Back to What we do... How you can help provide education                         Starfish Asia 32 Beck Lane Beckenham Kent BR3 4RE UK Telephone +44 (0)20 8402 1914 Email mike@starfishasia.com	Schools for the poor   Pakistan offers worse conditions for children than any other country in South Asia..."   So reports the Asian Human Rights Commission. "About 23 million children in Pakistan have never been to school..."   UNESCO paints an equally grim picture. "Official statistics released by the Federal Education Ministry of Pakistan give a desperate picture of education for all, especially for girls... Independent sources and educational experts place the overall literacy rate at 26 per cent and the rate for girls and women at 12 per cent."   The UK Sunday Telegraph (7 May 2006) highlighted: "No power, no water, no lavatories and no teachers -- the disaster of Pakistan's schools."   Starfish Asia is committed to help children gain a Christian-based High School education. We fund some schools in full and provide subsidies for other private schools that struggle with resources. We believe that no child should be deprived of education -- the key to hope and personal dignity. Our greatest concern is for the children of Christian familes, but Muslim and Hindu children also attend some of the schools that we support -- we care for them too!   We cannot give details of all the schools we are supporting. This is a just a sample of the 25 schools to which we are currently providing some financial help. More than 6,000 children now study in schools supported by Starfish Asia in Pakistan.   The Lahore Christian High School   The Lahore Christian High School was the first school to which we provided full running costs. The school now gives low-cost quality education to more than 400 children and has a fine record of academic excellence. Many graduates (including the girl in the picture above) have gone on to careers in nursing or to higher studies. The school is part of the ministry of the Fellowship of Christ.         The Miracle School   Members of one very dedicated family opened a small school in their own home to cater for the very poorest in their Christian community in Lahore. They provided not only schooling but also some food and medical attention. With help from Starfish Asia, they hired staff and opened the Miracle School -- now housed in a large rented building and giving a future to 400 poor children from the community.   They were not content and went on to open a second school for workers from a brick kiln. 200 children study at the second school.   "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me." Matthew 18:5 . Ghauri Wisdom High School In 2003 Starfish Asia started to help 60 children from the Christian colony of Youhannabad (Lahore) to attend school. One of the schools chosen was the Ghauri Wisdom High School, a private Christian school run by a former Government teacher. We have since helped to upgrade the standard of the school, enabling it to move to better premises, giving help towards the purchase of school furniture and subsidizing the cost of running the school, so that now 600 children from poor homes can receive their education free of cost.     Holy Shepherd Grammar School, Karachi In the north of Karachi is Mianwali Colony, where a community of poor Christians live and labour. The dusty alleys are the playground for hundreds of children. Opened by a Pakistani couple with a concern for the poor, the school brings fresh hope to this needy community. Starfish Asia is fully committed to the future of the school, which now serves 650 chidlren. Sadaye-Aman, Sargodha Tariq Iqbal from Sargodha developed a deep concern for a drug-ridden community of poor Christians living in the centre of Sargodha. In May 2006, with help from Starfish Asia, Tariq opened a small Primary School with 40 students. He called it the Call of Peace (Sadaye-Aman) School. From those early beginnings the school has grown to 150, and is now a registered Middle School with its own building provided by the generosity of Starfish Asia donors. It is a ray of light and hope for a community that has lived too long in the shadow of despair. In 2011 Tariq and his wife Kanwal opened a Home for girls from disadvantaed families, which they call 'My Home'. Tariq also visits Christians in the local Prison and has many more dreams of helping people in need in his society.