Partnership Overview

As everyone knows, there are major issues in Pakistan. It appears to be a country that harbours and produces extremists. However, the majority of the people are not extremists. To help break down barriers between religious groups and foster understanding, Barbara Gill has established a school in Islamabad.

History of Partnership

For a number of years BHW has been partnering with Azam and Barbara Gill. They are involved in encouraging Christians, running sewing classes for women and more lately, adult literacy classes.

Barbara has a vision for children and their education. She sees this as the foundation for creating better understanding between quite diverse groups. She has had the opportunity to purchase a small plot of land in a newly developing part of the city, near to the airport. Many new houses are being built in the area and there are no other schools nearby.

She started the school in 2010 with a small number of students. She has approached BHW to assist with the school as it is in an area that has many poor people. Eventually it will be self-sustaining, but in the next few years as it develops it will require some financial assistance.

Beneficiaries

The beneficiaries will be the children and families in the Wazir community. The families will benefit by having a school in the new location. There are many Pashtun (Pathan) people living in the area. These are a poor nomadic people from the north of Pakistan and Afghanistan. They traditionally have not valued education and often the children, especially the girls, do not go to school. They are looked down on by the other local people which makes life even more difficult for them. A number of them have already joined the school with subsidised costs.

What We Like About The Partnership

We have known Barbara for a long time and understand her passion for this. She has a good history of educational administration.

Barbara and Azam have put a lot of their own resources into establishing the school. They use an English based, Cambridge curriculum. It is outstanding. They want to provide quality education.

They have good relationships with the local community both Pakistani and Pashtun.

Key People

Leadership Profile

Barbara Gill is the key person and her husband Azam is her support. She is a trained school administrator and has had wide experience in a number of large schools. She is married to Azam and they have 3 children, Azar, Izia and Eliza.

She is based at the school and also teaches adult literacy classes and oversees a sewing programme for young women.

Other People Involved

Azam Gill. The two of them provide the direction for the school and will eventually obtain some income from the school.

Miss Riffad teaches kindergarten and is the vice principal. She is an experienced teacher and they trust her a great deal. They expect she will take over the leadership of the school as it grows.

Vision and Annual Strategy

At the moment the school is in the early stages of development. The greatest need is for development of the buildings, this is going ahead slowly. Each term the number of children grows. There are, at the time of writing (March 2015), there are almost 100 children. 

The plan is to add a grade each year as the school grows. New entrants will only be taken into the younger grades as the curriculum is quite different from other schools and older children do not pass the entry qualifications.

Annual Budget

The budget is US$11,000 per year for 3 years at which time the partnership will be reviewed.