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Atiya Khan - Vice Chair – HDF Board of Director
August 27, 2008
Believe It Or Not
HDF Launches Free Knowledge Access For All in Pakistan
The Human Development Foundation (HDF) is launching an innovative initiative about knowledge dissemination in Pakistan: education, literacy, business skills, community mobilization, basic health skills, and vocational skills.
The new project HDF is launching in Pakistan is called Digital Study Hall (DSH). DSH uses digital video to disseminate targeted knowledge and skills training. The best practices of experts in different fields are captured on digital video, and these DVDs are provided to schools and other institutions.
The best part is that these videos will be made available on the Internet for anyone to download, free of charge.
I am proud to tell you that, within the next few years, this new initiative will bring about a revolution in knowledge dissemination.
The best experts and teachers not only use the most effective teaching methods in a culturally relevant context, but also inspire students, get them excited about learning, expand their horizons, and provide better economic opportunities.
Great teachers are usually available only to a few fortunate people who can afford to pay high tuition rates. DSH video will expand and democratize their reach to much larger audiences, thereby massively increasing their impact.
The DSH model will have dual benefits of being:
1) An effective student study aid
2) A teacher training aid
The first HDF pilot program of DSH will cover four (4) topics:
1) Children’s Education
2) Basic healthcare training (example: basic hygiene)
3) Social mobilization (example: how to train and educate communities in self help)
4) Vocational training (example: basic plumbing skills, electrician skills)
This first step may seem modest, but it is a critical step toward HDF’s developmental goals.
Such an achievement would mark a milestone in the history of Pakistan and would sow the seeds of a revolution in knowledge attainment opportunities for the people of Pakistan.
Yes, all this by HDF, the organization that ten years ago introduced the idea of an integrated model of development in the rural areas of Pakistan With your support and the hard work of the people carrying out the projects on the ground, HDF has been successful.
Imagine the impact it will have on our future generations, who will be getting the best education possible. This project will allow them to compete with the rest of the world and advance rapidly, helping our country leap ahead of other developing countries.
I am so excited about this project, and I hope that you now are too!
GO HDF!
If you like help financially or with your time & specific expertise, then please send an
email to: helpdsh@hdf.com.
If you are a blogger or press person and like to get more information then please:
Email to Shahid Khan: skhan33@gmail.com
Call Shahid Khan: +1.650.740.5527
Village Shameer Khan
In the small village of Shamsabad, located in the District of Tando Muhammad Khan, the community is largely uneducated. Few organizations have tried to help this community, even though their need is great. HDF has stepped forward, offering some much needed help including education, social mobilization, basic healthcare, community physical infrastructure, and economic development. Here are but a few examples of how HDF is changing the community, helping people help themselves:
Village Shameer Khan Lund of Shamsabad comprises 50 households with around 350 people in HDF’s program area and their main resource is livestock. On a daily basis, livestock is lost or stolen from the impoverished villagers, and each of these losses are felt deeply by this community. When the village brought this matter to the HDF offices and representatives, they were advised to form a Citizen Community Board (CCB). Uniting the community under a CCB named Aghaz, their ideas yield promise.
A compound wall, to surround the village and protect the livestock was planned. Enthusiastically, the villagers contributed 20% of the cost to build the compound wall, and today that wall is complete, saving the villagers from further financial loss. The CCB isn’t through yet: they plan to construct a boundary wall around their village maternity home next. They will begin construction soon.
In another Shamsabad village, construction was underway. In Valio Kohli, the water storage pond was in poor condition, unable to provide clean water. Without clean water, this community suffered from outbreaks of many diseases. Children of the village that played in that area, they too were affected by the outbreaks.
After careful analysis, HDF’s regional team helped motivate the local community to build a boundary wall around that pond, in an effort to keep contaminates out of the drinking water. DO Bhou Sagar collected 20% of the cost to construct the wall from the local villagers, and together HDF & Valio Kohli built a boundary wall for the pond with a storage capacity of more than 70,000 liters.
Today that project is completed, and the children still play along the edge of the pond. Parents no longer need to worry about the illnesses that may befall their young children for coming into contact with contaminated water. The families and their livestock now have clean water, and a safer environment. Through donations given for the Community Infrastructure Fund, HDF has been privileged enough to help such strong, resourceful people provide a better environment for their families.
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