#Fixit: Q & A With Two Teachers (my cousins)

Q: First of all, what grade do you teach?

Azka: 5th grade, but the thing is, they categorize the children based on level and not age, so I have older kids in my class.

Haniya: I teach the KG and Nursery classes.

Q: What subjects do you teach?

Azka: I teach Math and English, and the other teacher teaches Science and Urdu.

Haniya: Math, Urdu and English.

Q: What are your students like?

Azka: Study-wise, they’re a bit behind in English. Some of them learn fast, while others need time. All of them are willing to learn. Behavior-wise, they’re annoying when they want to help me, like clean the board or pass pencils. Mostly they’re good and polite.

Haniya: They are adorable, welcoming, and passionate. For some reason they can’t grasp English, yet their best subject is Math.

Q: How have your students adjusted to a new teacher? How have YOU adjusted?

Azka: My students have adjusted pretty well. They’re really used to change and they tried their best. They weren’t shy or rude, so I guess that helped me adjust too.

Haniya: Same for me. They were a bit nervous at first, but later they took advantage of me and kept asking for things I didn’t know they weren’t always allowed to. I realized afterwards and became strict yet sweet.

Q: Could you tell me some differences between #Fixit school and other schools?

Azka: Like I said before, they sort the kids based on level and not age. Also, it’s only for 2 hours, so there’s no vacations.

Haniya: It aims at street children, it doesn’t have as many resources as normal schools, and it places them in classes by not age, but ability.

Q: Generally speaking, do you think that #Fixit is a good organization?

Azka: Yes, for sure.

Haniya: Yes.

Q: Finally, do you enjoy volunteering there? And if you had the opportunity to do this kind of work someplace else, would you? Why or why not?

Azka: Yes, I enjoy it so much. Yeah, I would definitely work like this somewhere because 1- It’s better for the world. 2- It’s fun. 3- It gives you a good feeling, like you know that you’re helping the kids. It’s the best thing to do.

Haniya: Yes, I love it. Also, why wouldn’t I? I like to give back to the community, and I strongly believe that education is elevation.

Thank you, dear cousins!

For more information about #Fixit, visit their Facebook or Twitter pages.

The Greatest Discovery

The day when Tooba found her shadow was a great, yet funny, discovery.

It all began on an ordinary night in Pakistan, when Tooba, my mother, my grandmother, and I went to the local park. Tooba and I played games on the grass, and as Tooba was only 1 and a half years old, I was careful. We sat down with my grandmother and my mother, and Tooba started running around us. She saw a black thing on the grass, and she ran, trying to get away from her shadow, which scared her.

Then she realized that the “thing” was not scary, so she ran around with it, playing tag. I laughed and told Tooba that it was a shadow and would follow her everywhere. ‘ Shadow’, she said, shrugged, and continued playing.

The End