The Aisha Foundation has founded by Mr. Rashid Bukhari of Houston, to promote access to education and healthcare to children. When Mr. Bukhari noticed that many underprivileged children in Pakistan are not receiving the education they needed to thrive, he established the foundation to help the children overcome the financial barrier of education. As a result, Aisha Foundation serves impoverished children under the philosophy that each child has the right to quality education and health. Thus, all programs funded by the Aisha Foundation emphasizes on giving children access to basic education and healthcare facilities so that they can grown up as healthy and educated individuals to lead their family and community out of the poverty cycle.
Since 2001, the Aisha Foundation has supported several projects in Pakistan, such as improving the quality of both primary and secondary schools, fostering early childhood education, providing training to teachers and principals, and assisting students with disabilities. The Foundation also provides students with scholarships, uniforms, learning materials, and library books. Some of the ten-year programs run by the Foundation include running the Institute for Professional Learning to equip teachers with necessary skills, and providing basic education to child labor and displaced children.
The Aisha Foundation works in collaboration with Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi http://itacec.org/ (Center of Education and Consciousness) Public Trust in Pakistan. ITA has conducted many projects that are funded by the U.S. government, such as the Department of Labor, Department of State, and the U.S. Institute of Peace. The research ITA conduct includes issues on child labor, Pakistani education programs, and social and cultural diversity. Through this concerted effort, the Aisha Foundation is now running and supporting schools in Punjab and the AJK area, while Aisha’s partners help assist schools in FATA and the Northern areas.
The initiative to provide education to underprivileged Pakistani children began when the founder Bukhari made a one-time donation to a school in Pakistan after talking to Baela Raza Jamil, the chairperson of ITA Pakistan. After learning how dire the situation is in Pakistan, Mr. Bukhari decided to get involved in projects such as school improvement and participate in Adopt-a-School-Program ran by ITA Pakistan. Ever since Mr. Bukhari began helping underprivileged children receive quality education, he has supported a total of 24 schools in Pakistan to ensure that these schools are equipped with satisfactory facilities and teachers who are well trained.
The Aisha Foundation has the vision of encouraging universal peace and hope through creating attainable opportunities of quality education, health and life skills for the underprivileged children and communities in Pakistan and all across the world. Although Mr. Bukhari’s effort have yielded significant results, the Aisha Foundation will not be able to provide education access to all underprivileged children without the support from donors internationally. The Aisha Foundation is always seeking volunteers who can raise awareness on the education issue in Pakistan and help recruit more donors so that the Aisha Foundation can further its philanthropic work to change the lives of many more underprivileged children and give them a chance to escape from the poverty cycle and to achieve their dreams.