Sep 28 2008
Dear All
I wish and pray that in the times of crisis, fear and anxiety among the nations around the world may God bless everyone with real happiness and may His blessings remove all the sadness from the faces of people on the special day of EID-UL-FITAR coming up.
I wish you all a very happy Eid and long lasting pleasures for now and forever.
With Love for all.
Afshan Huma
Sep 27 2008
The following links are for Saima Khusro’s website…
The concept of this ENVIRONMENT CLUB was conceived in USA at PSU (Plymouth State University), where an environmental safety course was organized by PELI (Pakistani Educational Leadership Institute).
Sep 11 2008
Come Share a Dream with Me
written by Aroona Hashmi, PELI 2008
“I am standing on the rock in the middle of the lake. Wherever I look I see greenery and tranquility. I stretch my arms and a soft music begins “I can fly”.
The lush green pine trees add magical effect .All the beauty of the world gathered there. I could see the life in water. I could feel the wind touching my skin and my soul. I felt I had died and gone to heaven. The sky so bright and the water splashing on the rock and my feet”.
I hear some murmurs. I opened my eyes to see my husband calling my name. At that instant the greenery disappeared and the peach walls of my room appeared. I was not standing on the rock but was lying in my bed. ALAS! It was but a dream. And so another hectic day began.
I am a very adventurous and nature loving person. I love to explore to do something different. I am always in pursuit of something new and interesting. From childhood I had a dream of traveling alone. As a result when I went in grade 8(in 1980) I became a scout girl. I joined Girl Guide training camp in Ghora Gali (Murree Hills).I was the youngest member of the Girl Guide. I hiked and did trekking. I explored nature: the woods, fauna, flora etc.the memory of the camp bonfire are still fresh in the ocean of my memories.
In January 2008, my director called me one day and asked me whether my husband would allow me to go abroad. Then the process started, I was torn between accepting the training and leaving my family. But as I told u I am an adventuresome person I took the challenge and faced all hurdles to reach Boston (LOGON AIRPORT) as a PELI member. All of us 20 members were so tired but as enthusiastic as we were when we started our journey.
On 3rd September 2008, BINA (ITA) called the Lahore group for the feedback session. When she asked about our opinion on the programme I felt that I dint face any problem in USA. The 2008 PELI member Aroona Hashmi explored the PSU with the same spirit as she did in class 8 in 1980 in Murree hills.
On 28th June 2008 .PSU co-coordinators welcomed us warmly and after a day or so the kitchen administrators invited me to cook whatever I want to. And I am the only member who had the privilege to use the kitchen of the PROSPECT HALL (dining hall). I told them the ingredients of the dishes I wanted to cook a day before and I whole heartedly appreciate that they prepared everything before I came in around 11 or 11 30.Pom was very hospitable and would always ask if I want to drink juice or water. They provided an apron and gloves to me. I made chick pea salad in American language and alluo choolay in our language. I tried many things like Pasta, Chicken chowmein; Omellet (Pakistani style).they ate what I cooked and would say to everyone “AROONA MADE THIS”.
When we had writing sessions with New England Teachers we exchanged a lot about cultures. When they found I like fusion cooking, SANDY (the English language teacher) gifted me a cooking book. From here I got an idea to cook a Pakistani dish for the PSU members at cultural night. Many were of the view it’s useless. But I took it as a challenge and BLAKE appreciated it too. MICHELLE and SEAN provided me with all the ingredients I wrote to prepare CHICKEN BIRYANI (rice and chicken).
Voluntarily SOHAIL, SAIMA&HUMA helped me. The rice were quiet different from those we cook in Pakistan. I had real trouble in boiling them properly. SEAN helped me in baking Biryani in oven. Everyone admired it and relished the Biryani especially all from PSU and guests. This is my exclusive experience. I exchanged my cultural heritage through Biryani,
There are many people who dream, but few can see their dream coming to reality and not many live to tell. I am sharing a part of me that became reality when we visited the NEW FOUND LAKE. (As all can see and share the dream through the picture available at the site).The place looked familiar. I dint remember anything until I stood in the middle of the lake on a stone. My arms stretched, the wing touching my soul from inside and out. As I recall now my eyes well up with tears. Life is not a bed of roses nor does every one get a chance to experience what I did. .I only remembers the water splashing on my feet and the pine trees a witness of my happiness.
Sep 11 2008
Afshan Huma and Yasir Pirzada are members of the PELI 2007 delegation
53rd World Assembly
July 14-17, 2008
University of Minho
Braga, Portugal
Theme
Learning, Leading and Linking:
The Impact of Policy and Research upon Practice
TITLE: DOES TRAINING HELP ENOUGH? … TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVE AND PRACTICES
AUTHORS: AFSHAN HUMA & YASIR PIRZADA
The paper was based upon a research study conducted in the city of Rawalpindi (Punjab-Pakistan). The study included detailed exploration of in-service teacher training structures in Pakistan for primary school teachers and analysis of the results of a survey study conducted to know the impact of in-service teachers training upon the attitude and practices of teachers within the classroom in private and public schools. It was a comparative study conducted three months after the summer vacation of 2007. During the summer vacation both the private and public schools arranged in-service trainings for the teachers. The teachers of both public and private schools were asked through interviews what new skills and knowledge they got from the training and how far they could implement whatever they have learnt through the training they were also requested to tell stories of success and failures. Heads of the schools were also interviewed to find out the impact of trainings upon the performance of teachers. The paper explored the similarities and differences of the impacts of in-service training in public and private schools. It also highlighted the possible reasons of differences in the two sectors as inferred from the interview questions. At the end some recommendations were given for future planning for the professional development of primary school teachers in the country and to ensure the positive impact of these efforts so that the development and changes brought through teacher education may be sustainable and more fruitful.
It was a nice experience to present a paper on an international forum where in the last 53 years we were the first to present from Pakistan. Thanks to PSU and ITA for making us linked together in a network of PSU alumni.
Regards
Afshan
Sep 11 2008
Can anyone guess who this little angel is????
If you’d like to play along, feel free to email your pictures to mclauriat@plymouth.edu.
