Education & Enrichment
Creating Safe Spaces for Learning and Play
In the heart of Machar Colony, one of Karachi’s largest informal settlements, thousands of stateless and undocumented children grow up without access to quality education or safe spaces for recreation.
Recognizing this critical gap, Imkaan initiated Khel. A Learning and Recreational Centre, a space created for learning, play, and emotional well-being.
Khel serves as a safe haven for children, offering opportunities to learn, express, and grow in an environment of trust. With families averaging seven children and struggling to meet basic needs, education often takes a backseat to survival. Khel responds by ensuring that children, often the most neglected and impacted are provided with the tools and guidance to shape brighter futures.
Over the years, the concept of Khel has been reimagined through community participation and trust. As attitudes evolved, parents and elders requested that education become part of the center’s daily activities. Today, Khel is trusted by families as a place that secures the learning, growth, development, and protection of their children, using a holistic approach to child development that addresses physical, mental, and emotional needs.
Education: Learning Beyond Boundaries
Khel’s Education Component provides basic literacy and numeracy education, focusing on reading and writing in Urdu and English, as well as foundational mathematics.
Unlike conventional classrooms, Khel embraces child-centric approaches designed to make learning inclusive and collaborative, such as:
- Peer-to-peer learning that builds cooperation and empathy
- Cross-age interaction where children learn from and support each other
- Continuous reinforcement to strengthen understanding and confidence
This approach allows children to learn at their own pace in a non-competitive and nurturing environment, replacing grades and hierarchy with teamwork and encouragement.
In a community where only one in ten residents has received formal education, Khel provides an essential bridge for stateless and marginalized children who are excluded from mainstream schools due to the lack of identity documentation or financial barriers.
Through Khel, hundreds of children have developed literacy, confidence, and a renewed curiosity for learning with many successfully transitioning into formal education after achieving academic readiness.
Sports and Recreation: Building Confidence Through Play
The Sports Component has become an integral part of Khel’s holistic model, combining physical development with teamwork, discipline, and self-esteem.
Children are trained under qualified coaches and regularly participate in inter-school and regional contests, demonstrating talent and determination despite systemic barriers.
The program focuses on:
- Skill development and physical fitness
- Teamwork and discipline
- Character and moral principles
- Respect and empathy
- Building confidence and self-esteem
Khel has proudly formed gymnastics and table tennis teams, which have earned awards and recognition in inter-school championships, national-level tournaments, and even international online competitions.
These achievements not only highlight children’s potential but also symbolize the power of access and opportunity — transforming a generation once excluded from mainstream sports into champions of change.
Arts and Expression: Empowering Voices
Beyond academics and athletics, Khel integrates arts and creative expression to nurture emotional growth and identity.
Through drawing, performance, storytelling, and cultural activities, children learn to express themselves freely, celebrate their community’s heritage, and build confidence through creativity.
Art and performance also serve as tools of advocacy and awareness, helping children raise their voices about statelessness and the right to education. These activities instill not just confidence, but a sense of purpose and agency, empowering them to view themselves as active participants in change.
- Approximately 60 new children are enrolled in Khel every year, with a total of 140 children, including returning children, in 2022- 2023
- Over 60 children from Khel have successfully transitioned into the mainstream education system. Children who did not know how to read or write prior to coming to Khel have passed entrance tests for admission into Grades 1, 3, and 9.
- 226 children from the host community (non-stateless children) successfully transitioned to mainstream education after only a year at Khel.
- 476 children (combination of stateless and non-stateless children) have been registered in Khel’s education component since its launch.
- Khel has developed a strong relationship with parents based on a foundation of trust, which has helped reinforce the importance of education especially for girls.
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The table tennis program was created for the older children of the community who were looking for extracurricular activities after school and madrassah. Table tennis is taught at Khel to children ages 7 and up. The Khel boys team has been participating in inter-school level games and has been a runner-up in all games after two years of dedicated practice and the girls team have won two championships. The team continues to learn and develop their skills with enthusiasm.
From Athletes to Child Rights Defenders
Article 1 of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”. |
By participating in professional sports in various local, national, and international platforms and through capacity building efforts by Imkaan, providing the best community services in Karachi tu support Khel’s gymnastics and table tennis teams have been empowered to come forward as Child Rights Defenders, bringing their stories and their struggles as stateless children to the forefront in the fight for their rights and the rights of other stateless children.
The children have advocated for their community through a number of media campaigns and have facilitated media coverage of their community’s plight as stateless individuals with no opportunities to grow. With an understanding of their role as Child Rights Defenders, the children are able to offer recommendations on what needs to happen to protect and promote their human rights in hopes of influencing decision makers at the national level and contributing to the strengthening of the international human rights framework.
Impact and Vision
Khel continues to evolve as a model of inclusive, community-led child development in Karachi. By intertwining education, arts, and sports, it gives stateless and undocumented children the chance to learn, play, and dream freely.
Through Khel, Imkaan demonstrates that when safe, structured, and compassionate spaces are created, every child — regardless of identity or circumstance — can thrive, lead, and redefine their future.
We look forward to support from interested individuals and groups to continue serving stateless communities in Karachi.
For more information on how you can help us, please click here to Donate.
Community awareness and participation is a core component of each of Imkaan Welfare Organization’s projects. Learn more about this initiative here.