Subject: Appeal for support for the House of Light School, Pind Begwal, Islamabad
The House of Light School (HOLS) is a non-profit institution providing free, high-quality education to children from families in Pind Begwal, a semi-rural area an hour away from Islamabad. Many of our students are the first in their families to go to school. Our objective is to provide them educational opportunities equivalent to those offered by leading private schools. We believe that financial circumstances should not determine the quality of education a child receives. Our commitment to quality education has recently also been recognised by Pakistan’s Ministry of Education through a certificate of appreciation. Our student body comprises around 350 children from nursery to grade 10. There is a lot of competition within the local community for admission to the school. Since we have a limited number of seats, we only take one child per family into the school. Our experience shows that educating one child changes the entire family’s future. Our selection process is entirely transparent: seats are open to children from the poorest families, regardless of religion or ethnicity. We maintain gender parity and are particularly proud that despite cultural constraints, half of our students are girls. We are strongly committed to ensuring that girls from the community have the same opportunities for flourishing that boys do. Many of our female teachers are HOLS graduates from low-income families in the surrounding area. Some of our graduates, including girls, are now the first in their families to pursue university level education. Many are pursuing jobs in banks, the Pakistan Air Force, and teaching in elite schools like Beaconhouse and Dastak. We are currently also developing a plan for introducing grades 11 and 12 (Higher Secondary School Certificate or intermediate College in Pakistan) specifically for young local women who wish to pursue careers in science and technology. In addition to free education including uniforms and textbooks (consume main financial resources), HOLS provides free transport for orphan students. Our facilities include dedicated Biology, Chemistry and Physics laboratories, a computer laboratory, a library with above 4000 books, two playgrounds, and a daycare facility for our staff. We believe that education should be holistic: our students regularly participate in theatre performances, sports days, field trips, IT workshops, and national art competitions such as Art for Change, with many HOLS students receiving medals for their work (https://www.facebook.com/HouseOfLightSchool/).
Subject: Appeal for support for the House of Light School, Pind Begwal, Islamabad
The House of Light School (HOLS) is a non-profit institution providing free, high-quality education to children from families in Pind Begwal, a semi-rural area an hour away from Islamabad. Many of our students are the first in their families to go to school. Our objective is to provide them educational opportunities equivalent to those offered by leading private schools. We believe that financial circumstances should not determine the quality of education a child receives. Our commitment to quality education has recently also been recognised by Pakistan’s Ministry of Education through a certificate of appreciation. Our student body comprises around 350 children from nursery to grade 10. There is a lot of competition within the local community for admission to the school. Since we have a limited number of seats, we only take one child per family into the school. Our experience shows that educating one child changes the entire family’s future. Our selection process is entirely transparent: seats are open to children from the poorest families, regardless of religion or ethnicity. We maintain gender parity and are particularly proud that despite cultural constraints, half of our students are girls. We are strongly committed to ensuring that girls from the community have the same opportunities for flourishing that boys do. Many of our female teachers are HOLS graduates from low-income families in the surrounding area. Some of our graduates, including girls, are now the first in their families to pursue university level education. Many are pursuing jobs in banks, the Pakistan Air Force, and teaching in elite schools like Beaconhouse and Dastak. We are currently also developing a plan for introducing grades 11 and 12 (Higher Secondary School Certificate or intermediate College in Pakistan) specifically for young local women who wish to pursue careers in science and technology. In addition to free education including uniforms and textbooks (consume main financial resources), HOLS provides free transport for orphan students. Our facilities include dedicated Biology, Chemistry and Physics laboratories, a computer laboratory, a library with above 4000 books, two playgrounds, and a daycare facility for our staff. We believe that education should be holistic: our students regularly participate in theatre performances, sports days, field trips, IT workshops, and national art competitions such as Art for Change, with many HOLS students receiving medals for their work (https://www.facebook.com/HouseOfLightSchool/).
The school regularly enters collaborations with individuals and organizations that can enrich our students’ education. Our collaborations include:
● Midland Doctors (UK) has funded ten HOLS students to continue their education to O and A levels.
● HOLS hosts Little Rebels Remote: Life on the Frontlines, a National Geographic-funded project led by Maria Hashmi which teaches wildlife conservation.
● Culture Shock, founded by Osman Khan, runs communication and English-language training at HOLS.
● PAAS Foundation (US) runs a nutrition program at the school which involves the students setting up a kitchen garden.
● Regular visits by a nutritionist who checks for wasting and stunting of HOLS students. She is developing a plan for teachers to delicately interact with families to tweak food intake, while keeping in mind the budget constraint of poor households. We particularly encourage girls’ participation in sports and HOLS now has a girls hockey team, the first in the entire area of Pind Begwal. The team is planning to compete at a national level.
To keep this work going, we require your support. Economic conditions in the last few years have negatively affected our donor pool. This has affected our ability to provide children the educational, support and extracurricular opportunities that help them flourish. For example, we have had to withdraw, for the time being, our free meal program. While we continue to provide free uniforms, families for now must purchase shoes for the children. Without donor assistance, we are struggling to stay true to our mission: the right to good education should not be limited by poverty or gender. Our objective is to achieve sustainability to safeguard education for poor children of the area. To this end, we are soliciting donations, especially for our endowment fund, to ensure good education for future generations of children in this area.
How you can help:
In order to help the school in meeting these expenses, the following options, as shown, can be considered by potential donors.
To confirm your choice, please send a return email at hol.school@gmail.com, or contact us using the details below. We will be glad to respond accordingly.
We would like to invite your team to visit our school and see first-hand our students’ achievements and how the school is helping them flourish. Our contact details are given below. Let us know whom we can get in touch with at your end to arrange a visit. HOLS is overseen by an independent governing body and audited on a yearly basis.
(Audit reports available at https://horizon-holschool.org/transparency/financial-framework.html).
Your support will change the future of children who would otherwise be left without an education.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Shahrukh Rafi Khan
Member, Board of Trustees
Horizon International Trust, for The House of Light School
The House of Light School, Bain Nala, Pind Begwal, Islamabad,
PAKISTAN
Website: https://www.horizon-holschool.org/Facebook:
Fb/Insta page: https://www.facebook.com/HouseOfLightSchool/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hol.school/
Phone / WhatsApp: +92 321 8503359
Email: hol.school@gmail.com
X (Twitter): https://x.com/HouseOfLight