Kiran Foundation was founded by Sabina Khatri in 2007 after one year of research on lyari and its culture. The horrifying effects of child trauma and abuse were evident through violence in the entire society. A child was not safe anywhere and had lost trust on a care provider, from a parent to a teacher. This child would then grow up to give back the same to the community. This made Ms Khatri very restless and hence she addressed this important issue in a very soft but effective way. After careful planning and she decided to trauma sensitive preschool program with just twenty toddlers and their mothers as students . The mothers education was mandatory and she was trained and empowered to not just recognize but to voice child abuse and trauma. The mother was facilitated to educate, groom and gain confidence to become the best protector first for herself and then for her child. Later, the fathers came into the tutelage of education too. Today the kiran Pre school has become a main stay in Lyari and has changed the lives of many young women, and children. Kiran Pre School gives young children a holistic school experience and prepares them to be of a high standard to join mainstream schools such as Habib Public School, Reflection , Generation, Happy Home School, Dawood Public, St Michaels, Mrs. Their association with Kiran School continues even after they have leave Kiran pre school they return for after school activities such as debating, art,Islamic education, music, computers, and yoga. For mothers, Kiran Foundation provides classes on how to better themselves by learning values, manners and tools to succeed. Mothers are also trained to be artisans and create handicrafts which are sold at exhibitions in Karachi by the name of ‘Integrated People’. Through experiences like this, Kiran School has been a catalyst for empowerment for the women of Lyari. Kiran Foundation has a long term vision for the future of education in Karachi, and has partnered with Akhuwat, the worlds largest interest free micro financing institution in Pakistan for magnifying its effects by adopting a government school in Liyari ( DCTO) in august 2014. We are working towards establishing the Kiran safe school ideology here. We at Kiran concentrate not only on formal way of education but also on day to day life challenges and manners. The little babies are taught to be good human beings and to be able to make a difference to their homes and environments through courtesy, honesty, responsibility and forgiveness. The students learn confidently in a loving and compassionate environment within the Kiran Foundation system carrying with them love to their homes. The decaying and painful situations in lyari can be changed by these students . The power of bringing a change is not in the hands of the big and strong, only these youngsters can become honest leaders. To complement this holistic approach, we groom the parents as well to provide the children with a compatible environment at home. From self- grooming classes to English conversation-sessions and job-seeking etiquettes the kiran mothers become like a family within each other. Hence, Kiran Foundations Schools becomes a learning centre not just for the child but for the whole family. To effectively implement this, we keep the yearly intake students very limited, therefore selecting the students and parents through and extremely thorough and strict process. Its gives us immense pleasure that in very short span of time the school established great respect in the surrounding area . All of our children are sponsored from preschool onwards on their merits in good repudiated schools around the city by very generous donors.
