Noor Rehman was standing at the beginning of his third grade classroom, clutching his grade report with nervous hands. First place. Once more. His educator grinned with pride. His peers clapped. For a brief, special moment, the nine-year-old boy imagined his hopes of being a soldier—of protecting his country, of rendering his parents satisfied—were achievable.
That was three months ago.
Now, Noor isn't in school. He works with his father in the wood shop, studying to finish furniture instead of learning mathematics. His school attire hangs in the cupboard, clean but unworn. His schoolbooks sit arranged in the corner, their pages no longer flipping.
Noor passed everything. His parents did all they could. And even so, it wasn't enough.
This is the tale of how poverty goes beyond limiting opportunity—it eliminates it completely, even for the most talented children who do their very best and more.
Even when Top Results Proves Sufficient
Noor Rehman's parent labors as a craftsman in the Laliyani area, a small town in Kasur district, Punjab, Pakistan. He is experienced. He remains diligent. He departs home prior to sunrise and gets home after dark, his hands rough from decades of creating wood into products, frames, and ornamental items.
On successful months, he makes 20,000 Pakistani rupees—approximately $70 USD. On slower months, considerably less.
From that earnings, his household of 6 must pay for:
- Housing costs for their humble home
- Provisions for 4
- Services (electric, water supply, fuel)
- Healthcare costs when kids get sick
- Travel
- Clothing
- All other needs
The mathematics of economic struggle are basic and brutal. There's never enough. Every rupee is allocated ahead of it's earned. Every selection is a selection between essentials, not ever between essential items and extras.
When Noor's educational costs needed payment—plus fees for his brothers' and sisters' education—his father encountered an unsolvable equation. The calculations didn't balance. They never do.
Some expense had to be eliminated. Someone had to sacrifice.
Noor, as the first-born, realized Education first. He is dutiful. He remains grown-up beyond his years. He realized what his parents could not say openly: his education was the outlay they could not afford.
He didn't cry. He did not complain. He merely arranged his uniform, put down his books, and inquired of his father to show him woodworking.
Since that's what children in poverty learn earliest—how to relinquish their aspirations quietly, without troubling parents who are currently bearing more than they can sustain.