Sustainable Intervention Drive

Chughtai Cluster Home

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Building 1: Boarding and lodging facility for 14 boys (a prototype for similar homes)                                                                                                           

Building 2: LCC (library & Community Center) Academic block for the hostel boys & a Public library

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Location

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Mochi Gate, Walled City, Lahore

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Concept Notes

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Boy’s Hostel (Building One)

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Historical Perspective

The Walled City of Lahore is the oldest and most historic area of Lahore located in the north-western part of the city.  In 1566, during the Mughal era it was fortified by a 40 feet high wall with 12 entrance gates. One of these gates is the Taxali Gate. The area within is commonly referred to as Heera Mandi. The traditional dance and music with its appreciation as an art form during the Mughal era gave way to a system of brothels in the British colonial rule. Eventually if acquired the infamous reputation of being the red-light area of Lahore. A series of crackdowns by successive regimes forced this community of dancers and musicians to migrate. A sizeable section of this population shifted to a locality across the road from Heera Mandi. In time this well reputed locality of Bagh Munshi Ladha came to be referred to as Mini Heera Mandi with a flourishing business of trafficking, brothels and drugs.

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While the entire population is adversely affected by this business of exploitation the most vulnerable section of this population are children and young adults. To address the issue and after three years of research and dialogue with all stakeholders a system of multiple hubs was set up by SID. This system termed as project Communal Hub was officially inaugurated on 23rd March, 2018.

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Our intervention strategy adopts four tier approach:

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4R Strategy

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• Recover (equip them to survive in the red-light area)

• Relocate (where possible move them to safe homes)

• Rehabilitate (give them a safe environment, set up Trauma Centers to treat Complex Post Trauma Stress Disorder (PTSD) & behavioral disorders)

• Repatriate (return to societal living)

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Following intensive recovery work and developing our acceptance in a hostile community we are prepared to move to the second tier that is Relocate. Fourteen teenage boys, enrolled in the academic programme of Communal Hubs will be moved from their homes in Bagh Munshi Ladha to a boarding facility in the nearby area of Mochi Gate, one of the historic gates of twelve entrance gates of the once fortified Walled city. Although the gate has not survived the historic significance of this area lives to this day. 

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Foundational Premises

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• The children we worked with initially are in their teens and have different aspirations than a child, hence our approach to engage with them and address their issues needs to evolve

• Youth has to be prepared to make a constructive contribution to society which needs a holistic approach developing academic acumen, technical skills, positive attributes and qualities.

• We need to distance them from the toxic environment of their homes and the streets where drugs, exploitation and street crime are prevalent

• Moving them to a hostel will relieve the constant pressure on young boys by parents and families to put them to work in order to benefit from their income

• Interaction with society on a daily basis outside their home base

• Documentation of this strategic move so it can be replicated

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Outputs:

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• A residential programme with supervised and safe living, guidance and supportive counselling services

• Positive engagement in constructive pursuits and extracurricular activities

• Preparation for independent living

• Enabling environment and accelerated learning programme to reach their grade level proficiency

• Blended learning

• Educating them in a manner that they become agents of change by introducing self-study and doing household chores themselves

• Equipping them with a skill set, arranging internships, teaching trades and imparting practical skills thereby enabling them to find reasonable livelihood

• Value Building with emphasis on actionable empathy and online exposure to religious scholars

• Online mentor ship programme

• Stimulate critical thinking and creativity through reading

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Beneficiaries

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• Boys between 12 to 18 years of ageofCommunalhub

 

Layout

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• Ground Floor – Office, Lounge, Kitchen, Dinning, Washroom

• 1st Floor - Senior Boys Dorm

• 2nd Floor Supervisor Room, Common area and Study Space

• Junior Boys Dorm

• Rooftop – Kitchen Garden, Gym & City viewpoint

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Organization of the programmes

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Pre-requisites

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• Prior to moving them to the boarding facility complete and comprehensive socio psychological profiling will be done for all the boys, supervisors and contact personnel

• Cameras will be installed and security guard hired

• Undertaking from the parents for a six month period during which a small stipend will be given to the boys to act as a deterrent to putting them to work

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Suggested daily routine

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• Weekdays: rigorous study schedule, online mentorship, martial arts training

• Weekend: extracurricular activities (calligraphy, pottery, art etc)

• Daily: reading time at Library & Community Center, outdoor activities (Ali park), discussions on ethics and behavior, Stories from the Quran will be used to inform and inspire

• Daily prayers and Friday prayer at Masjid

• Saturday mornings to be spent at Communal Hub

• Internship programme every Sunday organized by WCLA

• Other programmes will include hygiene and personal health sessions, first aid training, improving communication skills (initially in Urdu, and then in English). Multi media will be used to assist in improving pronunciation and to show short motivational clips.

• Each day will end with a review of the day’s activities, where the participants express their views on what they experienced during the day.

• The students will be offered individual counseling as and when required on a weekly basis

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Building Two- Library and Community Center

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Vision

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The Library and Community Center is a place where boys from the Communal Hub and the wider community come together to explore knowledge and technology. It is a space that combines a library for reading with a computer lab for digital learning. With inclusivity at its core, the LMH fosters collaboration, inspires curiosity, and creates a vibrant intellectual community for all.

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Backdrop

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The educational landscape of Pakistan has gone through numerous transformations in the past two decades. The problem at hand is not that of access to education but that of its quality, especially for students residing in urban areas of Pakistan. A sizeable majority of grade five students cannot read a story developed for class two and cannot perform a two-digit division. Very basic indicators of quality of education are displaying alarmingly low student achievement levels all over Pakistan. 

 

We believe that this situation can only be changed if we make education and learning a fun and engaging experience instead of a compulsion or necessity.

 

If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we

Should teach the way they learn. -  Ignacio Estrada

 

To achieve this goal we present the idea of Library and Community Centre at Mochi Gate Lahore: a place where students learn what they want to learn and not just what we want to teach them.

 

The LCC is an idea based on integrated and student centered approach to learning. Here education will find itself at the nexus of culture, books, modern technology and dedicated facilitators. With a combination of state-of-the-art facility and innovative programmes designed specifically for students from marginalized communities we plan on changing the outlook of learning for these children and youth.

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Objective

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• Offer a diverse collection of books, e-resources, and technology for academic and personal development

• Foster a culture of lifelong learning and curiosity

• Promote digital literacy and provide access to advanced technologies for enhanced skills development

• Create collaborative spaces for group discussions, projects, and knowledge sharing

• Provide personalized assistance and guidance to users in utilizing resources effectively

• Engage the community through outreach programmes, workshops, and events to encourage participation and knowledge exchange

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Activities/Schedule

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• Starting with a few hours a day to keeping it open 24/7

 

Target Audience

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• Enrolled Students of Communal Hub

• General community of Walled City Of Lahore

• The facility will be up scaled on need basis to accommodate more students and children, youth, adults and senior citizens

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Segments

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LCC is designed to have segmented facilities:

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1. Individual and collaborative study/reading spaces

2. Children Library

3. Reference Library

4. Maker Space

5. Information Commons

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Each of these will be separate areas

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The Children’s Library will be able to house 50,000 books and 20 students at one time. It will be open 10 hours from Monday to Saturday and 5 hours on Sunday.

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The Information Commons lies at the heart of this project because the union of tradition and technology will not be possible without it. The information Commons will comprise of 15 computers, operated by 3 central processing units, equipped with Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, 3D Max, Adobe Creative Suite, Audacity and AutoCAD among other essential software.

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Layout

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• Ground Floor & 1st Floor – Reception, Book Bank, Reading & Study Room

• 2nd Floor Digital Hub and Maker Space

• 3rd Floor Reference Library, Prayer and Calligraphy Room

• Rooftop – Outdoor reading area, rooftop Garden & City Viewpoint

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