On a park school in Pakistan and the importance of painting places of worship in Kenia
Can you remember a thought you had 30 years ago that has shaped your life and changed the lives of others for the better? I'm sure I had many and of course very brilliant thoughts at the age of 7, but I can't think of any at the moment. However, 58-year old Mohammed Ayub from Pakistan still recalls a central thought he had 30 years ago that was to change his life: "I started thinking about ways to help people.”
Mohammed Ayub works for the Pakistani fire brigade in Islamabad, a job that provides him with a regular income. He himself comes from a poor background and while he found work in the capital as a young man, his family continued to live in the countryside. In order to make good use of his time and to make a contribution to society, he started looking for a suitable job that he could do after his regular job at the fire department. One morning he encountered a young boy who was washing a car during the day. "Why aren't you in school?" Mohammed Ayub asked the child. "My parents are poor, so I work," the boy replied and continued scrubbing. "Then I will teach you." No sooner said than done. Muhammad gave the boy a notebook, pencil and eraser and the lessons began. What started out as individual lessons changed rapidly: new children joined every day. They had found a place where they could learn without having to pay school fees. Within the first week the number of students willing to learn grew from one to 50.
For more than 30 years now, Mohammed has been Master Ayub and an unofficial teacher in his spare time. His classroom is a park in Islamabad near the Pakistani Parliament. His students are girls and boys from the poor slums of the surrounding neighborhoods. What began as lessons for a boy has now developed into a proper school. Mohammed Ayub teaches reading, writing and maths to more than 200 children of all religions and is supported by friends and former students. And the success proves them right: children who were taught in the park school under the open sky have other opportunities. They can lead a different life from that of their parents, who often try to finance their lives as garbage collectors and similar jobs.
Islamabad, Pakistan
“If we want Pakistan to flourish, we have to teach every child a new word, every day.”
Mohammed proudly speaks of one of his former schoolgirls who is now working as a government employee. According to a UNESCO report from 2012, the illiteracy rate in Pakistan is 79 percent, putting the Asian country in 180th place out of a total of 221 countries in the world. Mohammed Ayub knows the system that leads to lack of education from his own experience. Since his father died early, Mohammed, being a young man himself, had to take responsibility for his eight siblings, teach them and take on several jobs to provide for the whole family. Even today he still takes care of his family. One third of his salary, which he earns from his work in the fire brigade, goes to his family and he keeps another third for himself to finance his life. The last third, on the other hand, goes to his school in the park. Because education is more than being able to read, write and do calculations. Education conveys a sense of self-worth. And so it is also Master Ayub's concern to soon have a proper school for the children and to devote himself fully to educational work after his retirement. "If we want Pakistan to flourish, we have to teach every child a new word, every day."[1]
But even if education ideally begins in childhood, it does not stop there. The project "Colour in Faith", which was developed in Kenya, shows that it is also possible to broaden one's horizons as an adult and thus make new experiences and learn.
A Mosque in Nairobi, Kenia
Paint it Yellow!
82 percent of the country's population is Christian. With 11 percent Islam is the largest among the minority religions, which also include African beliefs as well as Hinduism. Muslims and Christians often live close to each other in the capital Nairobi, especially in the slum of Kibera, and often there seems to be little to no room for religious tolerance. The experiences of the parents shape the children's image and due to its geographical proximity to Somalia and the Islamists present there, peaceful coexistence among the religions can hardly develop. "People do not like each other. They talk badly about the other religion. Our children are already being infected with this," says Albert Woreshah, a priest in an Anglican parish. The Christian population has developed deep fears following various Islamist attacks in recent years. Sheikh Yusuf Nasur of the Jeddah Mosque even speaks of Islamophobia. Color in Faith tries to reduce these fears and prejudices. But how can one counteract such thoughts, thoughts that have been ingrained in people's minds for generations and are now growing stronger? Quite simply: with the color yellow.
The Jeddah Mosque as well as the churches in Kibera shine in a brilliant yellow. "Yellow", says the initiator Nabila Alibhai, "is a neutral color. It is the color of light that dispels the darkness." Various Christian and Muslim places of worship have been painted by young people of both religions. They painted them together. But painting is not the only thing. The young people come together in the bright yellow buildings, exchange ideas and pray together. They get to know each other, celebrate feasts now and then and new friendships develop. Friendships that would never have developed if they had not overcome themselves to get to know the supposed stranger, the person of a different faith. Such small encounters show that new thoughts can emerge which shape a society and change it positively. And so the 24-year-old Imran from Kibera wishes that other religions be included in Color of Faith and that their houses be painted yellow: "As a sign that all Kenya stands together."[2]
So perhaps I do not remember a formative thought I had 30 years ago. But that's not important. Because at any time a thought, an idea can come, touch you, seize you and motivate you to make a contribution right there where you are and with the means at your disposal. Or to say it with a little poem by Brad, the inventor of Kid President: "DARE to DREAM, but please also DO. For DREAMERS are MANY, but DOERS are FEW."[3]
[1] http://interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/shorts/pakistan-children-education/, Download Jan 13, 2017.
[2] „Farbe für den Frieden“ by Antje Diekhans, Deutschlandfunk, Jan. 1, 2017.
[3] Published by Kid President on facebook, Dec. 12, 2016.