A man in Pakistan is now working to help children get an education. When he was a child, he did not go to school because he was too poor.

    It is reported that Pakistan has 25 million children who do not go to school. That is the second­highest number in the world. Only Nigeria has more. Many Pakistani children must work to support their families.

    Mohammad Ayub was once one of those children. He is now a firefighter. He also manages a small school. VOA recently visited the school in the capital Islamabad.

    Ayub started with just one student in 1982. He saw a boy cleaning cars for days. He asked him, "Why don't you go to school?" The boy answered that his parents were dead and he had to work to help support his five brothers and three sisters.

    Ayub was also an orphan and he, too, had to work to help support his five brothers and three sisters. He said, "When my father died, everyone who came to the funeral said they were sorry, but no one helped." He sold newspapers and did other work to earn enough money to pay school fees for his brothers and sisters.

    Ayub wanted to help the young boy who washed cars, but he did not have enough money to pay the boy's school fees.

    Today, Ayub teaches many children at his school in a public park. Some of the children attend other schools in the morning, but come to Ayub in the afternoon to get help with their homework.

    Ayub has helped a large number of poor children since he began teaching. Many of them come from very poor areas near the park.

    Ayub said," I used to argue with kids who worked ' Why are you washing someone's dishes or their clothes? Why don't you study? ' "

    One of the children he advised to attend classes was Farhat Abbas. Ayub found him working with his friends about 12 years ago. "He followed us back home. He told our parents he wanted to teach us and asked them to send us to his school, "Abbas said.

    Today, Abbas is taking classes at a college and is helping Ayub.

    Many children are out of school, and those who do attend classes often get a poor education. Information gathered by an organization shows half of all Pakistani children in the 5th grade do not understand basic mathematics and cannot read a story in their language.

    A group in Islamabad reports Pakistan spends less on education than any other country in South Asia.

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    Mick Polly，an owner of a toy store，lives with his teenage daughter Carolina in Kentucky．He is known as the Bike Man．Over the past five years，Mick has built hundreds of bikes for needy kids．

    One day in 2012，a 13﹣year﹣old boy with a broken bike walked by Mick's house．"I was working in my garage（车库），and he asked if I could fix it，"says Mick，now 53．

    The boy's bike had a broken wheel．Mick sent a post（帖子） on Facebook，asking his friends if they had the needed part．One friend saw the post and gave away two used bikes．Mick took parts from each to build a new set of wheels for the boy．

    Soon after，Mick repaired a bike for the boy's brother and fixed one for his sister．Word spread，and during the year，he had fixed up lots of bikes for local kids whose parents were not able to afford new ones ．

    "People are throwing away bikes day and night，"says Mick．

    Mick puts the bikes and bike parts in his garage．"I take off the good tires or the handlebars or the seats and use them，"he says．

    Up to now，the bike man has repaired hundreds of bikes and given away nearly 700newly repaired bikes．They're free，but the kids must agree to two things：They have to learn how to put waste things to good use and they have to try their best to study in school．

    If a kid's grades are low，Mick requires a teacher's note"saying that you're doing your best，"Mick says．Mick also hopes the bikes will get kids off the sofa．"When I was growing up，we all rode our bikes，"he says．"Hopefully these kids can get some exercise．"

    Years ago, Tareq and his family left their home in Bangladesh to New York City, US. Tareq was only 12 years old then.

    In Bangladesh, Tareq's dad was a farmer. He worked hard for little pay. Every day, Tareq walked 6 kilometres to school. After school, he had to work on the farm.

    But Tareq had fun. He loved singing and playing cricket (板球) with his friends. One day Tareq's dad told him they would move to New York City. Tareq's dad found a new job there, and he thought life would be better there.

    In his new school, Tateq tried his best to understand his teachers, but it was quite hard. Also, he had few friends.

    Things changed when he started high school. His high school had students from 30 countries and a cricket team. Tareq was excited to join the cricket team. He was happy to be with kids who loved the game as much as he did. He practised before and after school. "Playing with the cricket team was the first time I felt accepted in America," he said. "When you play, it doesn't matter what grade you' re in or what language you speak."

    During his second year in high school, Tareq was named the cricket team' s most valuable player(最有价值球员).

    Tareq will go to university next year. He said, "Most universities don't have a cricket team. But that's OK, because cricket was there for me when I needed it most."

    Most people enjoy seeing a film because of its wonderful pictures and fantastic sounds. However, many years ago there were no sounds in the films. So actors had to act by using their body language. Everybody knows Charlie Chaplin, a world-famous funny actor. People everywhere have laughed at Charlie Chaplin's films until tears run down their faces. From his very first appearance they know what will happen. His body language makes people love his films.

    Charlie Chaplin was born in 1889 in London. When he was a child, his family was very poor in 1910, he went to the USA. In 1914 he made his first film. In this film he created the character of a little man who always faced difficulties. When Chaplin was rich, he opened his film company in 1918. He died in 1977.

    The poor man that Charlie Chaplin played in films makes all kinds of stupid mistakes. He is always in trouble, but he never gives up. He dreams of becoming a great man. Even people who don't understand English can enjoy Chaplin's films, because they are mostly silent. It isn't what he says that makes people laugh. His comedy (喜剧) doesn't depend on words. It depends on little actions which mean the same thing to people all over the world. This is the secret of Chaplin's huge success.

    It was Sunday and Tom was staying at home. After breakfast he went out into the garden and played quietly by himself. There were no kids around and he was used to playing alone quietly. He played with Bobby, the dog. He climbed up and down the tree. Sometimes a bird would come down to perch on top of the doghouse. Then Tom would have the greatest fun by throwing a stone or something at it. Though he never made it, he did like doing this kind of thing.

    Now Tom had been in the garden for half an hour. Suddenly a crack was heard and the little boy began crying.

   "What's the matter, Tom?" his mother looked through the kitchen window. Tom ran into the kitchen.

   "Mum," he sobbed." I broke Bobby's plate. I didn't know it was so fragile."

    His mother put her arms round him and said," Don't feel so sad, Tom. We have other plates for Bobby. But how did you break that one?"

   "I threw it at a bird but missed, and it went straight to the plate."

    In Tom's hand was his father's gold pocket watch!