Sabina Khatri
Teacher
The Hope Brigade Karachi, 2021
My students often look at me as a mother-figure. It is something I love and am overwhelmed by because there are so many expectations and responsibilities attached with this role. Our culture teaches us that motherhood means that a woman forgets she is also a person. I think I have a unique and wonderful opportunity to teach children to value their mothers as individuals who also have dreams and aspirations like they do.
Lyari is a community full of talent, devoted youth and a remarkable history, victimised by various afflictions that plague Pakistan today. Deeply divided along ethnic lines, locals were haunted by civil unrest, violence and cyclical poverty. Due to these persisting and long lasting effects on the community can be seen where children are often neglected or deemed as the most unimportant part of the community. Not one to shy away from adversity, Sabina Khatri chose to tackle the root of the problem by opening a Pre-School based on a Mother-Child partnership programme in the heart of Lyari. Today, Kiran Foundation serves as an oasis for children and parents; it is a place full of hope, laughter and bright futures.