Memories of home

So, our adventure with Khubaib may have been over but our Islamabad adventure was not. That night we were picked up by some relatives in Islamabad and we spent the next day making rounds of the city visiting the family we have there, and there are many of them. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and although the city has changed a lot, there are many places which struck a chord in my memory. The fact that much of the family remained in the same houses I remember from childhood was a big plus.

It was so good to see family I hadn’t seen for years, many of them since I was about 7 years old. See how things had changed and how many things had stayed the same. It was amazing how much I remembered. I loved it!

I was also able to visit one of my mother’s best friends and her family. My sister and her elder daughter had been best friends in childhood, as had I and her younger daughter and it was incredible to see them all again. They also (Bless them!) took me to see our old house, which looked almost exactly the same except for an exterior wall that had been added. So many memories and too little time!

My time in Islamabad was full of so much joy and love. Even if the time spent with family there was short, I loved every minute. Insha’Allah, next time I can come for a few weeks.

I’m in Kashmir!! Well, kind of...

So the next day we set out early again but this time our marathon road trip would take us to Azad Kashmir. I don’t think I have ever been so ridiculously childishly excited in my life- ok, except for maybe my trip to Egypt.

We set out in a good old Toyota Helix type truck, not as spacious as our previous transportation but all the same, comfy. Until Murrey, the roads were good. They have built a new highway all the way, and it was amazing for me to see again because I remember our family holidays to Nathya Galli and Bourbun when I was younger: The cliff edges with no barriers, the snow, the big trucks trying to get past and getting stuck, the snow ploughs, the dangerous driving and the skinny roads. This time it was so totally different with a great new road, but I also noticed the bad changes. I remember our trips to Murrey with tall trees on either side, lots of forest and woodland. I fact, my memory is of tall pine-like trees and a heavily forested landscape. Now, however, there has clearly been heavy deforestation. There were large areas of cleared land, without any trees t all and you could see clearly the affect this was having on the soil. This cannot fare well for Pakistan and its countryside in the long run. I mean, if we just think of the earthquake and the flood in recent history, do we really want to add massive mudslides to the list? There is nothing left holding the earth together here and this bodes badly for future earthquakes and flooding too. Whenever there is rain it will no longer get soaked up by the trees but just flow down the hillsides, taking silt/soil with it, and flood the valleys below. Not good.

In Pakistan, we have a serious problem with not thinking long-term and I think this has been a short fall in terms of our development organisations as well. As a country, as small communities, as individuals, I think it is important that people start taking a strong stand for the future of the country. These issues, not just employment, extremism and the economy should be high on the agenda. Maybe if the problems of poverty and environment were sorted out, the others which are clearly linked in, would sort themselves out too.

Anyway, the road from Murrey on gone gradually worse until it was basically a mountain road with broken up rocks scattered around. Not the most comfortable drive but we had a good driver. We made it through the border as well. Despite the fact that we did not have Pakistani or Azad Kashmiri citizenship and no pass (something foreigners usually have to get from the authorities in order to enter Azad Kashmir these days). Our escort, Ibrar, was a local who worked for Khubaib and so with him and Sohail, it just looked like we were a family returning home and I believe they don’t usually stop ladies anyway.

And then, I was in Kashmir.... I couldn’t believe it. OK, so I wasn’t on our ancestral side, but still! This is the closest I have ever been and I was only a few hours from Srinagar and Baramullah, my grandfather’s hometowns. This was amazing for me. I cannot explain how excited I felt. I felt the strangest joy, God knows why. If there were other girls with me I probably would have been giggling with excitement! Silly but true.

When we got to Muzaffarabad, our first stop was actually before the city, another school set up by Khubaib. This place was amazing. It was an orphanage and a school. Set-up as a boarding school the boarders/students came from all over, some of the best students from schools in Islamabad. The Head and his wife had worked hard to ensure that they provided a very good education and so attracted the best students thus raising the status of the school and its students. The orphans and the others therefore studied together and in many cases boarded together too.

The fees had a contribution to the board of the orphans, this creating a philanthropic atmosphere and encouraging a social/community aspect to the students attending. Many students and orphans also came from nearby though and the school provided buses for them, to and from school, so they could make the journey home. I have already explained how rough the roads were, so it was needed. In fact, the buses actually went quite far as we would see some of them on our way home.

You could see the level of the education on our tours around the classrooms and I was very impressed by what they had achieved. It was great to see. To top it all off, they were located on a beautiful mountainside in Kashmir with amazing views on all sides. I could just imagine going to that school.

We managed to discuss with them what their needs still were and like many of the other places we visited, one of their greatest demands was for school/science posters and books- Any reading books/novels in English just so the kids can improve their level and practise.

I also got to visit Muzaffarabad though, which was very cool for me if, only short lived, as unfortunately we quickly got stuck in a traffic jam, which appeared like it might last all night so we had to turn back. BUT I did manage to buy some Kashmiri Kulchai- YUM!!! And we took these back to the school, where we had them with hot Kashmiri chai. If you are wondering what these are, well, it is a little difficult to explain. They are a bit like heavy biscuits that look a bit like rock cakes and when you put them in the tea they just soak it up and expand. They are yum! I have wanted to have some for as long as I can remember as I have strong memories from my childhood and still hold on to the memory of the taste. It was thoroughly enjoyable, even if they weren’t of the BEST quality.

We also visited the mosque and new government buildings built with the help of the Turkish government in the post-earthquake relief work. They are of a very good quality and they also build a shopping centre and hospital I believe. Some great work being done around the world by the Turkish government and development agencies I think. Although, I believe they were very disappointed b y the management of the places once they were handed over to the local authorities.

What’s new in Pakistan eh?

This was one of the most amazing experience s in my life and I will not be forgetting it anytime soon. So a big thanks to Khubaib and in particular the chairman, Br Wahid, Ibrar, Sohail and Samina.

The Wonders of Khubaib

The next chapter

Islamic Relief was amazing, particularly as I had the chance to see the results of a project I had been directly involved in the UK, however, at the same time I was also in touch with an IHH partner organisation who were very keen to meet us.

The Khubaib Foundation found their way into our lives through IHH, with lots of emails and phone calls back and forth. The IR staff were kind enough to drop us off at their offices that very same evening and we had a long chat with their director/chairman. A very nice man who was committed to the cause of development and who also happened to be one of those on the Mavi Marmara- masha’Allah. It turns out he is very much like my aunt, married to a Turkish lady, who like my aunt can speak Turkish, English and Urdu (for those who don’t know, my Aunt is married to a Turk).

Anyway, we formulated a plan for the next few days which included a visit to Muzaffarabad if it could be sorted on short notice. They were so keen, bless them, that they even decided they would take it upon themselves to change our tickets, so now we were staying til Friday! We discussed the state of development in Pakistan, Turkish links and help, education and its importance in helping PK develop, long term development versus short term Aid and much more. I was very impressed by their ethics, dedication and their views. All that really remained to be seen were the projects.

The plan was:

Tuesday- Haripur, Nowshera and Pindi

Wednesday- Muzaffarabad

Thursday- Family visits

Friday- back to Karachi

And, alhumdulillah all basically went to plan. I hope that family didn’t get hurt/insulted or put out by us along the way but the trip was very fruitful and I am hoping will bring forward lots of positive outputs. I look forward to working on some ideas raised in the near future insha’Allah.

Right, so Tuesday we woke up early, despite it having been a late night the day before sitting up and chatting with family, sharing photos and stories. We had to leave the house at 8am so we stuffed ourselves with some good old Kashmiri chai, Bakhar Khani and Parathas (much heavier than the half bowl of cereal I am used to in the UK, but now big breakfasts are fast becoming my new routine), said our goodbyes and headed out.

We were accompanied by AbdurRahman who was the project coordinator for the Afghan school near Haripur, Sohail our driver and Samina our coordinator. Off we went on our mega roadtrip together. Our first stop would be at the Afghan school where we would drop off Abdur Rahman. On the way I was astonished by the new motorways- probably not so new anymore but for me they were brand new. It was great to be able to speed along to where we wanted to on a good road, in an easy fashion. Definitely a much needed improvement and I think even the tolls are worth it although I have my doubts if in the long run they will actually go on maintenance. Fingers crossed.

Anyway, the Afghan school was located near Haripur, I forget the exact location and unfortunately I didn’t jot it down I don’t think. Basically due to the ongoing unrest and continual wars in Afghanistan over the past 30 years, Pakistan has become host to quite a regular Afghan refugee population, many of whom despite having resided in the country for over 2 decades still live in a very temporary fashion. Khubaib opened this school for the local refugee population and it serves all the different Afghan ethnicities of Uighur, Pashtun, Farsi etc.

They show real pride in their heritage and the Afghan Anthem is painted onto wall murals alongside the Pakistani one and poetry by Jalaluddin Rumi whom the school has been named for. The children speak Urdu plus their local languages (some speak both Pashtu and Farsi) and are learning English as well. The standard is pretty good but the school too small. They definitely have an overload of pupils who are very willing to learn. It’s only a shame that there has not been more investment in the area but I suppose you can say this about the whole of Pakistan. The country seems not to be running via the government from whom I see little actual investment into infrastructure but rather via outside NGOs coming in to help.

Our next stop was the Khubaib Boys Hostel and School in Haripur, where we were also to take lunch. The place was really beautiful, set into great scenery and immediately evoked in me images of Northern Pakistan and Kashmir that have been ingrained into our Psyche. We were met by the Head and shown around the brightly decorated school, with cheerful classrooms and relatively good facilities. The nursery children even gave us a demonstration of their Alphabet skills. It was mega-sweet.

By this point we were running a little late but still took a leisurely lunch in the garden behind the school overlooking the school grounds. It was delicious and we had a great view. We got to have a really interesting chat with Headmistress and her Husband, the chair, who ran the school. That’s the way Khubaib works. The schools are usually run by couples, as are a few other projects. They look for people who would be willing to volunteer their services but have found that it works best if they are couples. This is both for safety and company, as the placements are often in remote locations and they often have great experience and work well together.

Afterwards, we prayed quickly in their mosque and decided not to take a look around the inside of the hostel as the boys had just come out of lessons and we didn’t want o disturb their personal space! And so, it was off to the next stop, Nowshera. Nowshera, is an area that was greatly affected by the recent floods in Pakistan. Although the floods affected severely over a third of the country, this was one of the areas worst hit. In fact, on our way through I still noticed huge areas that looked like tent cities where people were still living without adequate shelter. Let me tell you, I was cold in Islamabad, having to wear multiple layers at night but it was colder out here. Imagine what it must be like when all you have for shelter for you and your family is one tent.

We visited several sites where Khubaib were helping locals to rebuild their homes. The materials/money was provided by Khubaib, alongside any expertise needed but the building was done by the locals themselves providing them with ownership over the project and their lives. I think with the floods having given them a feeling of helplessness this was an important strategy that many NGOs use regularly. I remember taking one picture where the man showing us pointed to the 2^nd floor of his house to show where the water had reached. The only place they could take refuge was on the water tank as that was the only building in the village that had 3 storeys. Imagine the water coming that high where you live? Can you imagine how scary that would be?

I heard stories of how they managed to survive and escape, of the lives lost and fortunately of the many lives saved, but also about the aftermath of undrinkable water. Dead animals and snakes were in the water alongside rotting vegetation and the silt driven out by the river. They survived as best they could and are still doing so, yet they were so generous as to still serve us tea and biscuits despite having so little. I even drank the tea for shame!

We visited the local hospital that was damaged by the same floods as well and was now being worked on by a young team of engineers and architects to bring it back to scratch, disposing of old and damaged sections and equipment and refitting whole wings. The whole of the pipe system and drainage system also needed replacing but it was good to see signs of help from the UK. One proudly announced that the new water system had been donated by the community of Birmingham!

Our last stop of the day would be a Girl’s Orphanage in Pindi so we made the long trip back and by the time we arrived it was already dark. The orphanage is located in a residential area of Pindi (the city adjacent to Islamabad), and the girls all study at the local school where they receive top marks, many often coming 1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd in their class. This not only gives their pride a boost, giving them the dignity and self-worth they deserve, but also breaks down the stereotypes that many people hold in Pakistan. Unfortunately, in the past and I suppose still today, orphans have been looked down upon in Pakistan and discriminated against, with many orphanages not being the kind of places in which you would want your children to reside.

The girls here are a mix from all over Pakistan, some have lost both parents, some their father or mother. Sometimes it is a case where the father or mother has remarried and they are either ill-treated or no longer wanted. Sad but true. I found many sad and beautiful stories here. I think my Aunt and I could have spent a lot longer with them and in fact delayed the whole tour again because we were having such a great time. The girls are lovely and formed a strong sisterly bond with each other and with the staff. They are like one big family and we felt a welcome part of them.

Four of them through IHH are also being offered the chance to go for further study to Turkey, where they will spend 8 years and come back fully qualified in a social field to help Pakistan progress and further the area and the cause to which they belong. I think it is a wonderful way forward and shows real progress. I am very impressed by the work being done here. I just wish that more could be done and also that there was more done on the part of the government to further support for agencies such as this. Imagine the kind of society we could create if there was more interagency cooperation and work of this sort was supported and more widespread. But, I suppose until we have a government that learns to work for the people rather than itself and its own individual self-interests, a government which is not corrupt, illegitimate or il-advised, until then we will just have to continue with our efforts as best we can.