Mohammad Ayub has been teaching unprivileged children for more than two decades. Sitting under a tree in a park in Sector F-6, ‘Master Ayub’ teaches around 280 students every day, free of cost.
Ayub, 52, came to Islamabad in 1976 from Mandi Bahauddin and started working at the Fire Service as a fire in-charge. “Our youth is what will take us forward. In my spare time, I started teaching children from the street,”
Ayub convinced local shopkeepers that education was vital and every child has a right to go to school. Soon, the shopkeepers started sending child beggars to him along with the child helpers in their shops.
He started by gathering children from F-6. “I’d give them stationary and notebooks. Soon I found out that people from the market had started sending their children to me,” he said.
Over the twenty-eight years, newspapers, non-governmental organizations, and even members of the international press, have knocked on Master Ayub’s door. Yet, his plans to build two rooms for his students have seen no support.
“Many organizations even come and arrange events for the children, and the media is invited to cover these activities,” says Ayub. “However, they all make tall claims and leave. No one has offered to build, or assist in building, a two-room shelter for these kids.”
To realize his vision, Ayub has been cutting costs and saving from his own pocket to build the rooms in the slum area right across the school. He bought the land seven years ago and has slowly started the construction.
Today, the school serves as a safe place for many. There is a computer lab, a classroom, and a library that holds over 600 books.
“I have started saving already to construct a stronger roof that will protect the kids from severe weather conditions especially rain and chilly winter evenings. I need Rs25, 000 to shelter this building and avoid further damage, and I will do it,” he says confidently.
Source: here
For further reading, click here.
Facebook page on Master Ayub is here.
A news report on Ayub on Youtube, here.
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