This is a story of three friends - Absara, Nisha and Khushi. They come to the Children International learning resource centre and attend Aflatoun sessions on weekly basis.

They wanted to throw a birthday party. They made a list of the materials needed, attendees and prepared a budget according to the money saved in their piggy banks. The planning and budget was shared with the teacher and the party was approved.

The party was a great example of how children use the budgeting and planning they learn in Aflatoun and it resulted in a nice moment for the whole community.

In 2019, I joined Aflatoun program and was elected as its leader. Becoming the leader made me more confident – I helped organise and facilitate club meetings and activities.

I got an opportunity to learn about five core elements of Aflatoun: Know about yourself, Rights and responsibilities, Saving and expense, Planning and budgeting, Take part in social and financial activities.

But the best moment was when we worked on our social community project. We chose to communicate more about the missing child hotline. We worked as a team to create awareness about it in community and we enjoyed it.

We gathered information about Missing Child, created posters and pamphlets and held a rally to spread awareness about 1098 (child line number) in our community.

When a child was missing in my neighbourhood, I informed them about 1098 and helped them to reach the right people. The child was rescued and everyone appreciated my family and me.