Success Story

Sabiha Yousuf (8) belongs to a labor class family. Her father is a carpenter while her mother works as a maid in a nearby house. She is the fifth among eight siblings. From the very beginning, Sabiha was denied the kind of love and attention a child craves and certainly deserves. As a result, Sabiha never spoke. Her parents, confident that the girl was dumb, sent her to Ch. Rehmat Ali Girls Elementary School, North Nazimabad Town, Karachi with the thought that anything is better for her than sitting idle at home. The principal, Mrs. Farhat Hamidi says that the girl was given admission merely on the basis of sympathy. Her class teacher Ms. Shaheen Khalil was also reluctant to accept her in the class.

Nevertheless, her classes commenced and she began to observe the daily morning meetings conducted in the school, and started to participate in group activities using the CRI material. Still, she, never spoke a word. Then, one day about two months later, her teacher reports, she was sitting in the morning meeting circle when she spoke, uttering not just a word but a complete sentence: “Assalam-o- alaikum. Mera naam Sabiha hai, main theek hoon aur aap kaisi hain?” (Hello. My name is Sabiha. I’m fine. How are you?) The class teacher and her classmates were in a state of absolute shock. From that day onwards there was no looking back. Sabiha was always the first one to sit excitedly in the morning meeting circle and she always anxiously waited her turn. Her participation in the morning meeting was more than commendable. Her parents visited the school in such an emotional state that they did not have the words to thank the principal and the class teacher.

Sabiha successfully passed Kindergarten and is now in Grade-I. She is a regular naughty and talkative child. According to Sabiha, morning meeting is the best thing in school because “Jab koi mujh se baat karta hai to mujhay bohat acha lagta hai” (I like it when people talk to me). And the best part of it, she says, is, “Jab mein apni koi pasand ki baat batati hoon” (When I discuss something that I like).This poor affection-deprived girl simply needed an encouraging, attentive environment, which was provided by the morning meetings, and which changed her life.  

SABIHA YOUSUF
Grade - I
Ch. Rehmat Ali Girls Elementary School
North Nazimabad Town
Karachi