Imagine: A stone walkway leading into a sunlit grassy area surrounded by a ring of carefully tended flowerbeds. An orchard rests in the distance. There are rose gardens, a pond, and a greenhouse reserved for botanical study. A performance stage is set up for live music and storytelling, a Balti tradition. And of course, there is the almost tangible sensation of things growing, sprouting, coming alive. These are some of the things Tahereh Sheerazie, an American-Pakistani garden designer, envisions for Abruzzi School, the first co-educational institution situated in the sleepy village of Siankhor in Pakistan’s Batistan’s Shigar Valley.
But for a project still in its infancy these are still only future plans. “So far only the very first small steps have been taken, like vegetable beds for each class,” explains Sheerazie as she walks me through the planning process. Sheerazie has been involved in this lengthy project since 2009 when she accepted a consultancy position offered by Agha Khan Cultural Services Pakistan (AKCSP) after hearing that a school was being built in Shigar, where vast mountaintops and pastures make it one of the most picturesque places in the world, but where the educational system has been less than subpar for many years.
via This Woman is Reimagining Schools In Pakistan – Culture-ist.
Ismailimail 