angeet Welfare Organisation is an art centre established by a woman in Peshawar with the aim of engaging street children and teaching them skills like painting and photography.

Jalwat Huma launched the centre for street children with one aim, “If you can’t write, paint it.” The idea worked. These lines attracted hundreds of street children in the metropolitan.

Huma opened her doors to street children who had limited access to facilities in the Hayat Abad neighbourhood, one of the posh sectors situated west of Peshawar. At the art centre, the street children have a chance to learn new skills, excel and contribute to the society.

Jalwat Huma, an artist, started the classes in the basement of her home. After receiving a good response from the community, she founded the organisation. She teaches canvas arts, painting, sketching, calligraphy, beauty, basic computer, English language and Amazon courses to street children who mostly belong to the Bara sub-division of the Khyber tribal district.

Teaching art to street children was never going to be easy but Huma accepted the challenge. She says she had faced many hardships in her early life. She understands the misery of street children. As an artist, she thought the brush could add colours to the lives of street children.

99 per cent of the students at her art centre are out-of-school children. A majority of them are from the Afridi tribe in Bara. These children had been involved in beggary, garbage picking and thievery. Huma says handling these children was not easy. Their parents too were reluctant to send them to an art centre.

“Humira and Noman are two of the brightest students from Bara. They had been working at different houses. We trained them. These children worked hard and learnt the art quickly. Humira and Noman’s work received appreciation at an exhibition,” Huma says.

In the beginning, Huma’s family was not supportive. She was not allowed to speak to the media about her art initiative. She faced restrictions while interacting with media persons. To fulfil her dreams, she went out of her way and fought for her rights.

“Through the power of the brush, I wanted to change the lives of street children. I’m glad we did it,” Jalwat Huma says. Currently, 300 students are enrolled at her centre. The children mostly belong to the Khyber district. “In the beginning, a majority of the students were Afghan citizens. After last year’s repatriation of Afghan citizens overstaying their visas, the share of Afghan children in the classes has come down to 30 per cent,” Huma says.

Jalwat Huma’s work for street children has received recognition. “Recently the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government provided a school for the children. Besdies the art they are now getting free education from nursery to fifth grade,” Jalwat Huma says.

Jalwat Huma is worried because she has recently received threats over phone. She is concerned about her safety. “Somebody is demanding money. They threatened me by sending text messages and said that if I don’t cooperate with them, I should be ready to face the consequences,” she says. “Is this how they treat educators? This is one of the challenges I’m facing.”

Huma has participated in four art exhibitions organised by the University of Peshawar and one by the Afghan Commissionerate. The exhibitions featured the work of street children. It received good feedback from the viewers. Jalwat Huma plans to upgrade Rangeet into a better resourced franchise.

The writer is a freelance multimedia journalist. He tweets @daudpasaney