Rubina Bibi, a 23-year-old rural area woman, teaches girls in a religious institution named Madina Madrassa for girls in Hassan Wala Union Council Bait Mulan Wali, Tehsil Alipur, District Muzaffargarh. She experienced a spinal injury, deforming her ability to move. However, here disability is not a hindrance in her volunteerism and she always strives for the promotion of girls' education. She belongs to an economically marginalized village. The area has been neglected in provision of basic facilities for many years. Child labor is predominant in the form of domestic child labor through farming that includes but is not limited to harvesting cotton, wheat, dates, sugarcane, potatoes, and raising livestock. Hence, the children, especially girls are either not going to school or dropped out of school. Additionally, it results in the early and forced marriage of girls. There is a myth that the younger the girl is, the easier for her to adjust with her husband and in-laws. Subsequently, early and forced marriages are considered a way to cope with economic hardship.
In such challenging circumstances, schoolteachers are complaining regarding the uneducated community and their non-cooperative attitude towards education because parents have no interest to enroll their children into schools, especially girls. To cope with this challenge and under the umbrella of UNESCO’s Support to National Capacity Building to Realize Girls’ Right to Education Program, the implementing partner SYCOP has formed and sensitized mothers and fathers community organizations to promote and protect girls’ rights to education. Changing the mind is instrumental for tackling community issues in an organized way. Rubina Bibi is leading a mother group in the catchment area of Government Girls Primary School (GGPS) Hassan Wala. She belongs to a family, having conventional and old school of thoughts. With matric qualification, she used to work as laborer in the farms in her village.
In 2019, SYCOP formed and sensitized a mother group in a community-driven organization where Rubina Bibi became a member of this organization. She is an active member with the confidence to interact with people and can organize big community awareness events. She had the opportunity to participate in one of the mobilization activities organized by SYCOP. She is proactively mobilizing the community for the protection and promotion of girls’ right to education and participating in an awareness campaign about COVID-19 prevention in her village. She is engaging community stakeholders to sensitize the community to increase enrolment and retention in schools. These activities are focused on raising parents’ awareness, assisting teachers and schools with enrolling children, and generating support for schools to accommodate new enrolments and improve retention. Moreover, she is conducting community awareness and psychosocial support sessions/meetings on Covid-19 response and preparedness for the local community in her village. By her struggle, she enrolled 11 out-of-school girls in school in Hasan Wala.
“I consider myself very fortunate to be part of UNESCO’s supported project which is protecting and promoting girls' right to education in my Tehsil Alipur. Although I am facing challenges due to impairment, however rest of the members have never made me realized to be different or they have treated me differently” said Rubina Bibi.
