Local girls nervously entered the classroom with a parent to hear more about and potentially join our

new LitClub for Girls. We had gone through the community in the weeks before to invite the girls and

give an explanation of the LitClub we were planning to start. There were still lots of questions from

parents about what exactly a “LitClub” was. They knew of schools, they knew of tutoring but having a

club for girls to gather to practice reading, writing, and storytelling for fun is a new idea here. We were

worried some parents would feel it was a waste of their daughter’s time but to our surprise every girl in

the room got parental approval to join!

After their parents left the girls were thrilled to hear that Ms. Aneela, our LitClub leader, was going to

begin every class with a song, The Hello Song. English is a secondary but official language here so the

girls were very attentive and curious to learn this song of greeting with which they would start each

LitClub.

The girls were shy at first but really come alive for Read Aloud every week. Only one or two of the girls

have any form of casual reading in their house. Most families only have second hand school books and

trade those every year to help pay for the next school years required books.

The girls look forward to coming every week and cherish the opportunity to sing, read, write, draw, and

especially laugh as a group. Thank you LitWorld for your support in helping Seeds of Hope Foundation encourage these girls through the power of story.

-Submitted by Faraz, Programming Coordinator in Faisalabad, Pakistan