Real-life heroes exist, and Mohammed Ayub is one of them. When the Pakistan resident isn’t rescuing people from burning fires, he’s saving children from illiteracy.
Al Jazeera reports that every work day for the past thirty years, Ayub has donated his time – and 1/3 of his income – to teach thousands of Christian and Muslim children how to read, write, and do math. He was inspired to do so after he moved to the area and was in need of a hobby.
When he noticed a little boy washing cars because he wasn’t in school (his family needed the money), Ayub decided that the best use of his time would be to teach the child essential skills. Imagine his surprise when, the next day, the boy brought along a friend. By the end of the first week, Ayub was instructing 50 kids in the park.
Said Ayub:
“If we want Pakistan to prosper, teach one word to a child every day. Your sisters, your brothers, wherever the illiterate are, help them.”
When the firefighter is able, he rides his bicycle to the make-shift classroom in a city park where children eagerly wait for ‘Master Ayub’ to arrive. Then, classes commence.
Most of the kids who are drawn to the free school are from neighboring slums. Because their families are poor, they are unlikely to receive higher education, vocational training, or even land a decent job in the future without the basic skills they’re being taught. Thanks to Ayub, thousands are in the process of creating brighter futures.
Soon, Ayub will retire. When that day comes, he intends on making the school his full time job. Eventually, he hopes to build a real school stocked with computers and books. For now, the children are helping by gathering bricks and stones – piling them up beside the park each day before class to use for the new facility.
Watch the touching video above, comment your thoughts below, and please share this article!
This article (In His Spare Time, This Firefighter Teachers Poor Pakistanis How To Read [Watch]) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and TrueActivist.com
