Dear HOPE Friends,
HOPE Opens a New Home School in the Isolated Mountaintops of Kashmir
In the remote mountaintop regions of Kashmir, attaining an education becomes an arduous and ongoing struggle - these students not only face barriers of poverty (similar to our beneficiaries in other areas of Pakistan), but also grapple with geographic and climate hurdles which are part and parcel of life in Azad Kashmir. Due to safety and cultural factors, female students often end up absorbing the brunt of the repercussions, so much so that there is still a wide discrepancy in literacy rates between males and females in Pakistan. As of 2021, the overall literacy rate in Pakistan has remained stagnant at about 60%, with males and females reporting literacy levels of 73% and 52%, respectively. Dire statistics such as these only serve to reinforce the need for innovative interventions such as the home-schooling system, a solution which has been largely underutilized in Pakistan, but which HOPE USA has been implementing in Azad Kashmir (along with other rural areas and urban slums within Pakistan) for the past 20 years.
Through your generous support of our Educate a Girl in Kashmir project, we are humbled to report that we have successfully opened yet another school in Azad Kashmir! Below, please find the details along with pictures from the welcome ceremony:
HOPE's Kona Habib Dori School is located in the remote, difficult-to-access mountaintops of Kashmir, where the next closest school is 2 hours away and the main city of Muzaffarabad is 4 hours away
Kona Habib Dori is an extremely impoverished area and students are given an education along with school bags and supplies for free
A total of 100 students are currently studying in this school, 80% of whom are girls
We would like to express our gratitude to our loyal supporters for supporting us and allowing us to reach these momentous occasions! Each of you should feel accomplished that you are part of the vehicle for educational advancement in these isolated mountaintop areas where even small changes create long-lasting ripples.
Best regards,
Ambereen Siddiqui
Director - HOPE North America & Europe
