To Give and
where to Give…
By Marriam Azam
Karachi, Pakistan
Being a Pakistani-born and American-raised
girl in her 20s, charity is a word that has very
recently been introduced into my vocabulary. It’s
not that I’m just now discovering what the
word means; I’ve known that for a while,
but it’s just now that I actually have an
interest in things like charity, donation, and
the general concept of giving.
Let’s face facts, any earlier in my life,
and you would have seen me with my nose buried
in the photocopier in the campus library feeding
it coins upon coins, and any later and you’d
probably find me searching out the most economic
way to buy diapers.
But ah, this in-between time where one finally
has an income that is pretty much steady but not
quite the huge number of responsibilities that
come with “domestic” life. It was
during this “not quite” phase of my
life that one evening, I sat down to dinner with
my best friend at a local TGIF and we both thought
about which charity would be the best charity
to give our donations to. We both knew that we
would love to do something to help someone, but
we also wanted to benefit our country in return.
We didn’t know where to find such a worthy
organization.
As luck would have it, in March, my fate landed
me head first into this puzzling country of Pakistan.
I’d always been told that this is where
I was born and thus the place to which I belong
but only after experiencing it for myself, did
I sense an odd familiarity and a connection to
this sun-baked city by the sea, Karachi. In my
discoveries and adventures in this familiar and
foreign land, I discovered an organization that
I found not only worthy of my money but extremely
awe-inspiring as well. The organization is called
ACELP (Association for Children with Emotional
and Learning Problems).
ACELP is a school for children with emotional
and developmental disabilities. Located in Karachi,
ACELP accepts all children from any socio-economic
background. This means, after a preliminary evaluation
of the student, any family with a physically or
mentally disabled child can send its child to
the school. If a family is not able to afford
to pay the fees for enrolling their disabled child,
the school finds a sponsor for the child to be
able to attend school. The school is equipped
with physical therapists, psychologists, certified
teachers as well as staff physicians.
The children are first evaluated to find the most
suitable placement within the school. They are
then placed in a capability appropriate classroom.
If a child cannot be educated due to his or her
psychological condition, the school also provides
vocational training as a means to help the child
gain independence in his or her life. Vocational
training includes training the children in areas
such as carpentry, weaving, sewing, and typing
among other things. There are four small shuttle
buses that transport those children that would
otherwise not be able to get there to school.
The school works with educating children in a
new way, using pictures, and colors, and even
musical instruments to make learning a creative
and fun process. The children are taught independence
and self-worth and are given skills that they
can use for their life after they graduate.
In addition to helping the children, the school
also helps the parents of the child. Many parents
don’t understand the best way to take care
of a disabled or disadvantaged child. From fear
of upsetting the child or in order to avoid temper
tantrums, many parents and grandparents tend to
spoil some children or avoid any sort of discipline.
The trained psychologists and psychotherapists
at ACELP help guide the parents in terms of the
best way to help their child progress both on
a practical level as well as in terms of education.
The school is run by Ms. Meher Hasan who launched
the venture in 1974 in a rented building and out
of her own pocket. It has now expanded to a 4000
sq feet premises along with a new gym facility
which is due to open in August of this year. There
is an executive committee which is entirely volunteer
run that meets every fortnight to discuss ways
to raise awareness of the organization as well
as find new ways to raise funds to be able to
help even more children.
In a city like Karachi, where disabled children
are more often than not neglected and not found
to be worthy of an education, ACELP has made it
its mission to break the societal conventions
and help as many disabled children as it can.
I think I’ve found just what I was looking
for. An organization with a social concern that
is not afraid to break stereotypes and conventions
in order to help marginalized and disadvantaged
children.
For more information, please contact Ms. Parveen
Ali, an ACELP board member at ali49c@hotmail.com
or write to Pakistan Link.
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