Three people, same city, same weather but completely different lives and approaches to education. They intermingled when I, an A levels student, interned at the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative Unit (UNGEI) over summer and volunteered at the Aabroo Welfare School, a month later. While working under Ms. Sobia Fazilat at the UNGEI office, I had the opportunity to attend a meeting between important figures. The gravity of the issues tackled in that meeting did not really hit me until the monsoons of this rather ill fated September, when suddenly those five hours of grueling discussion and debates suddenly made sense.
The CEOs of Sudhaar and Hayat Foundation, and the representatives of Rescue 1122, UNICEF and Save The Children, walked into the Avari Hotel Lahore meeting room on 25th July, 2014 to attend an EPRP – Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan- Workshop organized by the UNGEI. The UNGEI officer who had organized the event introduced these formidable partners to each other, and highlighted the need for an EPRP workshop in order to ensure that in the eventuality of a natural disaster the education of children in Punjab would not be compromised or neglected, no matter what the circumstances.
As the meeting commenced, many key factors, ranging from risk profiling and scenario setting to institutional memory and past emergency experiences, were taken into consideration. The response of the United Nations to previous calamities was analysed and was deemed as inadequate and unsatisfactory. Ms. Sehr Raza, the educational officer for UNICEF, gave the example that after the catastrophic earthquake of 2005, the UN and NGOs were acting like ‘headless chickens’, with no clue what to do because they had had no previous experience of the sort and were not prepared to deal with such a calamity. In order to be prepared for such events in the future, multi hazard prioritizations, scenario building and caseload calculations were remarked to be very useful and effective tools. The gravity of each hazard was quantified based on human loss, infrastructure damage, people displacement and property loss due to that hazard. Not only were natural hazards such as earthquakes listed, but internal potential hazards for example, critical power system failure of the UN facility that could hinder the response of the UN and its partners, were also brought into light.
During the 2010 flood, the locals were in such a desperate state that they were burning furniture to cook their food on, and children had to go to mosques for their classes as their schools had been destroyed. TLCs were established only where IDPs and schools were located. It was noted that TLCs now need to be established wherever they were needed.
The UNGEI officer told the implementing partners that they all needed to observe other countries’ responses to hazards. For example in 2010, there was an earthquake of 7.3 magnitude in Haiti, resulting in over 200,000 casualties. The country was prepared for cyclones, but had failed to think outside the box and prepare for a potential earthquake. This served as a useful example for Pakistan to understand that precaution.
The representative of Save the Children talked about how the organization has started undertaking school improvement plans, for example rebuilding washrooms and providing water coolers. The aim was to increase not only net enrollment in schools, but also gross enrollment.
Current efforts made by Save the Children to improve the situation were also talked about and duly appreciated. After a five hour meeting, the UNGEI officer thanked the implementing partners for their time and invited them to dinner.
The monsoons in Lahore started early September. Initially, people were relieved to see the relentless rays of the Sun shielded by the dark, grey clouds which were bursting at the seams with rain. But the rain did not stop for days, and caused multiple problems to students. For some students, the rain and flooding was just an annoyance in their way, but for others, it was a serious hindrance.
The A levels student stepped out of her car next to her school gate, an umbrella in hand. She carefully stepped onto the dry patch of ground she could see, so that her shoes would not get wet. Once she entered the school, she was shocked. The school had stagnant water to a depth of a few inches. Some students were wading to get from one building to another, while others were jumping from brick to brick on the temporary pathway the school had devised. It was a clever idea really; all you had to do was balance yourself, and carefully step from one brick to another. A bit of a nuisance but under the given circumstances, a saving grace. Life went on as usual.
On the other side of the social spectrum, a little girl was jumping up and down with excitement- her school, Aabroo Welfare School, was finally reopening after a few unexpected holidays thanks to the unrelenting rain. She held her father’s hand as he walked her to her school. Her eyes opened wide as she looked at the water standing on the field adjacent her school. It was probably half a foot deep, if not more. But at least her school had not been damaged by the torrential rains. Some of the nearby schools’ rooftops had collapsed in the rain. There was chaos all around without any sign of a silver lining.
The point of these various perspectives is simple. No matter where one might stand on the social or financial ladder, such incidents and natural disasters have a way of seeping in all our lives, dragging trouble right into our laps. However, for those without resources, it is harder to beat these odds and rise back up. Institutions like Aabroo do not have the finances to rise on their own when such disasters hit them. The government needs to step it up, take their game up a notch and realize that these children rely on welfare schools for their basic right – the right to be educated. With the backing of the government as a constant factor, the UN and its partners wouldn’t have to be the ones to initiate drastic measures and feel out of place. It is a joint effort with an amazing end result – education for all.
‘The state shall provide free and compulsory education to all the children of the age five to sixteen years in such manners as may be determined by the law.’ (Article 25-A, Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan)