One long post! :)

I have been really busy with the moving as I mentioned in my previous post. So that's all I have been doing lately: packing, meeting people, attending farewell parties and receiving farewell gifts and taking loads of pictures.

I am taking pictures for two reasons: 1. I want to put things on my blog and 2. I want to freeze every beautiful memory of this place before I leave. So this post would be mainly pictorial.

So on Monday I visited my maternal aunt's all-girls, government-owned school. People who read my 5oth post might be aware of my maternal aunt and her school. I posted her interview and about of the work she has done for the school.

So I took pictures of her school and you know it's really sad to know the educational standards in Pakistan. It's like education is only for the rich and the under-privileged don't deserve anything. The government-owned schools due to low tuition fees are places where the kids of the under-privileged study but the Pakistani government doesn't put in enough effort to make their educational experience, a standard one. And though my maternal aunt as the principal put in all the work she could to educate the girls to their best, the government-owned school still lacks modern facilities. The school is built in a tunnel under a flyover in a posh area of Karachi. It has been there for more than four decades but I guess the government is still oblivious. Perhaps they have no idea how hard it is for girls to get educated inside a tunnel, without even a proper school building! (For a detailed report on the school click here)

I'll just let the pictures say the rest:

The school courtyard and the flyover

The classrooms inside the tunnel separated by walls.

A glimpse of their class room

The girls leaving in a queue after the bell rings

Shattered I was after I left the school building. It was simply heart-wreaking, I kept questioning myself; 'Is this a price they have to pay for not being born with a silver spoon in their mouths??' 'So saaaddd'

So innocent were the faces of those girls I really couldn't help smiling when I looked their way, and then their bright smiles in return. I thank God for being so generous to me and giving me a chance to be a part of great schools and I also thank him for enlightening my heart with the sense of responsibility that I have to work for these children and help them. And InshAllah, I will! :)

On a lighter note. I'd also like to share with you some other pictures from recent days. :) So here goes:

I baked brownies a few days back and they turned out delicious! :)

The mixture (before)

In the oven

And the final product!

I got awesome farewell gifts from my bffs

Bun pins! :)

I love love love my friends! :) :) :)

I listened to street children chanting praise for the holy month of Ramadan. :)

The instrument around his neck is a dholak. A traditional south Asian drum-type instrument!

And finally,

Tata! :)

P.S: I just really LOVE Karachi, Pakistan. Moving from here is So hard!