Polio Immunization in Lahore

In the Mosque

In the village

Visit to Noorulhadi School

 Yesterday we went to see the fantastic results of the Rotary Matching Grant which benefited the Noorulhadi School for Girls (also known as DOSTI Badezai School #2).  The project had been financed by the Maumee Rotary Club of Ohio with their sum matched by The Rotary Foundation. The school is a peaceful community supported facility located 6 miles from the tribal territory of Bajour.

It was great to see the growing number of girls as well as resources at the school.  The new solar panel on the roof attract allot of curiosity since it is the first one in the region.  Previously there had been power but now the outages are getting so long that it is usually out.

Labels

What a pleasure and an honor

 it is to be able to impact so many 

girls lives with real education!

We climbed the ladder to see the 

solar panels!

 I guess I was the first woman they 

saw climbing a ladder because it 

seemed like a big deal to them!

Apart from needing a good cleaning, the solar panels were in great shape.  They had not been generating much power recently because they hadn't been cleaned.  This is the first time we have included them in a project so now we know we must make sure they are cleaned regularly!

The Faces of DOSTI

Yesterday I arrived in Peshawar, tomorrow I will go and check on the completed grant so we can finish the Final Report.

 This morning I  got to visit a couple of the nearby DOSTI Schools.

The students are unbelievable!  So willing to learn and show what they know...

These two girls are in pre-Kindergarten at DOSTI's Abdara School.  It has come from a handful of students without teachers, to 150 students with many inspiring teachers in just 2 years!

 These three girls are in kindergarten at DOSTI

School #1, also known as Sufraid Dheri.  This

school will be the beneficiary of one of our next

grants.  The lights were out the whole time

I was there so we will include solar panels.

 These girls are in second grade as

Abdara School.  They were doing the alphabet and

some songs for me.

Fourth grade students really know how to pay attention

to the teacher!

Malala is honored everywhere in Pakistan and

the world!  Studying hard below her poster is part

of the 8th grade class at Abdara School.

Eager to learn!

 

These students are in 3rd grade and 

curious and friendly with me!

DOSTI School #1 Math Teacher

going home after classes finish

RI Auditors Impressed by our Matching Grants!

Rotary International is in the process of auditing some of the projects in District 3272.  Maybe they chose ours because we are the most remote rotary projects in the area.  They approved of all we have done and were very impressed with the projects capability of empowering the poor with education, especially the increased number of girl students.  I just got this from Zamarud Shah, the treasurer of our partner club, Unitown Peshawar:

Dear Rachel,

 

                    The Rotarian auditors from Karachi and Lahore were here on the 6th. I and Khanimullah Khan (club member) met them in Pearl Continental Hotel that nite and we discussed everything and gave them whatever they needed. They made statements and asked questions.  The next day I took them to Sardheri school and they inspected everything and the statement from Ridwanullah the principal. They were so impressed with what that MG have done to that area. There are around 140 girls now studying, up from 65. They realy appreciated how we helped them to upgrade the school.

 

Then we went to Kalu Shah and they also inspected everything there and were realy amazed that even the books they were still rotating after 3 yrs. The computers and the the furniture we gave them, the tube well kids are getting clean water and the principal also told them that due to Rotary help the school is doing tremendusly well. they have over 400 students now and they don`t have chairs for them and they now sitting on the floor. Mr Alavi talked to some of the girls and he was realy impressed by the quick right answers. They told me to help them with furniture and some toilets for the girls. They were so impressed they  told Islam (the headmaster) to carve a statue of Zam and fix it on the wall.

 

Well I m glad they found out that the help we gave them realy had a big boost on the education of this area. I thought that I should update you.

Zam

 

Below are photos from 2009 trip.  I will take more next week on my visit!

 

 

Iqral School at Sardheri, Charsadda : from left, headmaster Ruwanulla, Rotarian Rachel Williams, teachers and students of the school standing around Unitown Rotary Club member Kanimulla Khan

Kalu Shah School:  from left - donor of farmland for rural school sight & headmaster Islam Khan, Rachel Williams, and Unitown Rotary Past President & Club Treasurer  Zamarud Shah, with school children.

How Pakistani's view their situation...

This article shows great insight into how local people see things here in Pakistan

http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-9-146992-Choosing-our-battles

Rachel in Pakistan!

 

With friends Ishaq & Obaida Khakwani

                                                   With friends Shanaz & Sidra Minhas

Pakistani cat thinking about the drone bombings

Gardener's bike

Veggie venders

Happy Malala Day!

World observes Malala Day today

Saturday, 10 November 2012 09:22

Posted by Imaduddin

NAVEED BUTT
ISLAMABAD: ‘Malala Day’ is being observed throughout the world on Saturday (today) on the call of the United Nations (UN).

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced that November 10 will be observed as ‘Malala Day’ the world over, honouring her struggle for the cause of girls’ education. He said that this would “build on the momentum of UN’s Education First initiative”.

The Day is being observed across the globe to show solidarity with the brave daughter of Pakistan who stood up for education of girls and refused to bow down despite the threats of militants.     

UN’s Special Envoy on Education and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown is in Pakistan and who called on President Asif Ali Zardari.

On the Day, he will ask President Zardari to lead governmental changes in policy to ensure girls’ education in Pakistan.

Petitions will also be handed to the United Nations to ensure international support for the push for girls’ education.

President Asif Ali Zardari has given the following message on “Malala Day”:

“‘Malala Day’ is being observed today all over the world to show solidarity with the brave daughter of Pakistan, Malala Yousufzai, who stood defiantly to the militants to pursue her education and refused to bow to their threats and faced bullets, instead of giving up. Malala stands tall today as a symbol of girls’ education and a symbol of defiance against those who wish to impose their obscurantist agenda behind the façade of religion.

“On this occasion it is worth repeating what I said at an international conference recently about our daughter, Malala.

“Malala represents the resilience of our girls and women. Terrorists shot Malala…Her attackers aren’t just trying to kill the Daughter of Pakistan. They are trying to kill Pakistan. They didn’t stop at Afghanistan. They won’t stop at Pakistan. Attack on her is an attack on every child in our region…We cannot sit idly as our children are attacked. We must act urgently.

“The observance of the Malala Day today by the international community…demonstrates the commitment…that no matter what the odds, together we will fights the militants and not let them succeed in their agenda. Malala has transcended from an individual to an idea and the observance today shows that the idea lives on.

“On this occasion I wish to compliment the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon for urging the international community to observe Malala Day today. I wish to congratulate Malala Yousafzai, her parents, and all those who fight for the cause for which Malala stood. I wish Malala early and complete recovery and thank the doctors…who took care of her.

“The Mission of Malala is fated to succeed.”

Film on Malala

"A Class Dissmissed"  by Adam Ellick
Documentary about Malala

http://www.nytimes.com/video/2012/10/09/world/asia/100000001835296/class-dismissed.html#100000001835296

Peititon for Malala

She says it soooo well!

Please sign this petition:

http://www.change.org/petitions/nobel-peace-prize-for-malala
 

Nobel Peace Prize for Malala

by Tarek Fatah   Toronto, Canada

Two weeks ago 14-year old Malala Yusufzai was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in response to her campaign against the destruction of girls schools in Pakistan. In the face of terror, Malala risked her life to speak out for the rights of girls everywhere.

Her bravery has sparked a global movement and we believe she deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for her courageous work.

The first step in this process is to get Malala nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Only certain people, like a Member of Parliament, are allowed put forward nominations. To make a major statement and to show that Canadians believe in Malala's work, we need all Canadian political party leaders and members to unanimously nominate Malala for the Nobel Peace Prize for her incredible work and bravery.

I have spoken with Bob Rae, Leader of the Liberal Party, this morning about the petition and he said he is ready to throw his support behind the campaign.

A Nobel Peace Prize for Malala will send a clear message that the world is watching and will support those who stand up for gender equality and universal human rights that includes the right of education for girls.
Petition for Malala

Global Education Campaign

In Dec. we will be giving teacher training to 50 of their teachers in northern Pakistan!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RP3WY3tXYSM

Outspoken 14 year old girl in Pakistan is healing!

She was shot by the Pakistani "Taliban" while on the school bus!
Demonstrators against the outrage are united in Afghanistan, Pakistan & India!

http://onpoint.wbur.org/2012/10/15/women-in-afpak

October 15, 2012 at 11:00 AM

Women In Afghanistan And Pakistan

A young girl in Pakistan, hero to many—“Malala,” shot by the Taliban. We’ll look at what women face in Pakistan—and in Afghanistan as the US prepares to go.

Pakistani children pray for the recovery of 14-year-old schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai, who was shot on Tuesday by the Taliban for speaking out in support of education for women, during a candlelight vigil in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. A Pakistani military spokesman says Yousufzai is in “satisfactory” condition but cautions that the next few days will be critical. Writing reads on the poster left, “Malala Yousufzai.”(AP)

The girls were singing on their school bus in northwest Pakistan, we’re told, when the Taliban gunmen climbed aboard last week. And they shot 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai.
Malala. A national hero to many in Pakistan, who championed something so simple – education for girls. The Taliban shot her in the head for promoting “Western thinking”.
They’ve said they’ll shoot her again. She survives so far. Barely. But what about the hopes of women in Pakistan and, when the US goes, in Afghanistan next door?
This hour, On Point: the Taliban, Malala, and nations of women under the gun.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests

Owais Tohid, a Pakistani journalist, he currently heads a leading television state in Pakistan, ARY News. You can read his first-hand account of his dealings with Malala here.
Samina Ahmed, South Asia project director for the International Crisis Group.
Andeisha Farid, founder and Executive Director of Afghan Child Education and Caring Organization.
Beena Sarwar, leading Pakistan journalist, focused on human rights, gender, and peace issues.

From Tom’s Reading List

Foreign Policy “The Taliban blow up Sufi shrines; worshippers at mosques; and men, women, and children in markets. They go for maximum carnage, taking dozens of lives either with the help of remote-controlled bombs or by luring in dazed, brainwashed nutcases to commit suicide in public by detonating dynamite strapped around their waists. The Taliban have also targeted specific individuals: senior police officials, politicians, captured soldiers, journalists, and even some religious scholars belonging to Muslim sects and sub-sects that the Taliban consider heretical. Now, add to this list of victims a 14-year-old schoolgirl specifically targeted because the Taliban think she ridiculed and defied the dictates ordained by God and his scriptures.”
Huffington Post “Malala simply wanted to go to school and get an education. Religious extremists, citing Sharia law, viewed that as a war against their self-appointed authority as the keepers of Islamic law and targeted her to be killed. The Taliban of Pakistan waylaid her school van, jumped aboard, verified her identity and opened fire on Tuesday, Oct. 9. Before the van driver was able to speed away, fourteen-year-old Malala lay bleeding with shots to her head.”
Christian Science Monitor “Just a few moments before, she said, the girls had been singing a traditional Pushto folk song on their way back from school, its lyrics vowing sacrificing their lives for their motherland, the beautiful valley of Swat.”

Celebrating Muslim New Year at the end of Ramadan

Eid Mubarik & Selemat Hari Raya!

             I am celebrating in Johor, Malaysia:

NEW DOSTI flick

Click here to learn about DOSTI Schools

 

Award from Association of Pakistani Physicians of New England

This is the first time it has been awarded to a non-Pakistani!

Rachel was the first recipient of the award that is not from Pakistan!

Nice article in the Salem News by Alan Burke

SalemNews.com, Salem, MA

June 25, 2012

Ipswich Rotarian helps Pakistan, one school at a time

BY ALAN BURKE, STAFF WRITER
The Salem News
---- — IPSWICH — Pakistan is one of the hottest of world hot spots, often seen as a swirl of violence and hatred so forbidding that individuals, and even governments, are apt to throw up their hands and walk away.
So it’s surprising that one force willing to persist in the face of the conventional wisdom, to reach out, give aid and educate is Rotary.
Locally, it’s the Ipswich Rotary and Rachel Williams, 58, a one-woman ambassador of Pakistani relief. And she won’t hear all that talk about how dreadful the country is.
“They’re fabulous people,” she said. “It’s just a misunderstood place. They don’t hate us, they love us. I always tell them I’m an American, and they love that.”
Williams, a resident of Groveland, has been traveling to Pakistan since the early 1990s. At first, she had selfish reasons. She lived in Singapore. Her marriage had fallen apart, and she was making a living as a personal trainer. She had also developed a very expensive hobby — polo.
It’s a sport that had its beginnings in the regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, she said, and Pakistan remains the cheapest spot for indulging in an activity dependent on lots of well-nourished horses.
Pakistan grew to mean more than just polo for Williams after the terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. The largely Muslim nation was swiftly designated a vital American ally in the war to defeat al-Qaida.
By then, Williams had left Singapore, remarried again and settled on the North Shore, an area that the Seattle native judges “the most civilized in the world.” Still working as a personal trainer, she joined the Ipswich Rotary.
As the conflict in South Asia grew, Williams found she could put names and faces to the people being affected. Wanting somehow to help, she began raising money for Afghan refugees and Pakistani schools.
“I work on schools that are already there,” she said. “If you give them a boost, it will increase their capacity.”
Soon, she linked her efforts to Rotary’s international arm, which offered matching grants.
“Rotarians are people who work to make their communities better,” Williams said, “and their countries better and the world better. ... I come back from Pakistan and tell the story, and people donate.”
Moreover, her efforts get a further boost from the fact that Rotary and Rotarians are plentiful in Pakistan, as well. And they’re willing to help point the aid in the right direction.
Williams goes to Pakistan at least once a year. Most recently, she helped provide solar panels, computers, desks, fans, a drinking fountain and books to Dosti Badezai School #2, a formerly overcrowded school, with three rooms serving 300 girls.
In previous years, thanks to donations, a school was able to expand, creating a college. Elsewhere, a bus was purchased for girls traveling many miles to the schools.
Williams acknowledges the concerns in this country regarding Pakistan. Some there have made common cause with terrorists. It’s the country where American journalist Danny Pearl was kidnapped and beheaded, where the Mumbai massacre was launched, and where Osama bin Laden found years of sanctuary.
Williams notes that violent hate groups exist in many countries. Bin Laden may have found sanctuary, but that doesn’t prove official collusion. Fugitives have been known to go undiscovered for years even in America, she points out.
“To the poorest of the poor,” she said, “none of that matters.” The number of Pakistanis killed in the conflict with terrorists dwarfs the casualties in the West, she said. And the problems in Pakistan, she said, are enormously complex. Thus, her efforts to educate extend to America. “I want to do more to help people understand.”
The region Williams serves is in the north, among Pashtun people. On the fringe of the worrisome, mountainous tribal areas, her friends live on flat plains, good farmland where English is the second language.
“Where we are is not that dangerous,” she said. As a concession to local customs, she dresses as a traditional Pakistani woman when she travels.
The hospitality of the people delights her. “They fight over who I’m going to stay with. ... They would never put you in danger.” The most serious concern, she said, is outright lawlessness having nothing to do with religion or politics. Kidnapping for ransom is a minor industry in the country.

The bad news from Pakistan is belied by the hopes and aspirations of average Pakistanis, Williams said. Their dreams are not so very different from those of people everywhere. They want their children to prosper, thus they want them educated. Girls, too.
“People have always been saying that it’s getting worse,” she said. “You have to do what you can do. I learn so much from the resilience of the Pakistani people.”
Williams recalls being in Pakistan and hearing the terrifying roar of bombers overhead en route to battle the Taliban on the Afghan/Pakistan border. She watched the eyes of the people around her as the noise grew.
“They really should be afraid,” she said, “but they carry on.”
Staff reporter Alan Burke can be reached at 978-338-2524 or by email at aburke@salemnews.com.

"Us" & "Them"

 It seems very popular here is USA to condemn Pakistan.  Yet, do you  know that terrorism has killed 350,000 Pakistani’s since 911?  When will we read history and realize what a huge part our own foreign policy has played in the chaos we now read about?  

The CIA recruited fighters in Afghanistan, Pakistan and throughout the Middle East to fight the “godless” Russians.  An elder gentleman I used to have tea with in Peshawar was a general in the Pakistan army in the ‘70s.  The top US military men in those days asked him what he thought about the idea of creating an army to fight for god.  He said “ It will work, but what do we do when you are done?”  

If any of us bother to look up the tragic truth about what is now called the “Af/Pak  Situation”,  we will be appalled!  Own tax dollars helped develop an education system which uses hatred as a tool to create what is now a third generation of terrorists.  The tables have turned and in the absence of the Russians, we are now the infidels.  

The latest story, now being turned into a political football, is the case of the CIA pay rolling Dr.Shakil Afridi to run a fake clinic in an effort to get the DNA of bin Laden’s relatives.  If the US government really cared about this man, they had many 

opportunities to evacuate him.  His real crime is not treason nor is it conspiring to work with the bad guys.  His crime is that his actions have placed a massive cloud of suspicion over anyone offering medical care to the grassroots poor worldwide.   For the CIA to set these kinds of things up, without considering the repercussions of their actions, is business as usual.   

In war big fish rarely get penalized, and very often get rich.  It is the innocent poor, the female, and the young that suffer the most.  If we really want to help the situation, this is who we need to work with.  Does anybody care that there were 20,000 pregnant women among the wave of displaced people who  fled  the tribal areas when we started bombing with our drones?  Those babies will most likely become terrorists, too, if they don’t get a real education and medical care.

Rotary Grant Approved for girls school near FATA in Pakistan!

This Adopt-a-School Matching Grant is a partnership of Unitown Peshawar & Maumee (Ohio) Rotary Clubs.

 The school is Dosti Badezai School #2, also known as Noorlhadi Girls School.   The grant will supply essential items to bring the school from a struggling, overcrowded 3 rooms, to a vibrant, exciting institution for 300 girls.  They will have their own power source provided by 2 solar panels, computers, student & teacher's desks, fans, drinking fountain and books.

 The school is community supported, assisted by the Dosti Welfare Organization in Peshawar and its funding are in Toledo, Ohio, The Global Education Campaign.  It is located near the tribal area of northern Kyber Pakhtunwa Province of Pakistan.

  I have never met anyone who does not want their children educated, including their girls.  They may not want their girls to go far from home, nor be put at risk in an insecure situation.  They do not want their children indoctrinated with foreign beliefs, but they always want them educated if at all possible!

Educating girls is the key to transforming society.  When you educate a girl, you decrease domestic and local violent, plus decrease infant and maternal morbidity.  An educated mother will have less children and she will make sure her children go to school and get better medical care.    In the Koran it says "heaven is below the soles of your mother's feet".  You can't get to heaven unless you obey your mother!  Yes, of course educate boys, but the key to a civilized society is greater education of girls.

A Message from My Grandmother Alice Franklin Bryant

“Let us realize that we now have only the illusion of defense and that we can secure a more real safety by relying less on the use and threat of arms, and by placing more emphasis on helping people to help themselves.”

Alice Franklin Bryant

More info at : http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=8865

Pakistan's Afghan Refugee Camps now housing Internally Displace People from FATA

Internally Displaced People from the Tribal Areas (FATA)

We ALL can make a difference!

Op-Ed in the Boston Globe:

Shock absorbers for US, Pakistan

Why don’t we try a surge of humanitarian work in Pakistan instead of sending drones & CIA agents?

Ask any Pakistani what the problem is and they will say education & infrastructure. If you ask them what they are doing to help you will be amazed at their philanthropy.

They go on to suggest that we “Educate those around you and make your elected officials accountable for what they do”. I’ve been travelling there frequently for over 20 years and have witnessed this first hand.

With the help of vibrant American/Pakistanis here in the US, we can create a political movement of diplomacy and humanitarian assistance that will truly change the situation.