The Jesus, Mary, Joseph school is located in Pajian, Islamic Republic of Pakistan and provides education for grades five through ten. Currently, there are 180 students, 11 teaching staff, 4 service staff, one maintenance staff, and one administrator. The school is registered with the Government of Punjab, Directorate, Pakistan and, in addition to the usual academic curriculum, teaches Christian spirituality, ethics, and morality. Both Christian and Muslim students are accepted.
The students in the elementary and high school grades are predominantly the “poorest of the poor” and are treated by society as the lowest class. About one-third of these students live in the city dump whose families eke out a living reselling trash and junk. The others are children of brick-makers who earn $1.00 a day. Toddlers of these families, old enough to carry mud to the ovens, are put to work. Christians are still heavily persecuted and discriminated against in this predominantly Muslim country.
