Heritage Museum: Summer camp highlights rich Baloch, G-B culture

Workshops are being held to introduce children to traditions, languages .

ISLAMABAD: A summer camp aimed at highlighting and introducing children to the languages, culture, heritage and traditions of Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) continues here at the National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage popularly known as Lok Virsa.

Rawalpindi Grammar Public School Director Nasreen Iqbal is conducting a workshop for around 20 children as part of various activities organised at the camp.

During the workshop the children are introduced to the culture, heritage, geography, traditions, rituals, and festivities of Balochistan and G-B, through multimedia presentations, songs, storytelling, art activity, and question and answer sessions.

The overall theme of this year’s summer camp is “Learning Balochi language and glimpses into Baloch culture” and “Learning Wakhi language and the diversity of G-B”

The camp aims at providing an orientation to the children about the languages, poetry, crafts, music and festivals of these regions.

“The camp also focuses on creating ownership among children regarding Pakistan’s languages and cultural heritage, and above all, will reaffirm our identity of being multicultural and a plural society,” said a Lok Virsa official.

Pakistan is enriched with more than 24 languages and dialects.

The regional languages, though distinct from each other, promote unity among people of different provinces and regions and cultivate love, respect and a firm adherence to universal brotherhood.

The workshops will continue till August 25.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4^th, 2015.