My name is Zainab, I am a 20 year old university student with a passion for empowerment by learning and reading. I ask for your help in helping create a library for a school in Pakistan. 

We want to be able to raise enough money to build a library that would create a love of learning and love for books in these children. My goal with this project is to create a safe space and highlight education as something fun, interesting, and most importantly, accessible. 

Born and raised in Pakistan, I've called Canada my home for the past 15 years. One of the great things Canada offers is free education, children are brought up with access to countless resources and libraries. 

In my recent visit to Pakistan, I noticed a large disparity between private schools and the public funded schools. The biggest difference being a lack of resources and not encouraging reading. Looking at the public educational system in Pakistan and comparing it to the public education I received in Canada, I knew I was extremely privileged to be able to have access to so many resources which I, and many like me take for granted.  

I knew that I wanted to help this disparity. I began brainstorming ideas on how I could help others with my family and friends and came up with the idea of opening a sustainable library in a government-funded school in my parents home town, Chishtian. Chishtian is such a small town that it can’t even be found on most maps, and does not receive  adequate or any sort of  funding from the government's. The schools there are in terrible condition due to under-funding and most kids there have never heard of a library. 

So far, we have collected over 250 books for the library which are written in English. We will also need to purchase some books in the Urdu language and a few Urdu-to-English learning books for the kids to use. In order to build this library, we will be needing funds to construct a large room within the school which the library will be in and this room will have fans, a clean water dispenser, and an AC since Pakistan has an extremely hot summer that extends 8 months out of the year. For these utilities, we will also pay for the electricity bill in advance for one year, starting in December. We also need to raise money to make "Welcome Packages" for 118 students, these will include a brand new picture book, some stationary and some sanitary products. 

This library will be sustainable as 80% of the books collected are pre-owned, and when the kids have read the books they will be passed on to other schools in the district so other kids can utilize them. This will reduce paper-waste and keep the library as environmentally friendly and sustainable as possible. 

After our pilot project is completed, we will be maintaining the library by hiring a trusted supervisor who will be in charge of the administrative services. We will also be taking care of regular maintenance and up-keep of the library (utilities, bills, water, etc.) This will cost around $2000 per year. 
We appreciate all the donations that we receive, and if you cannot donate, we would appreciate it if you shared this link.