In the end, Mrs. Mustafa spoke to the students emphasizing the need for education in a developing country like Pakistan and how education can drastically change the lives of these students.

The littlest ones – singing the National Anthem

The teachers and students of The Garage School had prepared games, food and handicrafts to be put up on the stall. The response was wonderful with the young children attracted by the games and the ladies by the delicious food. Our school in-charge, Shabana Aziz won the third prize in the cooking contest for her spiced potatoes made with Mrs. Shabina Mustafa’s recipe’.

The older female students of The Garage School volunteered for the TW9Y fashion show as models and also as helpers for the event.  The girls sang songs, danced on the stage, got dressed in clothes by the various designers there and were favored by sponsored gifts from several well known brands.

Hoping to participate in this annual Women’s Expo next year as well, events like these help The Garage School to promote those students whose lives it aims to upgrade.

Sabahat is a volunteer at The Garage School who gives art and craft classes to our students on Saturdays. She took the students of Grade 3 for this  workshop where they learned to craft different things by using recycled materials. They made things like

• paper bags made from old newpapers.
• show-flowers
• small boxes for keepsakes, etc.

The students love Sabahat’s craft classes and they look forward to it every Saturday. Thank you Sabahat Saqib for this workshop as well as your voluntary craft classes.

Her presentation was the first to be shown and her speech went very well. But the highlighting factor was that every speaker invited praised Mrs. Mustafa’s efforts to eradicate illiteracy from Neelum Colony and Shah Rasool Colony. The chief guest, Mr. Abdul Majeed, the Founder Director of National Foods went so far to say that it was Mrs. Mustafa’s idea of Adult Literacy in the afternoon that prompted him to go to The Citizens Foundation and suggest them to start the same program in a similar manner. At the moment, 150 TCF Schools have adopted Mrs. Mustafa’s idea of Adult Literacy program with many more under process!

It feels so good when someone appreciates all the efforts you put into upgrading the lives of others and Mrs. Mustafa was, I’m sure, extremely touched by the praise and appreciation she got from everyone. She was the hero of the day! CONGRATULATIONS!

Other speakers included Ms. Maria Paola of FESF, Ms. Sabina Khatri of The Kiran Ibtidaai School and Ms. Nisreen Akbar of the DSRA School.

Mrs. Mustafa was overwhelmed by all the gifts, cards and flowers that she got! With tears in her eyes, she keeps on telling everyone about her birthday celebrations. She was especially touched by the generosity of the students of the Adult Literacy and Matric classes (afternoon shift) as although they celebrated her birthday a little late, each child brought something to eat for Mrs. Mustafa along with their cards and flowers. There was Biryani, Chaat, Chicken Chowmein, Spicy Potatoes, Potatoes and Peas, Chicken Patties, Chicken Korma, Fruit Custard, Cake and Drinks. There was so much to eat. These students for whom this kind of food is only a luxury which they sometimes cannot even afford on special occasions had been collecting money all year to make it a speacial day for Mrs. Mustafa! And it was!

I personally feel that no one’s birthday is celebrated with such fervor as Mrs. Mustafa’s and honestly, with the kind of work that she does…she deserves even more!

Our students, who always wait for such events, were all ready to leave half an hour before the time given to them for the departure of buses from the school. Two large buses were arranged by Mrs. Mustafa and we took our two school vans as well.

It was a fun-filled, educational trip where our students not only had fun but learned so much about the different planes and jets used previously by Pakistan Air Force.

The students saw the personal plane, Viking 1-b used by Mr. Jinnah for his last visit to Ziarat, where he died and the same plane brought his dead body back to Karachi. The students were amazed to see a telephone, and his personal rest room inside the plane.

There was also an F-86 Jet, amongst others, which Mrs. Shabina Mustafa’s husband, Flt. Lt. Syed Safi Mustafa (Shaheed) SJ, used to fly during his time with the PAF. He was missing believed killed in 1971 before the war in Bangladesh (East Pakistan).

There were old planes and new planes. An Indian plane captured in Sindh by the Pakistani forces, helicopters, aviation radar systems, badges of ranks in PAF, the changes in the PAF uniform over the years, etc on display at the PAF Archive Gallery.

There were also pictures of all the martyrs in one gallery where there was Flt. Lt. Syed Safi Mustafa (Shaheed) SJ’s picture with his short life history put up along with other martyrs’ pictures.

Later on, the students were given money to take rides in the amusement park there which was the best time of the trip for them! These students rarely get a chance to experience such rides and they shouted and laughed and got scared and had incredible fun on them!

Before leaving, everyone had a snack. The students and staff all had a very good time and we would all like to thank Mrs. Shabina Mustafa for arranging such an event for us.

As an incentive for coming on Saturdays, one of our regular volunteers, Mrs. Samina Lotia took the students of Grade 3 to Hyperstar at Dolmen City Mall on 21st January, 2012. She gave them money to buy candies, etc. The students, for whom it was a first experience at a hyper market and also at any mall on the whole were all extremely excited and bought the luxuries which are normally unaffordable for them.

Incentives like these are always given to students so that they not only work hard but realize their hidden talents by visiting these different places of learning and activity.

Traditionally, The Garage School celebrates its students’ birthdays. It is a special day for a child when he/she is made royalty. They cut their birthday cakes and their class sings the birthday song for them. A little gift is given by the school to make the day more special. This month, however, our teacher Ms. Huma Adnan celebrated her birthday in school on the 20th of January, 2012.

There was cake, chips, chaat (a Pakistani specialty snack which consists mainly of chickpeas and potatoes with tamarind and lots of spices) and soft drinks. Her class sang songs,  made cards for her and had a hearty snack in the end.  It was a joyous event as it was the first time that a teacher had treated her students on her birthday. Later on, Ms. Huma received a nice surprise gift from Mrs. Shabina Mustafa.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY MS. HUMA!

Keeping in mind the theme, the students of The Garage School performed a tableau showcasing the provinces and regions of Pakistan.

Clad in national and provincial attire, the students performed the dances of all the four provinces showcasing the “Colors of Pakistan”.  Confident, energetic and extremely disciplined, our students made the crowd dance in tune with them. The tableau ended with Mr. Ross Mintzer’s (volunteer at The Garage School) performance of the song Jazba Junoon on his saxophone and the students left the hall singing with him.

CIO Pakistan presented a trophy to the school in appreciation for all the efforts put forward by the staff and students for organizing the perfect performance for the evening.

To all those students who performed that day… YOU MADE US ALL PROUD!

A total of 30 students and staff members went to see the match, where the students’ enthusiasm not only uplifted the spirits of the team players but it also helped to promote domestic cricket amongst the younger generation which in turn will help in the development of the future talent of Pakistan Cricket.