Dear team CLF! Thank YOU all for giving me this opportunity to be a part of this marvelous program.The way i see it, this is just a beginning to the bridging of gulfs through giving love,learning and literature to our young ones.

Khaled Anam

Wow! Thank you, everyone, and welcome to the CLF Caravan that takes learning, reading, fun and passion wherever it goes, opening new doors and achieving success, and giving all participants an opportunity to DO something worthwhile. Thanks, and best wishes, always,

Batul Ali

Dear Team CLF, My belief in children, writing and literature was further strengthened in your companionship. You all were wonderful! Thank you for everything.

Bests
Mohsin Tejani

Dear Baela and Ameena,

Dear Ameena, Baela and Zubaida Jalal Sahiba,
It is with deep appreciation that I write this letter. Children Literature Festival was a milestone for all of us. Thespianz Theater would like to convey our deep admiration to you and the entire staff at OUP, Idara-e-Taleem-o-Agahi, Open Society Foundation, and Female Education Trust to coordinate and make possible these collaborations.
As you know, that Pakistan has rare kind of opportunities observes to make strengthen ties on cultural and literature. The all schedule followed on real time basis, including the timings and days of heavy thunderstorms, rains and Traffic jams in Karachi and sunny and clear whether in Quetta.
All of your staff coordinated very well and they did every single step in very special manners.
This experience provided all of us with hands on activities and critical learning that would not have been otherwise gained. Please accept my heartfelt thank you.
Keep looking continue work together.

I am pleased to share with you that Noman Saeed, Khurram Iqbal and I conducted three workshops on "Digital Story Telling" on September 12 & 13 in Quetta at the Children's Literature Festival.

Despite all the security concerns, our workshops at the festival were very successful. Not only we achieved our objectives, but also, I have received positive feedback from the organizers, Secretary Education and other delegates. It was announced at the inaugural session that it was the first time that an ICT workshop was a part of the festival. Our team has been invited to run similar workshops in Punjab and KPK provinces as well.

Many children came to our workshop and used a variety of technologies (Laptops, PCs, Scanner, digital recorders etc.) for the first time. They wrote stories and created them in a digital format. Approximately 100 children between the ages of 5 to 18 and from all parts of Balochistan benefitted from our workshops. The most amazing learning for me was when 5/6 year old children learnt to use a scanner in less than a minute and scanned several drawings without any assistance! The 6 year old also used the digital recorder independently (after I showed her how to operate it), and transferred the recording to the laptop with very little assistance. Clearly, interactive technologies offer huge potential with this age group for bringing a positive social change in Pakistan.

We have conducted several Digital Story Telling workshops with teachers, but this was our first time with children. We have learnt many lessons and we will happily share with you specific details of our experiences. Please feel free to email us if you need to know more about our workshop.

Please visit this URL for more information on the festival. Also, the Digital Stories that children created in our workshop will be uploaded on this website very soon: https://pakistanlearningfestival.com/clf_2012/

This was a very successful collaboration between IED and Information Technology at AKU which benefitted the children of Balochistan. Those who had never used a computer, learnt how to create digital stories. More importantly, many children asked us about AKU's programmes, and if they could come and study with us. Some of them also asked questions about Karachi and what the city is like. In the current political environment, these interactions and conversations, I believe, were an important outcome. I do hope that IED (and other academic units) and IT at AKU will continue to collaborate on such projects, and reach out to the children and adults in remote parts of Pakistan and EA.

Finally, I thank Baela Jamil (festival organizer) for inviting me to the festival and for funding my participation, and Chris Handley (CIO, AKU) for funding Noman and Khurram's participation. I also thank Dr Memon (Director, IED P) for his encouragement.

Thanks,

Azra