When the COVID-19 pandemic left their family with a surging debt, no income or a home to live, Shahbaz and Mushtaq from the village Mirpur Sakro had lost all hope of returning to school.

Before the pandemic, their father, Mohammad Sharif Hussain, used to make around 300 rupees a day as a daily-wage labourer. Since the lockdown, he has hardly got any work. The family of 6 was already surviving on borrowed money when the heavy rainfalls in Sindh destroyed their home, forcing them to move into a makeshift tent for a home.

When schools reopened, Mushtaq and Shahbaz didn’t show up. Without wasting any time, Ms. Nighat Parveen, the principal at their TCF school located their whereabouts and visited them.  Mohammad Hussain informed her about his recent situation and asked how he could send his children to school when he cannot even provide food for his family. Ms. Nighat instantly provided him with a fee waiver for both his children and counselled him to send his children back to school so that he could live his dream of seeing them educated and successful.

Mushtaq and Shahbaz were all smiles on their first day back in school! Mushtaq wants to become a teacher while Shahbaz dreams of becoming a doctor one day. And now that they’re back in their classrooms, we believe they will!

Your Zakat and Sadaqah for the education of children like Mushtaq and Shahbaz will save their dreams from falling apart amid this crisis.