Noor Rehman stood at the beginning of his Class 3 classroom, carrying his academic report with nervous hands. Top position. Once more. His teacher grinned with joy. His fellow students applauded. For a short, special moment, the young boy imagined his ambitions of becoming a soldier—of defending his country, of causing his parents satisfied—were within reach.
That was 90 days ago.
Currently, Noor doesn't attend school. He assists his father in the furniture workshop, studying to finish furniture rather than learning mathematics. His school clothes sits in the closet, unused but neat. His schoolbooks sit arranged in the corner, their sheets no longer flipping.
Noor never failed. His family did everything right. And nevertheless, it fell short.
This is the narrative of how economic struggle goes beyond limiting opportunity—it erases it totally, even for the smartest children who do what's expected and more.
While Excellence Proves Sufficient
Noor Rehman's father toils as a furniture maker in the Laliyani area, a modest settlement in Kasur region, Punjab, Pakistan. He's talented. He's dedicated. He exits home before sunrise and returns after dusk, his hands rough from years of shaping wood into furniture, doorframes, and ornamental items.
On good months, he earns 20,000 Pakistani rupees—approximately seventy US dollars. On lean months, considerably less.
From that income, his family of six must manage:
- Rent for their modest home
- Food for four children
- Services (electricity, water supply, gas)
- Doctor visits when kids become unwell
- Transportation
- Clothes
- Other necessities
The math of poverty are uncomplicated and cruel. There's never enough. Every rupee is earmarked prior to receiving it. Every selection is a selection between essentials, not once between need and comfort.
When Noor's tuition needed payment—plus expenses for his website brothers' and sisters' education—his father confronted an unsolvable equation. The numbers wouldn't work. They not ever do.
Some cost had to be sacrificed. Someone had to give up.
Noor, as the senior child, understood first. He's responsible. He is sensible exceeding his years. He understood what his parents couldn't say aloud: his education was the expense they could not any longer afford.
He did not cry. He didn't complain. He merely put away his attire, arranged his books, and inquired of his father to train him the craft.
Since that's what kids in poor circumstances learn earliest—how to abandon their ambitions without fuss, without overwhelming parents who are currently managing heavier loads than they can handle.