In the remote village of Chariyal in Pakistan, limited infrastructure, poverty and a lack of nearby safe learning spaces meant many girls grew up without access to education. For Sita, a mother of four and Village Education Committee member at Chariyal Learning Centre, this reality was deeply personal.
When her husband passed away in 2020, Sita was left raising four children alone while facing growing uncertainty about her daughters’ future. With no nearby school available, she worried constantly about how they would ever access an education.
“There was no school,” she recalls. “Day and night, we prayed that some school would come so that children could study somewhere.”
Before the learning centre in Chariyal opened, Sita’s daughter spent most of her time at home helping with household tasks or playing with dolls.
“She did not study,” Sita says. “I used to encourage her, but she would say she did not understand the words.”
The opening of the school changed that. For the first time, girls in the village had access to a safe local learning space close to home. Families who had previously kept their daughters at home began enrolling them in school, giving many girls their first opportunity to learn.
Today, Sita proudly watches her daughter grow in confidence and independence.
“The children who once did not even know how to hold a pen can now speak English, write, draw and colour,” she explains. “They can do everything.”
The project has helped girls develop not only literacy and learning skills, but also confidence, communication and a sense of possibility for the future. For Sita, education represents far more than academic learning.
“Knowledge is like light,” she says. “In darkness, you cannot even see your own hands. But when a bulb is lit, you can see everything.”
She believes education gives girls the ability to navigate everyday life with greater confidence and understanding.
“Girls who study can guide others too,” she explains. “They learn skills, understanding and how to make good decisions.”
Although Sita herself only studied until third class, she remained determined to continue learning whenever she could.
“Our father was very strict,” she recalls. “He used to say, ‘What will you do by studying?’ But I used to read secretly whenever I had the chance.”
Now, she is determined that her daughters will have opportunities she never had.
“I try my best that they study,” she says. “What more could we want for a daughter than this light?”
Alongside supporting her own children, Sita also plays an active role within the school’s Village Committee. She regularly visits the school, checks attendance and encourages other families to keep their daughters in education.
“We tell parents to educate their girls so they can improve and move forward,” she says. “This is the time to learn.”
Watch Sita’s story below
Over time, she has seen attitudes within the village begin to shift.
“Earlier, there was no school here at all,” she says. “Now people see girls learning and improving, and they want the same for their daughters too.”
While some traditional attitudes remain, Sita says most families now recognise the value of girls’ education and want their children to have opportunities they themselves never had.
For communities like Chariyal, schools like this are doing far more than providing lessons. They are helping girls build confidence, creating opportunities for the future and encouraging wider social change within the community.
“These girls are studying now,” Sita says. “But there are many more still waiting for the chance to learn.”
Sita hopes her daughter will one day become a teacher and continue inspiring others through education. Above all, she hopes her daughters will grow up with the opportunities, independence and dignity that education can provide.
“If someone lifts us up, then we rise,” she says. “Otherwise, we remain where we are.”
The Empower Her project was made possible thanks to generous public donations to READ Foundation, matched by funding from the UK government through UK Aid Match. Through safe, inclusive and community-based learning spaces, the project is helping out-of-school girls aged 6–16 access education closer to home.
