CARE Foundation —— Empowerment Through Education

The CARE Foundation was started in 1988 in Sheikhupura， Pakistan， in response to floodwater ravaging low-lying areas. Seema Aziz， together with fellow active citizens， traveled to the stricken areas and helped the affected population reconstruct their homes with her time， resources and her bare hands. During the course of her work， Seema realized that this area lacked a proper school. In conversations with the local community， it became clear that there was a dire need for a school to educate the alarming number of children roaming freely during the day. In January 1991， CARE opened its doors to a school in Iqbal Town on Sheikhupura Road. On the first day， 250 children lined up outside the school， unkempt and barely clothed， but curious and eager to learn.

Today， CARE runs 240 schools providing high quality education to approximately 160，000 students. Starting in 1998， CARE entered a pubic-private partnership with the City District Government of Lahore to adopt 10 schools in the city of Lahore. CARE performance in Lahore has led to multiple agreements to adopt government schools in districts across Pakistan. Today， CARE runs adopted government schools in Punjab and Sindh with plans being made to enter Balochistan.

CARE runs a rapidly expanding Access to English Program， providing high quality English teaching for 2，991 students. Initially working as a two-year Afterschool program， in 2012， efforts began to integrate the Access to English curriculum into the regular syllabus for CARE students. It is a wonder to see young children， most from impoverished backgrounds， emerging past social and economic barriers by learning to speak fluent English.

A CARE success story： Amara Ilyas

Amara’s father passed away when she was very young， and it was her mother who supported the household. After outstanding results in her FSC exams， Amara and her mother struggled to pay for the first year of medical school at Fatima Jinnah Medical College， Lahore. After the CARE Foundation adopted her old high school in 2005， her teachers and headmistress from her old school approached her telling her about the CARE Scholarship Fund. After receiving her scholarship and without the unease of financial burden， Amara went on to graduate with flying colors with a 1st division. After completing her house job at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital， she is now working as a medical officer at Mayo hospital， specializing in the physical， medical and rehabilitation department.