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Starfish Asia
32 Beck Lane
Beckenham
Kent BR3 4RE
UK
Telephone
+44 (0)20 8402 1914
Email
mike@starfishasia.com
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Kaleem Dean promoted
I am pleased to inform you all that The Directorate of Education, Lahore Division, has declared me the Member of Schools Inspection Committee. The decision has been taken by the District Education Officer and team of Directorate authorities. This decision has been taken on the following grounds.
1. In recognition of our educational services as Registered and Affiliated Schools.
2. Our services as a Charity Christian Organization and my twenty years services in different schools and colleges.
Annual Result Day at CAP scools
Professor kaleem Dean, Director of the CAP schools gave this exuberant report about the
results at the school for brick kiln workers' children in Su-e-Asal:
"It is a matter of great joy that at the annual Result Day at the school in Sue-e-Asal the internal result remained 100%. I was reported by Mrs.Gulbina Afzal, the CAP-Schools' Central Controller of Examinations. The detailed report will come after 13th as Annual Results of other CAP Schools will be declared soon. Mrs.Robina and her team at Sue-e-Asal worked very hard to prepare brick kiln children to show such an excellent result, we are struggling for. We are holding these Annual Internal Examinations centrally. Mrs.Gulbina Afzal, M.A.B.Ed.was appointed as Controller in November 2009.She and her team are doing good job. Thanks for your prayers and support."
Trapped and desperate
In the CAP Youhannabad Centre there a lady named Riffat got admission in January. Having worked for several years a professional prostitute. She used to work in a factory and from that place she got this curse. She had been trapped into her trade through poverty and her desperate need of money to survive. When the factory inspector introduced her to the way to earn money easily by selling herself, she faced an impossible dilemma.
She recounts: "The whole day when I was working there was a fight in my mind what to do. At one side, I thought it was sin and on the other hand money was my need. In the evening the same thing happened and I could not resist any more in the greed of money. Since then, I was doing all this happily and was earning good money."
Mrs. Kaleem encouraged her to continue her training and accept the Lord. "He will heal you," she told Riffat. She repented and vowed that she was ready to leave everything. She need your prayers. Kaleem wrote: "We have offered her a job in our High School to assist the school staff and children. She is doing her duty regularly. We are concerned for her and many who are trapped in this lifestyle."
Bilal Town Christians witness a miracle
Shamshad and Rubina who direct the Gospel School in Bilal Town -- a colony of several hundfed Christian families at the western edge of Lahore -- are at last seeing a new school building rise on the plot of land they bought in 2008.
Three classes have been meeting in the open air on this plot for the past year, as funds were not availabel for the building and there was no space in the sentee school premises.
For the childseren and community of Bilal Town this is nothing less than a miracle and an answer to prayer. Further funding will be needed to complete the building in the summer of 2010.
Summer Camp
Thank the Lord we arranged a summer camp from 1st June to 15th July. The children from our school learned many things in this camp about their education, Jesus' Love, Prayer, Worship and they also had a lot of fun together. On the last day we gave lunch to the children -- they really enjoyed this event.
Miracle School moves Miracle School ministries runs two schools with a total of about 550 children. Two hundred come from the families working at the Brick Kiln in Youhannabad 2 -- all Christian families that labour without cease making bricks for small reward. These children moved into their own purpose-built school building in November 2009. Now it is the turn of the 350 children who attend the Miracle School in Model Town. They have used a rented building for the past 5 years, but the threat has hung over the school that the building was needed by the landlord and they would have to move. The deadline was the start of 2010! In God's mercy and through the generosity of several Starfish Asia friends, Miracle School Ministries have purchased a building in the same area and are moving in March 2010 -- this month. The children have been praying fervently for this provision -- their prayers are being answered before their very eyes.
Miracle School, Youhannabad 2 Miracle School, Model Town Christian curriculum urgently needed We are at last ready to launch the writing of a high standard 10-year curriculum of Christian teaching to be used in private Christian schools across Pakistan. Nirali Kitaben, a local Christian publisher is undertaking the preparation of a course intially for Class 1 to 5, and work will begin soon. We have received some intial funding for this ultimately expensive project. More will be needed. David Diwan, his wife (pictured) and the staff at Nirali Kitaben will oversee the course with input from many others in the church and children's organizations. We value your prayers for this significant project. Click the logo to view the Nirali Kitaben website: Learning the value of schools This insight into life at the Holy Shepherd School in Karachi appeared on the blog of a leader of the North Shrewsbury Community Church, who visited the school recently. January 28, 2010 I wish I went to a school with a name like Holy Shepherd Grammar School or for that matter with one with its values and attitudes only I didn't. I'm now very grateful for the education I've received and the more I visit schools in developing countries the more grateful I become. My friend Dave took me out to visit this school on the outskirts of Karachi, which is supported by Starfish Asia. It's a bit of a trek into a dusty, dirty, poor edge of the city but oh my goodness was it worth it. To understand why this school (and so many others like it) is so inspirational, let me give you some background. Christians are a poor minority in this country and education is the way to get jobs in a country where millions struggle to find gainful employment in even the most basic of jobs. The government schools are often terrible, overcrowded, under resourced with teachers that can't be bothered. Not so at Holy Shepherd Grammar School. They charge 50 rupees a month although that's going up to a 100 rupees. Imagine our shock at the doubling of fees but 100 rupees isn't even £1. Maybe it's a dollar. And for the poorest who can't even afford that, they go free. But they get real value for money. I saw classroom after classroom of happy, smiling, children. I got a round of applause just for visiting. They have a really high retention rate, students come back to work at the school, it's well run, with caring teachers and visionary leadership. The school is run by Anser Javed and his wife Kashi and it has 535 pupils aged from 3-18.
They run in two shifts with the youngsters in the morning and the older ones in the
afternoon. The school has been going about 8 years and is expanding fast. They have a
vision to expand to 1000 students and add a vocational training school for 200 so school
leavers can get extra skills to help them get jobs. It has growing influence in the community
(Christian and Muslim) and teaches with Christian integrity and honesty. It is producing
saints as well as scholars. They're now giving children milk and a banana free each day, in addition to free places, books, uniforms for the poorest who can’t afford £1 a month to educate their children. But more could be done. They want a bus to get the young women safely home in the evening (it's not always safe for young girls to walk home on their own) and teachers being paid £50 a month could probably do with a raise. I don't think it is exaggerating to say that the education offered here is changing lives. Why not consider helping this great school do more. You can read about the school on its blog and you can give through Starfish Asia. We know we can't help everyone -- but we have to help some! |
