regular day in Rawalpindi’s Chaklala cantonment. But even as I gaze at the sky, a pair of little voices bring me down to earth.
“Bibi Koora dey do.”
The voices belong to eight-year-old Shireen and ten-year-old Palwasha, two Pathan girls who go from door to door to collect garbage for a living. If lucky, they occasionally pocket alms as well; their innocent faces and earnest looks arousing pity from people in this well-to-do neighbourhood.
“Why don’t you go to school?” I ask them. Blushing, Palwasha replies in Pashto: “Our father cannot afford to send us to school.”
Regret playing across her young features, Shireen adds, “I would love to read but I can’t because I’m poor.”
Heart wrenching as her simple explanation is, I try to conceal my sadness at her words and listen on while she tells me of her desire to attend school just like all the other children in the neighbourhood — carrying a satchel over her back and marching off to learn new things every morning.
“Anyway,” she says, “I am still happy collecting garbage with my family.”
Their father, 35-year-old Gul, however, has a different story to tell. According to him, nobody at NADRA was willing to give his children a ‘B’ form which is an essential document for admission into all government schools.
His failure to fulfill their long list of requirements has left a void in the future of his children. His monthly income of Rs10,000-15,000, may be enough to pay for the education of his six children, but the prevailing bureaucratic system — thriving on attestation — prevents him from securing the chance for a better life for his children.
Originally from Swat, Gul and his family now reside in a rented house in Rawalpindi. Along with his parents, he had to abandon the beautifully serene Swat Valley at the tender age of 10 because of a daunting reality — lack of ownership of land in the village made survival next to impossible. Since working for others on their fields was frowned upon, the family had to eventually leave behind their village and their lives to start afresh in a new, more accepting, place.
Reminiscing over his early days, Gull says: “When I was growing up, it was hard for my parents… my earliest memories are of hard times with my father, working for so many hours in the fields for one of the local chiefs… I remember one year it snowed twenty-four inches and my father had to trudge through it under freezing conditions, with temperatures falling below -15 degrees, just to bring back a little food for our family.”
He adds that he never went to school as a child because his father was not able to afford it; he always saw children dress up in tidy uniforms, their hair pinned back and smiles pasted on their faces, racing each other to school every morning while he strode off to work on the fields in his usual mud-stained attire. It was hard for his father to support his family of six; huddled in a tiny room, made from mud walls, they would rely on each other’s warmth to ward off the winter’s chill.
Upon their arrival in Rawalpindi, a move from a tiny mud hut to a small house with bare essentials, they started to get attuned to life in the city. His father started working and his daily wages helped sustain the family. Recalling those days, Gul says: “We never begged on the streets as we believed that no one could snatch the rights that had been granted to us by Allah.”
Even after his father’s death, Gul, along with his brother and a friend, went about collecting garbage from the streets of Rawalpindi, never forgetting to uphold their dignity at all times. “Thus life continued,” he says.
Today, Gul sweeps the streets of the city with as much vigour as when he collected garbage as a young boy. His children, following in his footsteps, return home every night with the joy of knowing that they do not have to beg for a living and that the little money they manage to collect helps keep their stove lit. Their little hands may have become callused but they continue to sweep clean the streets of Rawalpindi.
But Gul remains haunted by the memory of his home in Swat, and the hope of one day returning to that remembered paradise burns within him. “Life in the cities is very expensive,” he says ruefully. “There is a sense of peace and tranquility in Swat, and nothing around here compares to it. Acquiring a piece of land there would make my life complete… My family and I can be happier there.”
People like Gul may be engulfed in poverty, and faced with problems the rest of us cannot even imagine, but it is their steely will and a belief in better days which keeps them going.
Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, August 7th, 2011.
COMMENTS (18)
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Aoa everbody,
I just came across this article. unfortunately this is not very usual to pick and point out such issues of our society. The comments thread has really encouraged me to share the idea about an initiative of educating such children with all of you. It is Speed Literacy Program.
Speed literacy program is an initiative of Vision21 through which we aim to enable the children of underprivileged families, who have never been to schools, to read and write, in a period of six months. It is a paid program. We plan to teach the group of ten children 7-14 years in each area, starting with Rawalpindi, from the office of Vision21. We will pay every child a per day stipend as well to encourage them to learn. Our objective is to promote the aptitude of learning, thinking and understanding in children by providing them with the skill of reading and writing.
Here is the link about the details of the program http://www.facebook.com/notes/vision21/speed-literacy-program/10150281740274802
Such articles should be published frequently as they may somehow play a role boosting our economy and help improve the literacy rate, eliminating the bad trends adopted by our society.
It seems to me, not only an article, but a clear picture of the lives of poor peple in Pakistan. They are in great need to help and donations.
Such pieces of writing should be appreciated and encouraged
Very well written
It is surely a MUST READ. Its good to read such articles that actually depict the reality and urge people to DO MORE. We have been blessed with loads of luxuries and need to acknowledge their importance before its too late. In a drowning country like Pakistan such awakening articles might help the youth realize their responsibilities well and have a better insight upon common issues like poverty, illiteracy and child labour, that prevail in our society. Pakistan is full of such courageous people and I think their courage is the only reason behind their survival in a third world country. Well off people should take part in charitable programs and might support families and children under projects like SOS and TCF etc.
i will appreciate this article by obaid ur rehman abbasi who has unlocked such issues of pakistan which are shrouded in secrecy and can only be witnessed if we take a step out of our "occupied and busy " lives..this article is indeed an example of staggering reality which would bring about in the knowlegde of all those influentials who are willing to literate or help such necessitous.. sir i would like u to contact vision 21 ,an organization in scheme 3 ,who are on a mission to educate poverty-stricken and such children who want to acquaint themselves with the power of education but circumstances hamper their "hope" to excel.. other than that i would also like to add and bring about to ur knowledge,that there are few families,who still carry conventional wisdom! who are not willing to enroll their kids to school even if the instutute is planning to provide a weekly stipend for such kids who are earning for their families.many of such families DO not allow their kids to school and when you ask them the reason they only go about saying,"we dont educate our females"! i had a chance to work with an organization who were on a mission to sort out such kids who WANTed to go to school but their financial circumstances not allowed them to,and you wont believe it,half of the parents were not allowing their kids to benefit from this program,,, so all in all we CAN blame the fallible institutions but on the other hand we also have to hit the mental state of such people and enchant it with pragmatical stances to excel in the world of reality!
Very well written. Mr Obaid seems to have a liking for picking small and unique yet important issues which have a direct consequential effect on our society. Gul and his boys should be a source of inspiration for those who beg even though they are fit to work and earn a livelihood. At the same time, our high and mighty should do something about these children. They have an equal right to get education and have a better future. According to me, Education and Rule of Law are the two most important things which can take this country out of mess. Otherwise we are doomed to remain on the destructive path we are in currently.
No doubt this is one the worst realities of our society.Unfortunately, we don't have one platform where all of us may strive to eradicate this problem.'Education for All' should not be treated as a slogan only. Basically, the root cause of this problem is 'Lack of capable and honest leadership'. The authorities and the so-called social welfare societies should look upon this. As a Pakistani, this is also my responsibility to work on this issue but all we need is just a platform to try against such problems.
It is a heart touching story, with so much going on in their lives they still have their hopes high. That is the way to go about it! One should always thank Allah for his blessings and should learn from people like Gul, Shireen, Palwasha and many alike.
Awesome piece of writing. Hats of to you Mr. Obaid for highlighting these issues. All of us should think about that and must take some steps in this reagrd.
Very nice sir....
A great piece.Full marks to tribune which have made these things in public .The scriber of the article i believe is having great heart for poor children who share hands with the family to keep it alive in this hard time. i fully agree with mr naseer request that "some one with generous heart in Sawat read this story and let mr gull have apiece of land in his home town".
hussan
I hope someone with a generous heart in Swat reads this poignant story and let Gul have a small piece of land in his hometown. The cleanliness job in Rawalpindi better be performed by those who get paid for it. Obaid seems to have a penchant for writing on the downtrodden of the society, an act that must be supported and appreciated.
I salute you for this real life story. Sad to say, it is happening in Pakistan so very often. We can talk about being a nuclear power, having latest jets, submarines, and all expensive war toys. However, the real emphasis has to be paid on the kids who are the future of the country. It is pathetic to see that a large portion of our budget is spent on non-productive activities and very little on education, healthcare and other civic needs. Even most of the small education budget is siphoned off (by the elites) for higher and foreign education and little is spent on basic education of the kids in the country. I have been saying it like a broken record that Pakistanis have to decide whether they are rich enough to have hundreds (and still counting) of WMD and more than half a million army or take care of the basic needs of their people. East Pakistan used to be the poorest of our provinces, now we have more malnutrition than most countries of the world including Bangladesh. The kids need food, vaccination, basic education and security, all the war toys and hundreds of nuclear weapons have failed to provide!
I'm sad and angered to know what these children have to go through to earn an excruciatingly modest living for their households and yet we, the relatively well-off, don't think twice about squandering away hundreds..if not thousands of rupees on the most trivial of things, be it a bottle of Pepsi or an Iphone. However, its refreshing to see that even after such a hard life...he has kept his dignity intact much more so than many of us usually do. Proud of him.
P.S Can anyone tell of any NGO in Lahore that is working on specifically these issues and would be willing to allow me to volunteer...? Appreciate it.
@Waseem Syed:
http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/sponsor-a-child/asia/pakistan only Rs6000 per month
http://www.aabroo.org/
I have just adopted one myself and lets just not pay money but become mentor to our future.
Obaid,
Thanks for writing this article. I wish every house owner could sponsor a child for school. It is good to focus on these issues. God bless you son. Keep up the good work. I am guilty too for not participating in the well-being of these people. I am looking into organizations where I can sponsor child from abroad.
Regards
Waseem