Streamline Training & Documentation: The Dhok Luna Schools in Pakistan

Sunday, March 30, 2008

The Dhok Luna Schools in Pakistan

As a follow-on to the post from day before yesterday that mentions Greg Mortenson's work building schools in remote mountain areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, below is video which gives an idea of what the schools look like and how affirmatively they promote education of girls. Dhok Luna is near Jellum, south of Islamabad. The school for girls in grades 1-5 opened in the Fall of 2006 as a replacement for a school that was destroyed in the devastating earthquake of October 2005.

For further explanation of the philosophy Greg Mortenson and his Central Asia Institute (CAI) bring to assisting education of young people in underendowed regions, you can read the history of the Central Asia Institute. A key point:

The tribal communities of northern Pakistan taught Mortenson a critical lesson in our first five years of existence: Sustainable and successful development can only occur when projects are entirely initiated, implemented and managed by local communities. It is also important to listen and learn from the local communities served, rather than impose external evaluations or judgment of what is best from an outsider's perspective. The philosophy to empower the local people through their own initiative is at the heart of all CAI programs.

Given this philosophy, it is not surprising that there has been something of a shift in how CAI uses its resources:

We now put more resources into sustainable initiatives, to improve the quality of education, support teacher training, and help motivated students to achieve their education goals with higher education. We are reducing the number of new schools built and funds put into mere brick and mortar to build buildings.

You can listen to a May 2007 interview with Greg Mortenson here.

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