PAHCHAAN is committed to make education accessible to every child irrespective of her or his socio economic status or any other marginalization factor including disability, religion, being out of home or in forced child labor. Ilm Power Learning Center was established to help children learn and educate them free of cost and without any hurdles. Ilm Power Learning Center is a primary school conceived with a notion to propagate education over child labor in the area, Ilm Power Learning Center has proven to be not just a school but a holistic center for the kids in the area providing one meal during school, their households with monthly rations and support to their families too. Ilm Power, as its name denotes, is an endeavor to give the power of education, power of discipline, and power of learning to children and their families. It was established in 2017 at Walton Colony, Lahore with the collaboration of University of Lahore. More than 509 children have passed out from the center since 2017 and most of them have been mainstreamed into regular high schools.
Poor access to education & health care services are the primary factors impairing women’s health and nutition, leaving it undervalued and neglected. To improve maternal health care and to offer access to skilled health care professionals, PAHCHAAN has established a “Mother & Child Health Promotion Center” at Malikpur village, Lahore in collaboration with Shahid Afridi Foundation. This center is providing free-of-cost facilities including free checkups, consultation, maternal and neonatal care advise, vaccination, medicines and ultrasound by a qualified doctor and community uplift awareness and training programs to the almost 20,000 population of the adjoining villages. Along with child and maternal health care, patients are also facilitated with regards to personal hygiene, mental health, and family planning/counseling. More than 13381 mothers and children have been provided health services since 2019. Now PAHCHAAN is extending this service to other remote rural areas of Punjab through its new initiative of rural ‘Mother and Child Community Health’ Services.
PAHCHAAN strives to improve the access of education in extremely under privileged and underserved communities. With more than 17 years of experience, we have in-depth knowledge and understanding of the challenges that deter people in rural areas and urban slums from attaining the resources to succeed. We engage and train community members, helping parents to realize the value of sending children to school. Basti Learning Center in a gypsy community near Babu Sabu Interchange in Lahore, is catering over 100 children, providing an opportunity for the community to understand the concept of education and childcare. More than 1095 children have been served since 2014.
PAHCHAAN has been working on child prevention and protection from violence and abuse for last 17 years and initiated the 1st Hospital Based Child Protection Unit in the South Asia at Children’s Hospital, Lahore in 2009 https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(09)61270-8/fulltext and since then the PAHCHAAN supported Children Hospital Child Protection Unit has managed more than 2300 cases of severe Child Abuse and Neglect providing them with medical, surgical, psychological, and legal support. PAHCHAAN also provides many of these families the needed social and financial support. Through some of the projects under this program area PAHCHAAN is supporting the children and their family for their health and nutrition, quality education and protection from all kinds of abuse and neglect. PAHCHAAN in collaboration with UNICEF is now piloting prevention, case management and referral system of child protection through Child Protection Networks in 10 districts of Punjab (Attock, Okara, Multan, Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, Sheikhupura, Lahore, Kasur, Gujranwala & Rawalpindi) through school, community and hospital-based child protection committees as well as provide psychosocial and mental health support services of affected families through qualified clinical psychologists. PAHCHAAN’s youth group, Voices for Children’s Aspirations and Needs (VCAN) is also sensitizing children and youth on the Violence Against Children and its prevention in these ten districts. Awareness against Abuse and Neglect (AAN) is another program area of PAHCHAAN through which it has reached about 3.5 million people through different in person and social media interventions raising awareness and building the capacity of Pediatricians, Health care providers, Teachers, other social care providers and other caregivers including parents and parenting educators on the prevention of violence against children, its early detection, mental health issues and developing positive parenting skills
When it comes to a child’s well-being and nourishment, their family plays the most important role in that. A dysfunctional, problematic family life can incur long-term effects on a child’s mental as well as physical well-being. However, a supportive family can completely shift that. Therefore, PAHCHAAN does not only work with Children singularly but also their families and counsels them of any psychological or psychosocial traumas in addition to helping them economically.
Every child has a born right to education. Education is what shapes up any individual’s future and gives them a prosperous life and future. PAHCHAAN understands the gravity of how imperative education is to life, growth, and survival and therefore, strives continuously to provide children with the avenues and platforms to attain education. PAHCHAAN runs two free of cost learning centers “Ilm Power Learning Center” and “Basti Schools” in remote localities near Lahore, Punjab to provide free and valuable education to destitute kids.
Health is Wealth and until or unless the child is healthy, they are not equipped with the right tools and arms to face all challenges of life. Access to basic health facilities and clean nutrition can help transform a child’s life and this is the reason that PAHCHAAN strives to facilitate children with that.
PAHCHAAN – a center for protection and help of children against abuse and neglect was founded on the very idea of providing physical and mental support to children affected of abuse, neglect, or traumas. For a child to lead a healthy and balanced life, their mental and physical well-being serve as two necessary pillars of support. Hence, PAHCHAAN works tirelessly to ensure that and has two operational units namely “Child Protection Unit” and “Mother & Child Health Promotion Unit” in Children’s Hospital Lahore and Malikpur Village near DHA Phase 8 Lahore, respectively.
