The success of the van has been so impressive that other educational organizations have taken note , and several are considering replicating the program in other parts of the country . The van could be an innovative way to provide some of Pakistan ’ s 22.8 million out-of-school children with a different pathway to learning .
To increase the reach of the program , Central Asia Institute recently equipped a second library van , which will visit villages in the northeast , while the original van will continue to travel in the northwest . But even with the second van , there are still many children who remain without access to education .
Eighteen communities have contacted the library team about having the van visit their villages . In addition , people along the van ’ s routes will often ask the driver to make a stop at their village . But with limited time and resources , the library team cannot add additional villages to their routes at this time .
“ Yesterday , we were in one village called Basseen , near Warzah , a poor area where people live in tents and don ’ t know about education ,” explains Amir , the library van ’ s driver . “ All the children were on the side of the road swimming in the river . I asked them ‘ Why are you not going to school ?’ They told me that school is very far so they cannot go to school . The girls are at home doing chores and washing clothes , so they are not able to
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Travel with the library van to remote mountain towns in northern Pakistan . Visit centralasiainstitute . org / library-van to watch the video . go to school either . These children don ’ t even know what a pencil is . So I showed them a pencil and how to use it . They were so interested .”
When he returned to the district office at the end of the day , Amir shared this story with his boss . He hopes that one day he ’ ll be able to give these children the education they deserve and crave .
Until that day comes , he and the rest of the library van team are so grateful for being able to change so many lives with this project .
“ Thanks deeply from the core of our hearts to the donors of CAI ,” said Babar . “ You provided us the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of these children . There are still children out there waiting for us to create these opportunities for them , but whatever progress we have made so far is thanks to you , the donors . We wish to convey our deepest thanks to you . We appreciate your support and trust .” Y
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