Sitara Trust: Who We Are

Assalamu alaykum and welcome to our world. My name is Sommieh Flower. I’m the director of Sitara Institute, a well -established non-profit organization registered in the USA since 2011. Our mission is to provide quality education and community development to underprivileged children and their families in Islamabad, Pakistan. Our main project is Sitara Trust. In 2011, we established Sitara School and a few years later, Sitara Mother Child Center. Since that time our program has expanded to include an elementary school, girls’ and boys’ high schools and a basic literacy center. With a school population of 400 children, we are changing the lives of orphans, refugees and economically challenged families in the small town of Chatha Bakhtawar, located about 20 minutes from the capital city. We have done this with the help of Allah (SWT) and compassionate individuals like you. Sitara Trust is funded entirely through tax deductible private donations.

When a refugee family first comes to our town, they have many needs. Fathers need jobs, Mothers must set up a home in slum-like conditions, with no running water, electricity or cooking facilities. Families struggle just to survive. The children are often sent out on the street to find recyclable trash and sadly, to beg for their food and some scraps to put on the family table. When I first met these kids, back in 2011, I learned that as refugees without documents, they were not allowed in the government schools. So I started a school for them. The story of those early days is told in my book, Eye of the Heart.

Sitara Mother Child Center now exists as the first step in education for the children who would otherwise be working the streets. Now they enjoy school in the morning and can still work in the afternoon They learn the basics:  Urdu, English, Math and computer. Older girls and women learn to sew their own clothes. Craft activities teach them that the recyclable materials they collect can be turned into beautiful, useful things. There is running water, a safe place to play, Islamic Studies lessons and prayer every day. Their educational program is accelerated and tailored to their needs.

Sitara School is a step up for these newcomers. They graduate from the SMCC and join their peers at Sitara elementary school. Our goals at Sitara are like any other Islamic school. From pre-school to class ten (graduation level in Pakistan) students have a full range of academic subjects including Islamiyat and Quranic Arabic. Our curriculum is based on the Tarbiyah Project, a holistic framework developed by Br. Dawud Tauhidi (r.). We provide a quality education focused on body, mind and spirit, Our goal is to raise proactive citizens of the ummah, equipped with the confidence, creativity and know-how to better their society, their country and the world. Their teachers believe in them and in nurturing each child to their full potential.

There are serious academics, but also plenty of fun. We expand our childrens’ horizons through field trips and sporting events, arts and crafts exhibits, scouting and academic competitions with other schools.

Sitara has been blessed with wonderful teachers and administrators, many of whom have been with us for seven years or more. They truly love and care for their students. I feel that Sitara is really like no other school in Pakistan. The families who join us have come to realize this as well. We now have many students from middle class families who appreciate our phonics-based approach to reading in Urdu, English and Arabic as well as our computer curriculum, beginning in class one and our state of the art science lab.

 Young children do not know much of their parents’ struggles. Their joy for life bubbles up in their laughter. They live moment to moment, excited by the simplest of pleasures. They have hope. At Sitara, we strive to preserve their hopes and encourage them to dream of a better future, one made possible through a well-rounded Islamic education.. Soon enough, the stresses of economic hardship will weigh down their shoulders. Soon enough, they will need to earn a living. But with the blessings of education, their futures can be brighter than their parents’, Inshallah. And you are on the path that lights their way, the path of generosity and goodness. Our beloved Prophet Muhammad said, The best of you is one who gives a good education to his children. In the ummah of our Prophet, these are all our children. Please donate generously. Thank you.