I realise that I have been very lax in updating my blog, so the other day I was starting to plan what to say – all about my two trips to Islamabad, the elections, and my visit to Gilgit (where I am now). But two days ago there was an attack on the Plan Pakistan office in Mansehra, and four people died. A group of men attacked and shot people in the compound and the whole office was burnt down. The people I am with are completely shocked. I can’t believe that this has happened. We don’t have any clue why Plan was attacked.
Corry has been evacuated to Islamabad, and I will be going there after leaving Gilgit. What is going to happen now – with Plan, MIED, and VSO security advice, is very unclear at the moment.
The mountains of Gilgit take my breath away every time I go outside. It is odd being in such a beautiful place and trying to reconcile this beauty with such human brutality.
Tuesday, 26 February 2008
Friday, 8 February 2008
Balakot
Two years ago there was apparently only one buildings left standing in Balakot town – this area was the epicentre of the earthquake. MIED is starting a new project in schools in the district, and last week I went with some of the team to two schools. The team were conducting a baseline survey – gathering basic information such as the number of children in the schools, whether the schools had any buildings, how many teachers etc etc. It is very difficult to write about an area where thousands of people died and which was completely destroyed, but I will do my best.
The town itself is only about 40km from Mansehra, but where we went was an hour and a half beyond that into the mountains. The place was breathtakingly beautiful. We left at 7.30 in the morning and it was a completely clear day so driving up to the snow-covered mountains in the sun and the morning mist was wonderful.
It was the school holidays so there were no children, but we were able to get the necessary information from the teacher. Apparently they do have a UNICEF tent where they can hold the lessons.
Then we had the journey back again. We stopped off at the same restaurant in Balakot for lunch, and the men invited me in this time. I was very puzzled as to why I could enter the restaurant this time, but I soon found out – I had to go and eat my lunch separately in a family room. A corner of the restaurant had been boxed off, and when I entered there were two other girls in there. All the Britishness in me rebelled at the thought of interrupting and joining two complete strangers in the middle of lunch, but they were lovely and we had an interesting conversation – they were also NGO workers. It was an Afghan restaurant, and the food was really good. The men eat Pakistani style but not sitting on the floor – they sit on the tables.
So, that concludes my trip to Balakot.
The town itself is only about 40km from Mansehra, but where we went was an hour and a half beyond that into the mountains. The place was breathtakingly beautiful. We left at 7.30 in the morning and it was a completely clear day so driving up to the snow-covered mountains in the sun and the morning mist was wonderful.
We stopped for a much needed cup of tea in Balakot as it was so cold. But because I was travelling with two men it was inappropriate for me to enter the restaurant, so I had to drink my tea in the car. It was the first time I remember thinking that my gender has actively stopped me from doing something in such an overt way, and it was a little odd.
What does a town look like two years after it was completely destroyed? Well, in Balakot itself it seemed that many of the buildings had been rebuilt, although there were still quite a few tents and temporary structures. But we drove past a school and one of the guys I was with told me that over 200 children had died in that one school. It is clear that NGOs have had a huge impact in this area - the whole place was overrun by every NGO and INGO you could possibly think of, as well as numerous NGO signs - announcing what projects they were running, the duration, how much it had cost and the number of beneficiaries. But further into the valley and the more inaccessible areas there was less evidence of NGO activities. It is catch 22 that the those communities which are most inaccessible are often the most in need.
The road beyond Balakot town was indescribably bad. When we were in the town I looked up and saw this tiny path meandering along the side of the mountain with a sheer drop down of I don’t know how many hundred metres. Unfortunately it was the only road around, so along it we 
went. There were landslides every couple of metres. Although the road had been paved at some point, now most of it was covered with compressed debris. Actually, I preferred the areas that weren’t paved because the driver was forced to be less enthusiastic with the accelerator. In areas parts of the road had just collapsed down the mountainside. Early on I decided it was a choice between spending the whole journey with my head in my hands, or just going with the flow, so I was able to look down the mountainside with a degree of composure, and my right leg twitched only occasionally.
I can’t imagine how the people live there – the mountainsides were scarred with landslides, but dotted between the landslides were houses perched on the edge, literally. And this whole area has been designated a red zone by the government because of earthquakes, and they are trying to dissuade people from living there. But people are unwilling to move because their families have been there for generations.
An hour and a half later we reached a little village and heard that there was a landslide further up so couldn’t drive to the school. After much deliberation we decided to walk around the landslide and then hire a local vehicle to take us to the school. I thought that the road from Balakot town was bad, but it was nothing compared to the minor road to the school. It was very steep, bendy, narrow, unpaved and we drove over countless of other landslides And the vehicle was pretty basic as well – the door didn’t close properly, but there were artificial roses hanging in the front so at least it looked pretty.
When we got to the school it was a collapsed building. Two years after the earthquake. I found it quite shocking – there were piles of rubble, a cupboard still with paper in it and blackboards with writing on. Just to add to the whole depressing aura I almost tripped up over a horse’s skull.
It was the school holidays so there were no children, but we were able to get the necessary information from the teacher. Apparently they do have a UNICEF tent where they can hold the lessons.
Then we had the journey back again. We stopped off at the same restaurant in Balakot for lunch, and the men invited me in this time. I was very puzzled as to why I could enter the restaurant this time, but I soon found out – I had to go and eat my lunch separately in a family room. A corner of the restaurant had been boxed off, and when I entered there were two other girls in there. All the Britishness in me rebelled at the thought of interrupting and joining two complete strangers in the middle of lunch, but they were lovely and we had an interesting conversation – they were also NGO workers. It was an Afghan restaurant, and the food was really good. The men eat Pakistani style but not sitting on the floor – they sit on the tables.
So, that concludes my trip to Balakot.
Thursday, 31 January 2008
How many people can fit in a car?
Last weekend (19th and 20th Jan) was a little bit boring as we had to stay in most of the time because of Moharram (festival that sometimes has got a bit out of hand in the past). But the house was sparkly clean by the end of Sunday. On Monday the Director said that he was leaving in an hour to go to Chakwal and would I like to come. So I went, as things weren’t so busy in Mansehra – most of the teams are busy at the moment in running teacher training programmes. The Director said that he was going with his family, and there was a space for me in the car. That was definitely based on Pakistani definitions of a space rather than English. There were nine people in the car altogether, although three of them were fairly little – three people plus the driver in front and then five in the back. It was quite a fun journey actually, and not too painful. I thought that nine people in the car was pushing it to its limits, but when we arrived in Chakwal we met two more people for dinner, and then gave them a lift – 11 people in a normal sized car!! Pretty impressive.
Anyway, I have to be very complimentary about what I write about Chakwal as they are reading my blog there now :). Actually, I had a really good time – I spent one day in the office looking at the website and talking about reporting issues, and the other day I was in the field at a PTA meeting at a village school. The school was very impressive, and there was a very active PTA. Their achievements really illustrate how successful communities can be when they are mobilised to take an interest in their schools. The community themselves had organised the building of a water fountain, rebuilding the school roof, putting in toilets and building a boundary wall. They had provided unskilled labour. The meeting that I was attending was aimed to renew a school development plan – to put forward ideas as to what they want to achieve in the next year. Some children were involved, as were parents, teachers and community members.
When I got back to the office there was a meeting, and at the end the Director said something to me in Urdu. Key learning point: don’t just smile and nod when I don’t understand. I found out later that he said to me that we were leaving in 5 minutes. Ooops. I hadn’t even packed. Oh well - that was the quickest packing I have ever done. We had a five hour journey back again, and we got back about 9.30, and were then invited out to a meal for someone’s birthday, which was really lovely. As an aside – Pakistani cakes are REALLY good (mainly because of the amount of cream in them).
The rest of the week was quieter. We’ve had good examples of using our initiative recently due to lack of resources (good for the CV?). First, our tin opener broke – so here is a photo of Corry opening a tin with hammer and nails.
Anyway, I have to be very complimentary about what I write about Chakwal as they are reading my blog there now :). Actually, I had a really good time – I spent one day in the office looking at the website and talking about reporting issues, and the other day I was in the field at a PTA meeting at a village school. The school was very impressive, and there was a very active PTA. Their achievements really illustrate how successful communities can be when they are mobilised to take an interest in their schools. The community themselves had organised the building of a water fountain, rebuilding the school roof, putting in toilets and building a boundary wall. They had provided unskilled labour. The meeting that I was attending was aimed to renew a school development plan – to put forward ideas as to what they want to achieve in the next year. Some children were involved, as were parents, teachers and community members.
When I got back to the office there was a meeting, and at the end the Director said something to me in Urdu. Key learning point: don’t just smile and nod when I don’t understand. I found out later that he said to me that we were leaving in 5 minutes. Ooops. I hadn’t even packed. Oh well - that was the quickest packing I have ever done. We had a five hour journey back again, and we got back about 9.30, and were then invited out to a meal for someone’s birthday, which was really lovely. As an aside – Pakistani cakes are REALLY good (mainly because of the amount of cream in them).
The rest of the week was quieter. We’ve had good examples of using our initiative recently due to lack of resources (good for the CV?). First, our tin opener broke – so here is a photo of Corry opening a tin with hammer and nails.
Second, and it is very gutting, but my violin bow broke. So, ever resourceful, and after a failed attempt to get hold of some super glue, I mended it with blue tak. Can’t say that it sounds quite perfect, but I can get a bit of sound out of it. And we didn’t have water for a day and hot water for a few days after that. It was very painful getting up in the morning and knowing there was no hot water – it is SO cold in the morning (and I am wearing four jumpers during the day). Even when I sit in front of the gas heater I can see my breath. But the cold is a good excuse to eat a lot. And I know a lot more about how my gas water heater thingy works now.
Since writing the above I went to the hospital on sunday again for a service and one of the doctors plays the violin and offered to lend me a bow! Woohoo No more bluetacked bows for me.
Saturday, 19 January 2008
Slums and mountains….
Last Sunday Corry and I went to Islamabad as we had to renew our visas. So much for all the horror stories about bureaucracy and red tape – it only took about five minutes! (though I think that VSO put in all the hard work before we arrived). So we had the large part of two days in Islamabad – I have to say that this did involve some shopping. But on Monday I was able to visit the Islamabad office of MIED – they have two projects working with Christian communities in the slums. They run ECCD centres for children aged 3 – 6, and non-formal education programmes for children who for whatever reason haven’t been going to school. The purpose of the NFE centres is to enable the children to be mainstreamed back into the formal education system. Last year I think over 200 children returned to school after attending the NFE centres. The major reason children aren’t attending school is the illiteracy and lack of awareness of the parents rather than absolute poverty. People were telling me that it is not unusual for families to have TVs in their houses! I visited an NFE centre, and I was really impressed. The teacher comes from the community and was very young, but had proper well-organised lesson plans and the kids were all involved in their work.
The team works mainly with the Christian community because they are particularly marginalised. I was surprised by how large the Christian minority is. Also, when we were travelling to the centre one of the people I was with pointed out someone sweeping the streets and said that they were Christian. I found it quite shocking that they could tell someone’s religion on the basis of the poverty of their job.
So, that was the slums part. Now we come to the mountains again! I went on another field trip to an earthquake affected valley, with (a different) ECCD team. They were holding workshops for education committees. These are the community groups who are taking over responsibility for the running of their ECCD centres. For most of the morning I was with a mother’s meeting – there were about 7 mothers there, and they were discussing what their responsibilities should be. This is a pilot project as there are only five mothers committees, and MIED are assessing how successful it is to get the mothers involved. All the other education committees consist of men. But I was impressed on the basis of that meeting – the mothers were all participating, and were bringing up problems they were facing, such as caregivers not turning up to work. The women were all illiterate, and the meeting was conducted in Hindko rather than Urdu, which meant it was almost completely incomprehensible – though one of the girls did translate for me some of the time. The meeting took place in an ECCD centre which was full of the children’s work and decorations made out of milk cartons and things. But it was completely freezing and there was snow outside. There was a wood stove inside, which itself is a mark of successful community mobilisation – the members of the community themselves each give a portion of wood so the place can be warm for their children. But there was no funnel so the room was incredibly smoky. And the walls were made of mud which the rain was washing away in places.
I also went briefly to the male workshop that was being held separately. This was conducted in Urdu (which illustrates the extent to which men have more education than the women). I asked the men whether they are pleased with the work of MIED and there was an immediate response - they all said yes and nodded, which was impressive. They said that their children are more confident, have better hygiene practices, they know more about their religion and are getting used to attending the centre regularly. I also asked them what the main challenges were – there was quite a list like improved building structures, better ceilings, having gas fires. They are all really reasonable requests, but the problem, as always, is the budget. On the one hand it is great that the demands are coming from the community themselves rather than ideas being imposed by the NGO. But unfortunately apparently they thought I was from the donor (quite reasonably I suppose cos I’m a foreigner). I really don’t know what they thought when they listed all their requests and I just smiled and nodded and didn’t make any response (to be honest most of it was in Urdu so I didn’t really understand at the time anyway.)
It took about 2 and a half hours to reach the centres, and the roads were often little more than mud, and washed away in places. There were six people in the car so on the way there I had to sit with another girl squashed in the front! I am slowly getting used to Pakistani methods of driving, and am not clenching all my muscles and grinding my teeth at every near miss – I would end up with awful headaches and no teeth. And plus Pakistani drivers are very well experienced in near misses and have a very good understanding of the width of their car.
We were invited to lunch with a health worker who lives in the community. They lived in a traditional building made out of mud, with no windows, no boundary wall. We all sat round a wood fire, and had a lovely lunch of corn bread and spinach curry.
And in the evening I was invited round to dinner to the family of one of the girls in the ECCD team. It was great – the family was sooo hospitable and cooked lovely food. And not only did they cook a wonderful meal, they also said it was traditional for them to give presents to guests when they first come in their home! So the gave me a beautiful shawl and some lovely jewellery. The generosity of people here is completely amazing.
Friday, 11 January 2008
Well, here is an interesting juxtaposition of technologies – I am writing this blog entry on my lovely still-quite-new laptop by candlelight, as there has been another power cut. Pakistan is a land of interesting contrasts, although the rich / poor divide is not as in-your-face as in India (well not in Mansehra anyway). For example, I was thinking earlier that although I can get many of the same products that I can in the UK – Colgate, Pantene, Cadbury’s etc etc, it is practically unheard of for a woman to go and buy these things in the bazaar by herself. Another contrast: although on the news there has been so much about violence and riots, when we witnessed an accident the other day (a car tyre rolled off the back of a truck and hit a shop window completely breaking all the glass) everyone was completely calm. Thank goodness no one was hurt. But there was no scene, or shouting or anything – just a quiet agreement as to who would bear the cost. I really don’t think that that would have been an average response in the UK.
But anyway, I’ve just decided that using my laptop by candlelight isn’t such a good idea as I’ve spilt candle wax on the screen (not quite sure how). We are having an average of four power cuts a day at the moment, and it is getting rather frustrating. Particularly at the office, when we are trying to write reports and most of the day the power is off – my laptop only lasts for about an hour which isn’t great. Not only that, there are three printers for the whole organisation, and the internal network has been completely decimated by viruses. I am (slowly) learning not to get stressed about deadlines when other people don’t, and there is nothing that I can do anyway when there is a power cut. But problems with the computers are very difficult – one guy had written a report and wanted me to read through it, but his USB drive was not working, and he did not have access to the internet nor a CD writer so there was no way of transferring it from his computer. Problem.
But things aren’t so bad, really! The weekend after the death of Benazir we had to spend three whole days inside the house. I have to say that I was starting to go slightly crazy by the end of that time. I have never been so happy to go to work as I was on Monday morning! But things were OK in Mansehra (although there was an unpleasant occurrence in Abbottabad, apparently). Things seem normal now, although things may change in the run up to elections. Tuesday was New Years Eve, and I went to the girl’s hostel for a meal. We actually started eating after midnight as we were doing the much more important thing of trying on new shalwar kameez and make-up. It was great fun. But then I had to work the next day. I can’t really remember much of what happened then – I was a tad tired.
I have had interesting adventures related to my stomach last week. I had lunch a few days with the girls in the office. The first day they said that they had something that many foreigners liked, so I thought that would be OK. But then just as we sat down they amended it to say that some foreigners liked it. ‘It’ turned out to be cows and yaks feet in curry. The next day I asked what the dish was, and they said beef. I thought that would be fairly safe. But it turned out to be liver. And the day after I asked what the meal was and they said mutton. But it was actually sheep’s stomach. I have to say that I drew the line at that and didn’t eat any. Well, two positive things can be said about these experiences: first that I couldn’t have caught bird flu, and second it is a variety on having fried bread and cheese for lunch. Actually, I really enjoy having lunch with the girls and it is lovely that they welcome me. And I’ve eaten a bit with them since these experiences, and one of the girls’ mothers is an excellent cook!
The past couple of days have been interesting as I’ve been writing a proposal for an extension of MIED’s child rights programme in Mansehra district. Before I came I didn’t think I would be writing a proposal and logical framework analysis within a day for each. Advance planning doesn’t seem to happen here really, which is something I definitely have to get used to, and learn not to worry about! But I know a lot more about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and rights-based approaches to child development now. The UN passed this convention in 1989, which outlines certain basic rights for all children no matter their situation: for example the right to education, the right to adequate food, the right to play, the right not to labour. Many of these rights are clearly and comprehensively infringed here, so MIED’s child rights programme is working in schools with the children introducing activities and games so that they know what their rights are. The particular proposal I was working on was to extend a project in two centres for disabled children: to ensure that they have adequate facilities so the children can reach their full potential, to challenge attitudes to disability in the communities (many disabled children do not attend schools, and are treated as a burden on their families resources), and to train the teachers in child rights to ensure that these children’s rights are not infringed. Before I came I was a little wary of rights based approaches but I am now a convert – it is different when you come across children who are picking through rubbish when they should be in school, and when teachers are not even bothering to turn up to teach but are still taking salaries. If children and their parents are aware of their right to education then they are better equipped to hold the teachers to account.
Random thought – my parents sent me Cranford on DVD (which was completely brilliant), and there was a boy in that who really wanted to go to school, but he had to work. He wanted to learn so much that he painted words on the walls of a shed while supposed to be working. MIED have got a fantastic picture with some children who are trying to write on stones with ground-up material and mud and things as ink, but they are still trying to learn. Sad to think 200 years on some things haven’t changed (even if Pantene and Colgate are now available all around the world).
But anyway, I’ve just decided that using my laptop by candlelight isn’t such a good idea as I’ve spilt candle wax on the screen (not quite sure how). We are having an average of four power cuts a day at the moment, and it is getting rather frustrating. Particularly at the office, when we are trying to write reports and most of the day the power is off – my laptop only lasts for about an hour which isn’t great. Not only that, there are three printers for the whole organisation, and the internal network has been completely decimated by viruses. I am (slowly) learning not to get stressed about deadlines when other people don’t, and there is nothing that I can do anyway when there is a power cut. But problems with the computers are very difficult – one guy had written a report and wanted me to read through it, but his USB drive was not working, and he did not have access to the internet nor a CD writer so there was no way of transferring it from his computer. Problem.
But things aren’t so bad, really! The weekend after the death of Benazir we had to spend three whole days inside the house. I have to say that I was starting to go slightly crazy by the end of that time. I have never been so happy to go to work as I was on Monday morning! But things were OK in Mansehra (although there was an unpleasant occurrence in Abbottabad, apparently). Things seem normal now, although things may change in the run up to elections. Tuesday was New Years Eve, and I went to the girl’s hostel for a meal. We actually started eating after midnight as we were doing the much more important thing of trying on new shalwar kameez and make-up. It was great fun. But then I had to work the next day. I can’t really remember much of what happened then – I was a tad tired.
I have had interesting adventures related to my stomach last week. I had lunch a few days with the girls in the office. The first day they said that they had something that many foreigners liked, so I thought that would be OK. But then just as we sat down they amended it to say that some foreigners liked it. ‘It’ turned out to be cows and yaks feet in curry. The next day I asked what the dish was, and they said beef. I thought that would be fairly safe. But it turned out to be liver. And the day after I asked what the meal was and they said mutton. But it was actually sheep’s stomach. I have to say that I drew the line at that and didn’t eat any. Well, two positive things can be said about these experiences: first that I couldn’t have caught bird flu, and second it is a variety on having fried bread and cheese for lunch. Actually, I really enjoy having lunch with the girls and it is lovely that they welcome me. And I’ve eaten a bit with them since these experiences, and one of the girls’ mothers is an excellent cook!
The past couple of days have been interesting as I’ve been writing a proposal for an extension of MIED’s child rights programme in Mansehra district. Before I came I didn’t think I would be writing a proposal and logical framework analysis within a day for each. Advance planning doesn’t seem to happen here really, which is something I definitely have to get used to, and learn not to worry about! But I know a lot more about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and rights-based approaches to child development now. The UN passed this convention in 1989, which outlines certain basic rights for all children no matter their situation: for example the right to education, the right to adequate food, the right to play, the right not to labour. Many of these rights are clearly and comprehensively infringed here, so MIED’s child rights programme is working in schools with the children introducing activities and games so that they know what their rights are. The particular proposal I was working on was to extend a project in two centres for disabled children: to ensure that they have adequate facilities so the children can reach their full potential, to challenge attitudes to disability in the communities (many disabled children do not attend schools, and are treated as a burden on their families resources), and to train the teachers in child rights to ensure that these children’s rights are not infringed. Before I came I was a little wary of rights based approaches but I am now a convert – it is different when you come across children who are picking through rubbish when they should be in school, and when teachers are not even bothering to turn up to teach but are still taking salaries. If children and their parents are aware of their right to education then they are better equipped to hold the teachers to account.
Random thought – my parents sent me Cranford on DVD (which was completely brilliant), and there was a boy in that who really wanted to go to school, but he had to work. He wanted to learn so much that he painted words on the walls of a shed while supposed to be working. MIED have got a fantastic picture with some children who are trying to write on stones with ground-up material and mud and things as ink, but they are still trying to learn. Sad to think 200 years on some things haven’t changed (even if Pantene and Colgate are now available all around the world).
Saturday, 29 December 2007
A merry if slightly surreal Christmas
I showed my blog to two other VSOs over Christmas, and they were rather surprised at how much I write. So clarity and precision are going to be my watchwords, but starting from next week, as rather a lot has happened what with Eid and Christmas and the awful events of the last few days. Plus I can’t really go outside at the moment so what else have I got to do but write?! (well, and clean the house but we all know how exciting that is.)
So, I’ll start with after I left off last time. Exciting / scary occurrence number 1: there was an earthquake. I was woken up in the middle of the night and my bed was shaking, and there was a weird noise. I can’t remember now exactly what the noise was like as I was half asleep. So I’ve now decided to do something about the 3 stiff doors between me and the outside world. But people didn’t mention it in the office the next day. Exciting occurrence number 2: Corry and I went in to the bazaar in Mansehra by ourselves! Actually it wasn’t scary at all – people were very friendly, and I did some haggling in Urdu. I think I was still ripped off, but not completely ripped off as I bought the price down by at least 100R (about 1 pound).
Exciting occurrence number 3: Eid! This is the festival that celebrates Ibrahim’s (Abraham’s) willingness to sacrifice his son, and it is one of the biggest festivals in the Muslim calendar. Many families sacrifice an animal and distribute the meat to the poor to commemorate this. We were invited to celebrate this with two families. I felt a little bit ill when I woke up in the morning, and when I had a shower I heard an odd noise. I didn’t feel any better when Corry told me that the family below had just killed a cow just behind the house, and she had witnessed the whole thing. Another family were obviously just about to do the same, and Corry very kindly invited me to watch from her balcony, but I firmly refused and made good my escape into my room. I was just texting the Director to make my excuses to say I wouldn’t be able to come to witness their sacrifice when his children came round, so I was persuaded. But I hid in their house with most of his family when the goat was sacrificed, and then spent a fun morning with the kids. For lunch we were invited to another MIED staff member’s house, who didn’t live in the township. We had to drive and then walk past remains of various animals. But I felt very privileged to be able to celebrate this festival with his family – it was a very large and friendly family they had many beautiful children. People are so hospitable – they wanted us to stay the night. But in the evening we were invited round to the director’s for dinner again. He has decided against eating chicken, so we had yak meat instead. Definitely another first. I think they ate the goat for lunch. All in all it was a very interesting day, and I learnt a lot more about Eid. The importance isn’t in the sacrifice of the animals, but in the symbolic willingness to sacrifice things that you want for what is truly important.
The day after Eid we travelled down to Lahore for Christmas. It was about an eight hour bus journey. Thank goodness the motorways are good and I wasn’t sick, but it was still quite painful. I’m not as young as I once was and my poor legs suffered. But it was great getting into Lahore. The first thing I noticed was that many women didn’t have their heads covered. And Lahore has a completely different lifestyle to Mansehra – the city comes alive at night (though actually it is alive during the day as well) and most people don’t go to bed til the small hours. This is in stark contrast to Mansehra where there is very little to do in the evenings. And it was warm!
The first day we were in Lahore most things were closed due to Eid. But a colleague of Mary’s (the volunteer we stayed with in Lahore) drove us round, so we saw the Badshahi mosque from the outside and Kim’s gun. But what was very exciting was that I bought a violin! It was quite a random experience. We drove into what was apparently the red light district of Lahore and in the midst of all the people, animals, mud, cats cradle of electricity wires and traffic there were some shops full of musical instruments - mainly guitars, drums and sitars. But one guy had this violin on which I started playing Christmas carols. After a bit of haggling (not done by me I have to say) I was able to buy it and a fab case for about 60 pounds – bargain! It is not the best violin (!) but it makes quite a nice sound, so I am happy. Corry is less so, I think, but she says that she doesn’t really mind (I hope).
Anyway, the next day I was ill. I have to admit that the thought did cross my mind that I had bird flu, as I had a temperature, but I obviously didn’t. It was a bit of a pain though as I was ill for the next 2 days and missed out on visiting the Badshahi mosque and other things. But I was better on Christmas day, which was definitely an unusual experience. First, I didn’t have chocolate during the whole day (but we did have singing fairy lights, so we were able to sing ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ along with the fairy lights). Second, I had a tour of a butter factory. We were invited to lunch with a colleague of Mary’s. The family live above their butter factory, so we had a tour before lunch. Lunch was a bit embarrassing because the mother had obviously gone to a lot of effort to prepare the meal for us, but I couldn’t eat anything more than a bit of rice. They were so friendly, and didn’t want us to leave….. and didn’t want us to leave…. but I was feeling very tired after being ill, and we explained that to them so we thought they were taking us home. But they actually took us to another uncle’s house, who was a doctor – sooo embarrassing!! We tried to make a quick exit explaining that I was just tired, not ill. After a rest we went for a meal to a restaurant just outside the Badshahi mosque. We had dinner on the top floor outside looking at the beautifully lit up mosque. It was amazing, if a bit of a surreal Christmas!
We decided to stay a day longer in Lahore as I hadn’t been well, so we went shopping the next day. I went kinda crazy in the bookshop and supermarket (there were croissants and lindt chocolate!) so the purse returned home a bit lighter.
The next day we said a fond farewell to Mary and Lahore and started the long journey back. The journey back to Abbottabad was fine, but when we got there the taxi driver met us looking really upset, and told us that Bhutto had been in killed in Rawalpindi 15 minutes previously. We went into their office to look at the website, but then I got a text from VSO saying to stay at home till further notice. I have to say I was a little scared at this time given that we were still half an hour from home and had just come through Pindi. But the taxi driver got us home fine, and we were sent round some dinner by the director’s family. I’ve spent the last two days in the house, looking at the news on the internet. It is all too depressing.
Well, my friends, I think that just about concludes my latest epistle about Eid, Christmas, and the current situation. I hope that you all had lovely Christmas’s with loads of chocolate and turkey and Christmas pudding, and the New Year will bring you peace and joy.
So, I’ll start with after I left off last time. Exciting / scary occurrence number 1: there was an earthquake. I was woken up in the middle of the night and my bed was shaking, and there was a weird noise. I can’t remember now exactly what the noise was like as I was half asleep. So I’ve now decided to do something about the 3 stiff doors between me and the outside world. But people didn’t mention it in the office the next day. Exciting occurrence number 2: Corry and I went in to the bazaar in Mansehra by ourselves! Actually it wasn’t scary at all – people were very friendly, and I did some haggling in Urdu. I think I was still ripped off, but not completely ripped off as I bought the price down by at least 100R (about 1 pound).
Exciting occurrence number 3: Eid! This is the festival that celebrates Ibrahim’s (Abraham’s) willingness to sacrifice his son, and it is one of the biggest festivals in the Muslim calendar. Many families sacrifice an animal and distribute the meat to the poor to commemorate this. We were invited to celebrate this with two families. I felt a little bit ill when I woke up in the morning, and when I had a shower I heard an odd noise. I didn’t feel any better when Corry told me that the family below had just killed a cow just behind the house, and she had witnessed the whole thing. Another family were obviously just about to do the same, and Corry very kindly invited me to watch from her balcony, but I firmly refused and made good my escape into my room. I was just texting the Director to make my excuses to say I wouldn’t be able to come to witness their sacrifice when his children came round, so I was persuaded. But I hid in their house with most of his family when the goat was sacrificed, and then spent a fun morning with the kids. For lunch we were invited to another MIED staff member’s house, who didn’t live in the township. We had to drive and then walk past remains of various animals. But I felt very privileged to be able to celebrate this festival with his family – it was a very large and friendly family they had many beautiful children. People are so hospitable – they wanted us to stay the night. But in the evening we were invited round to the director’s for dinner again. He has decided against eating chicken, so we had yak meat instead. Definitely another first. I think they ate the goat for lunch. All in all it was a very interesting day, and I learnt a lot more about Eid. The importance isn’t in the sacrifice of the animals, but in the symbolic willingness to sacrifice things that you want for what is truly important.
The day after Eid we travelled down to Lahore for Christmas. It was about an eight hour bus journey. Thank goodness the motorways are good and I wasn’t sick, but it was still quite painful. I’m not as young as I once was and my poor legs suffered. But it was great getting into Lahore. The first thing I noticed was that many women didn’t have their heads covered. And Lahore has a completely different lifestyle to Mansehra – the city comes alive at night (though actually it is alive during the day as well) and most people don’t go to bed til the small hours. This is in stark contrast to Mansehra where there is very little to do in the evenings. And it was warm!
The first day we were in Lahore most things were closed due to Eid. But a colleague of Mary’s (the volunteer we stayed with in Lahore) drove us round, so we saw the Badshahi mosque from the outside and Kim’s gun. But what was very exciting was that I bought a violin! It was quite a random experience. We drove into what was apparently the red light district of Lahore and in the midst of all the people, animals, mud, cats cradle of electricity wires and traffic there were some shops full of musical instruments - mainly guitars, drums and sitars. But one guy had this violin on which I started playing Christmas carols. After a bit of haggling (not done by me I have to say) I was able to buy it and a fab case for about 60 pounds – bargain! It is not the best violin (!) but it makes quite a nice sound, so I am happy. Corry is less so, I think, but she says that she doesn’t really mind (I hope).
Anyway, the next day I was ill. I have to admit that the thought did cross my mind that I had bird flu, as I had a temperature, but I obviously didn’t. It was a bit of a pain though as I was ill for the next 2 days and missed out on visiting the Badshahi mosque and other things. But I was better on Christmas day, which was definitely an unusual experience. First, I didn’t have chocolate during the whole day (but we did have singing fairy lights, so we were able to sing ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ along with the fairy lights). Second, I had a tour of a butter factory. We were invited to lunch with a colleague of Mary’s. The family live above their butter factory, so we had a tour before lunch. Lunch was a bit embarrassing because the mother had obviously gone to a lot of effort to prepare the meal for us, but I couldn’t eat anything more than a bit of rice. They were so friendly, and didn’t want us to leave….. and didn’t want us to leave…. but I was feeling very tired after being ill, and we explained that to them so we thought they were taking us home. But they actually took us to another uncle’s house, who was a doctor – sooo embarrassing!! We tried to make a quick exit explaining that I was just tired, not ill. After a rest we went for a meal to a restaurant just outside the Badshahi mosque. We had dinner on the top floor outside looking at the beautifully lit up mosque. It was amazing, if a bit of a surreal Christmas!
We decided to stay a day longer in Lahore as I hadn’t been well, so we went shopping the next day. I went kinda crazy in the bookshop and supermarket (there were croissants and lindt chocolate!) so the purse returned home a bit lighter.
The next day we said a fond farewell to Mary and Lahore and started the long journey back. The journey back to Abbottabad was fine, but when we got there the taxi driver met us looking really upset, and told us that Bhutto had been in killed in Rawalpindi 15 minutes previously. We went into their office to look at the website, but then I got a text from VSO saying to stay at home till further notice. I have to say I was a little scared at this time given that we were still half an hour from home and had just come through Pindi. But the taxi driver got us home fine, and we were sent round some dinner by the director’s family. I’ve spent the last two days in the house, looking at the news on the internet. It is all too depressing.
Well, my friends, I think that just about concludes my latest epistle about Eid, Christmas, and the current situation. I hope that you all had lovely Christmas’s with loads of chocolate and turkey and Christmas pudding, and the New Year will bring you peace and joy.
Tuesday, 18 December 2007
More snow, mountains and cute children
Corry and I went on a field visit into Seren valley yesterday, an area where MIED are doing earthquake rehabilitation in schools. This area was badly affected by the earthquake – it is only tens of kilometres away the epicentre. And the earthquake that I didn’t experience last week – well that was felt here quite substantially – one guy said that the whole valley was surrounded with noise from the vibrating of the metal sheets on the buildings. And apparently last night there was an aftershock.
After the disaster preparedness meeting the other day I fully prepared myself for the cold and wore three jumpers and a coat (though it was a bit of a struggle to get into the coat I have to say). And the people who designed the shalwar kameez obviously hadn’t given a thought to the fashion disaster it becomes when worn with walking boots. Anyway. Actually, we had to walk for about an hour to get to the furthest school, so I got rather warm and dispensed with most of the jumpers (even though there was snow when we got to the top of the mountain!).
We went to a total of three schools and one early childhood care and development centre (ECCD). At the first school all the children were sitting outside on mats even though it was cold and the ground was very wet. I don’t know how the children could learn in this kind of situation. There was a tent but that wasn’t being used when we were there. We spent a while talking to the kids, and then the disaster risk reduction consultant arrived and we walked to the next school, which was a bit of a trek. There was quite a lot of construction going on. Many of the buildings before the earthquake had been made of stones and concrete, which caused so much loss of life. Now the buildings are being rebuilt again in the traditional way – a wooden construction and then a mixture of mud and stones and things in between. Apparently the walls of the traditional building type would fall out rather than in if there was another earthquake. Visiting the area and seeing some of the collapsed buildings really impressed on me how important DRR is. For example, in one of the schools the children told us about the earthquake last week – although they all ran out of the building there was a real problem because the door was so small and there was a big step to trip up over.
The DRR consultant was full of interesting information about the area. There were very few if any international NGOs working in Seren valley before the earthquake, although there were a few national NGOs. He has talked to the villagers and they have said that many owe their lives to the relief that the INGOs bought. It is interesting that just a few miles away in Battagram there is such a different attitude towards NGOs to the extent that they have been targeted. But it is only a few extremists that are causing these problems.
There is a major problem with timber smuggling and deforestation in this area - trees are so important in preventing landslides. We could clearly see on the mountainsides areas where there had been landslides - areas that were vegetated had not had landslides. The forests are partly owned by the government and partly community owned as well. But the communities have minimal rights to use the trees by chopping them down, though I think they can collect firewood. Corruption is a major problem.
At the second school the proper teacher hadn’t turned up – there was only a para-teacher who is employed by MIED not the government. And when we got to the last school neither of the teachers had bothered turning up as it is so close to the Eid holidays. So the children were just playing around. Teacher absenteeism is a major problem because they get such small salaries, and many of the teachers commute from Mansehra every day (3 hours one way). Some NGOs have started providing hostels for teachers nearer were they work, but MIED doesn’t really want to do this as it creates further dependency on the NGOs, and also the teachers have signed a contract and have a responsibility towards the children.
I have to say that it was an amazing place for school, at the top of the mountain with snow and fab views. But the graves of some people who had died in the earthquake were right next to the school – I can’t really conceive what affect that will have on the children.
The most encouraging place that we visited was the ECCD centre, for children aged 3-6. The room was full of low-cost resources that the ECCD team, the care giver and the children had worked on together. For example they had made bags with the children’s names on from flour sacks, and ceiling hangings from milk cartons.
After we came back down the mountain the care giver from the ECCD centre invited us into her home. They gave us a delicious meal of cornbread, a chilli and coriander sauce, and fresh buffalo butter. It was really lovely, and I was very hungry by that time. People are so hospitable and welcoming even when they have got so little – it is so humbling and challenging for me. Their kitchen was next to the woodpile and was basically a hole in the ground with fire in.
More photos:
After the disaster preparedness meeting the other day I fully prepared myself for the cold and wore three jumpers and a coat (though it was a bit of a struggle to get into the coat I have to say). And the people who designed the shalwar kameez obviously hadn’t given a thought to the fashion disaster it becomes when worn with walking boots. Anyway. Actually, we had to walk for about an hour to get to the furthest school, so I got rather warm and dispensed with most of the jumpers (even though there was snow when we got to the top of the mountain!).
We went to a total of three schools and one early childhood care and development centre (ECCD). At the first school all the children were sitting outside on mats even though it was cold and the ground was very wet. I don’t know how the children could learn in this kind of situation. There was a tent but that wasn’t being used when we were there. We spent a while talking to the kids, and then the disaster risk reduction consultant arrived and we walked to the next school, which was a bit of a trek. There was quite a lot of construction going on. Many of the buildings before the earthquake had been made of stones and concrete, which caused so much loss of life. Now the buildings are being rebuilt again in the traditional way – a wooden construction and then a mixture of mud and stones and things in between. Apparently the walls of the traditional building type would fall out rather than in if there was another earthquake. Visiting the area and seeing some of the collapsed buildings really impressed on me how important DRR is. For example, in one of the schools the children told us about the earthquake last week – although they all ran out of the building there was a real problem because the door was so small and there was a big step to trip up over.
The DRR consultant was full of interesting information about the area. There were very few if any international NGOs working in Seren valley before the earthquake, although there were a few national NGOs. He has talked to the villagers and they have said that many owe their lives to the relief that the INGOs bought. It is interesting that just a few miles away in Battagram there is such a different attitude towards NGOs to the extent that they have been targeted. But it is only a few extremists that are causing these problems.
There is a major problem with timber smuggling and deforestation in this area - trees are so important in preventing landslides. We could clearly see on the mountainsides areas where there had been landslides - areas that were vegetated had not had landslides. The forests are partly owned by the government and partly community owned as well. But the communities have minimal rights to use the trees by chopping them down, though I think they can collect firewood. Corruption is a major problem.
At the second school the proper teacher hadn’t turned up – there was only a para-teacher who is employed by MIED not the government. And when we got to the last school neither of the teachers had bothered turning up as it is so close to the Eid holidays. So the children were just playing around. Teacher absenteeism is a major problem because they get such small salaries, and many of the teachers commute from Mansehra every day (3 hours one way). Some NGOs have started providing hostels for teachers nearer were they work, but MIED doesn’t really want to do this as it creates further dependency on the NGOs, and also the teachers have signed a contract and have a responsibility towards the children.
I have to say that it was an amazing place for school, at the top of the mountain with snow and fab views. But the graves of some people who had died in the earthquake were right next to the school – I can’t really conceive what affect that will have on the children.
The most encouraging place that we visited was the ECCD centre, for children aged 3-6. The room was full of low-cost resources that the ECCD team, the care giver and the children had worked on together. For example they had made bags with the children’s names on from flour sacks, and ceiling hangings from milk cartons.
After we came back down the mountain the care giver from the ECCD centre invited us into her home. They gave us a delicious meal of cornbread, a chilli and coriander sauce, and fresh buffalo butter. It was really lovely, and I was very hungry by that time. People are so hospitable and welcoming even when they have got so little – it is so humbling and challenging for me. Their kitchen was next to the woodpile and was basically a hole in the ground with fire in.
More photos:
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