SalemNews.com, Salem, MA
June 25, 2012
Ipswich Rotarian helps Pakistan, one school at a time
BY ALAN BURKE, STAFF WRITER
The Salem News
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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.
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