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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    Skin­diving is a new sport today. This sport takes you into a wonderful new world. It is like a visit to the moon. When you are under the water, it is easy for you to climb big rocks, because you are no longer heavy.

    Here, under the water, everything is blue and green. During the day, there is plenty of light. When fish swim nearby, you can catch them with your hands.

When you have tanks of oxygen on your back, you can stay in deep water for a long time. But you must be careful when you dive in deep water.

    To catch fish is one of the most interesting parts of this sport.

    What's more, there are more uses for skin­diving. You can clean ships without taking them out of water. You can get many things from the deep sea.

    Now you see that skin­diving is both useful and interesting.

    Joe Smith is a singer. He and his wife like traveling a lot. Every year they visit a small town called Gum Tree in January and July and they sing for people there.

    One summer, they went there by train again. On the first day, they planned to go hiking in the mountains, but it rained a lot. So they decided to go to the only cinema in town and watch a movie there.

    There were only nine people in the cinema hall. When people saw the Smiths, they started to clap(鼓掌). Joe was excited and said to his wife, "Aha, I cannot believe people here all know me and they are friendlier than I "thought. They must like my songs."

    Then a young man said to them, "Thanks for your coming! The cinema shows the movie only after ten people buy the tickets. There're eleven now, so the movie will be on soon."

    Lao She wrote Teahouse in 1957. The play shows audience life in China between 1898 and 1945. It takes place in a teahouse in old Beijing and it tells us the story of Wang Lifa and customers. It asks us to see the teahouse as the centre of the neighborhood. Finally, it says good bye to old Beijing and its people.

    The story starts in 1898 during the Qing Dynasty. It continues in 1916, and finally, it brings the audience to the end of the Anti­Japanese War, in 1945. After the war, Wang loses the teahouse and dies.

    Lao She was born in Beijing in 1899. His parents sent him to the Teacher's School in Beijing and he learned to teach. From 1924 to 1929 he taught Chinese to the English in London. He wrote many plays, novels and short stories. He was named a "People's Artist" and a "Great Master of Language". He was one of the greatest Chinese writers of the 20th century.

    In Lao She's Teahouse today, waiters bring tea to the customers and sell them delicious Chinese food. If you like Beijing Opera, folk music, acrobatics or magic shows, you can enjoy them in the teahouse. Lao She's Teahouse gives a wonderful welcome to everyone from China and from all over the world.