Reshman Abro

Nowa-Dil School

Reshman, 12, recently graduated from a DIL-NOWA Primary School in Unnar Colony, Khairpur. She is the second youngest of four sisters and three brothers. Her father is a laborer and returns home very late in the evening. Here, she shares her story: "When we first moved to Unnar Colony, I would longingly watch the neighborhood girls scurry off to school each morning. Whenever I broached the subject of attending school with my parents, my father would absolutely refuse to yield. One day the teacher visited my mother and coaxed her into sending me to school. My mother laid one condition: my father must never find out. So I attended school regularly except for the days when father was at home. This is how I joined school—it was the happiest moment of my life. My father, however, did not object to my brothers attending school—he actually encouraged it. One of my brothers is in class 6 and the other in class 2. I would help both of them with their studies when my father was not around. When my older brother passed the fifth grade exam, my father was delighted and asked him how he had managed. Unwittingly, my brother spilled the beans. My father was horrified to learn the truth and got very upset with my mother. But my mother, with the help of some family members and, of course, my endless pleading, convinced my father to visit the school. That was the day he allowed me to continue my studies. I have two cousins who are currently studying at my school without their father’s knowledge. It is because of this injustice that I want to become a teacher. I don’t want anyone telling the girls of my village that they are uneducated and illiterate. The only sad thing is that my school does not go beyond class 5 and I need to enroll in class 6."