A Better Tomorrow School
Building A Better Tomorrow
Aftu started waste picking aged 3. He lived with his family of 12 in a refugee settlement known as The Jungle.
The Gul family were our first recruits. Aftu (right) is currently in class 5 and has been in school for over 8 years now. Ayna (left) had to leave school at 11 to work after their father fell ill but has recently enrolled at our night school to try and complete his studies. In the background of this photo is their eldest brother, Hamid who also studied and then worked at the school.
Aftu started waste picking aged 3. He lived with his family of 12 in a refugee settlement known as The Jungle.
Better beginnings.
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The A Better Tomorrow project took three years to evolve from concept to reality. Through the work of committed volunteers and generous donors we inherited a site and began to turn it into a school. We took a grassroots approach and our overseas volunteers teamed up with highly skilled locals to target and recruit from the most vulnerable, marginalised and excluded members of Kashmiri society. We targetted Afghan refugee communities and child workers, in particular waste pickers. Some of these children were as young as 3 and they worked up to 12hrs a day for less than £1.
Noor was a former child worker who had lost his arm in a factory accident. Having received no compensation and then getting fired from his job, Noor was desperate to find something new. He was one of the first students to enrol at the school and is now our longest serving member of staff.
Once the local community had accepted our school as theirs they began to send their children to enrol and within a year we had gone from 2 volunteers and 30 pupils to over 150 pupils and 8 teachers.
Alongside the Night School we also tried to use the building as an orphanage. These were our first 10 pupils and the only students to ever board at the school. Most had survived the earthquake and had come from Muzafrabad.
Noor was a former child worker who had lost his arm in a factory accident. Having received no compensation and then getting fired from his job, Noor was desperate to find something new. He was one of the first students to enrol at the school and is now our longest serving member of staff.
Better than expected.
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The A Better Tomorrow school grew organically. After spending over a year living in the community our volunteers ran evening classes teaching basic literacy, numeracy and I.C.T to a core group of waste pickers. Most of our learners were illiterate but they were all desperate to learn. These evening classes highlighted the need for a more formal educational setting and from this necessity the school was created. In the last 5yrs A Better Tomorrow has grown from 2 volunteers and 30 pupils to over 18 employed members of staff and over 300 pupils.
The school has over 350 pupils and 16 members of staff who all come from challenging backgrounds. The site has also now opened a Sewing and Skills Training Centre, Computer and Internet Centre and Night School continues to reach the most vulnerable and challenging children and adults.
Better yet...​​
A Better Tomorrow now offers more support and opportunities thanks to our Night School, Sewing and Skills Training Centre, Community Food Outreach Programme and our Training and Co-ordination and Emergency Relief Teams. Our hope is that we can keep growing to help individuals maximise their potential and help strengthen their community.
