only save lives but also prevented serious loss to property.

Ishaq attributes this success to the preparedness training he received from Community Development Foundation (CDF) as part of a project funded by USAID Ambassador’s Fund Grant Program. The 11-month project aimed at increasing disaster-preparedness of target community.

They built and enhanced disaster-preparedness capacities of 10,436 residents (5,322 women and 5,114 men) from 15 target villages. All together 15 ERTs for as many villages in Union Council Ahmedpur were also established and trained on how to respond to a disaster situation. The villagers were also sensitized on the importance of first aid services and trained on techniques to administer them.

Emergency Response Team (RT) in each village sensitized villagers and prepared them for the worst, through technical trainings and mock drills. They have also built strong coordination systems with government officials, ensuring better preparedness, resulting in more safeguards against disasters. This intervention will go a long way in improving the preparedness of the communities against disasters.

Ishaq has retained what he learned during trainings. However, he did not fully realize the value of this knowledge until the fire erupted.

Talking about his experience in retrospect, Ishaq said, “In Jacobabad, we regularly face disasters. Villagers are, therefore, required to be aware enough to properly handle any emergency. Prior to the formation of ERTs”, he explained, “we did not have an iota of understanding on how to do pre-planning or react during and after disastrous situations. We would act in an unorganized manner, which sometimes would result in great loss of human lives and other valuables, especially livestock.”

“Every month people came knocking my door, asking for money I owed them. I had the tailoring skills, but I was not an efficient worker due to ongoing house chores and regular load shedding. Though I had developed a customer base, I had to turn away a majority of them as I could not manage their orders”, Maryam recalls her ordeal adding, “Due to hijab/purdah (veil), my husband did not allow me to work outside.”

Maryam, a 26-year-old young woman, heads a household, and stitches clothes for a living in Ahmedabad – a remote locality of Charsadda in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Maryam had used a hand-driven stitching machine for tailoring as she could not afford an electric machine due to frequent power outages and higher power tariffs, which hinders her ability to optimize her work. Her working hours were practically confined to daytime. With ever-shrinking household income, piling up loans, a drug addict husband, and a sick son, Maryam’s clothes’ stitching was difficult. She had to display her own stitched dress which did not help her to get out of the vicious poverty trap.

Solar-powered stitching machine and lighting arrangements transformed her life. Tal Sparlay, with the support of USAID Ambassador’s Fund Grant Program, introduced an innovative solution for 100 low-income women-led households like that of Maryam, from remote villages of Tangi tehsil, in Charsadda. In order to supplement their incomes, the project provided each of these women with a solar-powered sewing machine, two LED bulbs and a fan along with a battery to store power for nocturnal use.

Tal Sparlay also identified six local electricians and converted their shops into facilitation centers for women beneficiaries. These electricians were trained in handling basic solar system design, repair, and maintenance issues and gender sensitization to deal with their female clients. These electricians and their kiosks are now serving the beneficiary women with the requisite technical support.

Within a month of working on the solar-powered sewing machine, Maryam was able to return the loan she had taken for her son’s successful surgery. “During Ramazan, I stitched 180 dresses and earned  Rs. 54,000 (USD 360) in a single month. With the solar-powered sewing machine, I can complete more orders than I ever did with almost no power cost involved!”, says Maryam.

A comparison of the incomes before and after the intervention, shows that the income of the beneficiary women has increased up to Rs. 700–Rs. 800 (USD 5) in a single day, from their initial income of Rs. 350-400 (USD 2.5) a day. Moreover, because of solar power, their electricity bill was also reduced by Rs. 600–Rs. 900 (USD 4-6) per month.

Sitting next to her newly acquired solar-powered sewing machine, she sounds content and happy. With a hopeful attitude, Maryam says, “Once I pay off loans, I am planning to start clothes’ stitching classes in the evening for the girls in my village.”

Phulana, a 37-year-old mother of five children, is a scheduled caste Hindu who lives in ghettoized Ghera Basti in Hyderabad, Sindh. Her community is discriminated against by Muslims and upper-caste Hindus alike. Abject poverty and a lack of economic opportunities have made their lives considerably hard. Given the hardships, the family resorted to collecting used clothes, upgrading, and selling them. Even this was not sufficient enough for them to make ends meet; they needed help, and luckily for them, it came from a USAID-supported project.

The family needed an iron, a handcart, a washing machine, and sewing machines. Hamdam Foundation, supported by USAID Ambassador’s Fund Grants Program (AFGP), provided the required items along with initiating a three-month training program for 100 people (50 men and 50 women). Phulana was one of the participants who received the training on how best to upcycle secondhand garments.

The training yielded instant dividends as Phulana and her spouse began using the new equipment along with bringing their newly acquired skills into practice. Their income increased significantly. Other trainees also started to benefit in the same fashion.

It was not long ago when Phulana’s spouse Babu went around streets collecting clothes in exchange for new utensils. On the worst of days, he could not even afford to pay the Rs. 600 rent of the handcart. The used clothes were then sent to laundry. Washing and pressing of one suit costed around Rs. 40–60, making the monthly expense soar to Rs. 5,000–Rs. 10,000. High operational costs meant lower profits, resulting in her children often going to bed on empty stomachs.

However, today, Phulana is a happy woman. She has enough money to send three of her children to school. “For the first time, I do not have to worry about the next meal. Our vicious circle of poverty has finally ended,” she says.

Sharmeen, a university student doing her Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Education, lives with her parents and siblings in Okara, a remote district of Punjab. Being a student, she frequently browses the internet for academic pursuits and to connect with her friends and mentors through social media platforms. Although, she was cognizant of the risks associated with internet usage, she did not know, before the training, how to minimize it.

She recalls that she had no answer when people questioned her on why she had uploaded her photographs on social media and what she would do if they were misused.

Sharmeen is one of the 1,104 young women in Okara, who were trained on digital security through a project supported by USAID Ambassador’s Fund Grant Program (AFGP). Knowing how to protect her online accounts and identity along with being aware of institutions like the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) that provides protection against digital harassment, she gained the confidence to use the internet freely. The project also set up a helpline to guide and support girls and women who faced digital harassment.

“Now, I know all the answers,” says Sharmeen with a satisfied smile. “My digital world is safe.” The training empowered her in everyday life as well. She now confidently tells people to stop when they try to harass her or other girls. She also prevents people from taking her photographs or recording videos without permission. The ripples of freedom do not end here.

The women who underwent training, started helping other girls in making their internet usage secure. But Sharmeen’s case was exemplary. Girls who wanted to report cases of online harassment sought her guidance. Seeing her dedication to the cause, the organization that trained her, took her on board as a volunteer.

“I handle the cybersecurity helpline and answer the queries of girls over phone. Some of them visit us too.”

The helpline received 332 phone calls in just over a period of nine months. Almost 20 percent of the callers sought details of legal avenues to report online harassment. Sharmeen has referred 62 girls to a 15-member “Anti- Cyber Harassment Sub-Committee,” notified by Okara Bar Council. This committee provides legal guidance to women on a pro-bono basis. They have referred three such cases to FIA and filed one lawsuit against a digital harasser.

“It is a huge success in this society where such matters are brushed under the carpet for the fear of losing ‘honor’ and the victims end up suffering in silence,” said Advocate Adeel Ahmad, a member of the sub-committee.