“As a result of the participation in the program (Hansti Basti), the kids now take initiative and show eagerness to participate in various activities… this is because they now feel more confident.” – Teacher, Pehli Kiran School System
About
The “Hansti Basti” or “Happy Hoods” programmes aim to protect the “right to a childhood” for children who live or work on the streets, and provide opportunities for learning through play. Especially for children at risk and on the move, we want to create a store of happy memories that build their resilience, and make them look back and smile.
In each six-week programme, we link creative volunteers with schools and shelter homes for street-connected children. Instead of one-off, ad-hoc volunteer activities that are often the norm in such places, we are offering structured programmes to provide meaningful volunteer engagement, support children’s learning, and develop their skills and confidence.
Through a combination of guided discussion and extracurricular activities, children build a range of socioemotional skills. They learn how to identify their emotions; work on building their strengths; think about the wider world and the diversity that makes it so much richer; express themselves; and foster positive relationships.
Learning and Impact
The first iteration of the programme was designed for the Pehli Kiran School System – a network of non-formal, open air schools in Islamabad, Pakistan. The long term aims here were to raise student, teacher and parent motivation, and develop the schools as child-friendly spaces.
The second version of the program was also delivered in Islamabad, in collaboration with a SPARC drop-in centre for street-connected children. During both of these Hansti Basti programmes, we worked with dedicated volunteers from the Community Support Programme at Bahria University, Islamabad.
In August 2019, we took the program to a different context – Peshawar city. Here, we collaborated with the Dost Welfare Foundation and University of Peshawar to bring the programme to a protection facility with both drop-in and overnight services for streetc-onnected children.
From our first HB programme, a Dost Foundation psychologist followed up with observation of the project’s impact:
“The Hansti Basti programme was not just informative for the children but also for the teachers. Such activities are very important because they have encouraged children to come to school happily [and build] confidence.”
In future, we hope to tailor our Hansti Basti model to fit a range of contexts across Pakistan – and beyond. Our aim is to create supportive spaces, promote positive mental health and give children the confidence that they, too, can make a difference in their own lives as well as in the world.
