$700,000 to build school in Pakistan under Malala Fund

 The Big Heart Foundation (TBHF), in cooperation with the Malala Fund launched by Nobel laureate and female education activist Malala Yousafzai, has donated US$700,000 to build a girls’ school in Pakistan.

The Sharjah-based global charity is funding the school project through its ‘Girl Child Fund’ in collaboration with the Malala Fund, local media reported. The school is being constructed in Swat Valley, Malala’s home district, and will open its doors to 350 girls in its 11 classrooms once completed.

The donation was announced during an event in Oxford, London attended by Malala and TBHF humanitarian envoy Shaikh Sultan Bin Ahmad Al Qasimi.

“I overwhelmingly thank The Big Heart Foundation for believing in my dream of a world where girls can choose their own future path. With their support, the Malala Fund can provide education for girls in my hometown, Swat Valley in Pakistan,” said Malala on the occasion.

The donation features covers

• half the project’s financial needs
•  will be used to build classrooms, science and computer labs, staff rooms, principal’s room, a reception area and playground facilities.
• The school will also have a library, laboratory, an activity hall, and accommodation for female teachers from remote areas.
•  The funds will also partly cover the first two years of the school’s operational costs

The school is currently in the second phase of its construction, with the project due to complete in April 2018

TBHF is a charity that aims to protect and enable vulnerable and marginalised children and their families, with primary focus on the Arab world, but it also extends support to other areas in most need.