Pakistan

To be heard...

By Annie Sarfraz

Over 40 people participated at a community meeting in the village of Swabi, KPK, Pakistan, organised by HCR in January 2017. The purpose was to help community understand they have the capacity to bring about positive change in their community. Most of the members said they had never attended a meeting where everyone was given an opportunity to introduce themselves. It was important for HCR to ensure participation from all groups of the community. In particular, youth are generally not encourage to be part of any decision making, something that is traditionally left up to the community Elders. However, this was the first time all age groups had come together to discuss community issues, and for many the first time they were heard.

A senior spokesperson from the community endorsed what was said by HCR's Hazeen Latif, "we have to unite and become an agent of change rather than an object to change". At the conclusion of the meeting, Hazeen was thanked by all, "we have never talked in front of so many people, thank you for giving us the opportunity"!

Rain can't stop us

By Annie Sarfraz

Community leader: “Sir, you could have cancelled the meeting and stayed home. It’s been raining for the last three days”.

Hazeen: “Rain can’t stop us”!

hazeen with water behind.jpg

HCR has been working in Charsadda village in Pakistan since 2013, using the communication for development approach to help people identify, understand and resolve their health and social development issues and challenges. Many successful community initiatives have come from this approach such as the medical camp, cricket tournament, well water project, and the microenterprise awareness campaign. These have helped the community realise the importance of social capital and the power of people to challenge and change the circumstances of life.

A meeting facilitated by Hazeen Latif was held at a primary school which did not have benches or chairs. Instead, members sat on jute cloth mats. Even with rain and extremely cold weather conditions, members of the community participated and gave their consent to form a Community Based Organisation (CBO). Hazeen asked the group “what do you want your children to become”? One of the members who is a tailor said,”I want my son to become a doctor not less than that”. A fish seller wants all his five children to become educated and never ever sell fish. HCR will continue to work with the group to identify issues and challenges faced by the community, and work with the community to develop ways to overcome these.

Local heros make a difference in Pakistan village

By Hazeen Latif

Sahib Gul may be disabled, but his talent for art and music speaks for itself and he is a person who never gives up.  “My name is Sahib Gul, which means king of the roses,” he told a meeting of the newly established ‘New Dawn Community Services’, a community-based organization (CBO) in a village in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.  “I love to sing, it’s my passion,”  he said, as he began to demonstrate his great voice and amazing ability to “beatbox”.  

Sahib Gul is just one of the many community members that has benefited from HCR’s ‘New Dawn’ project, which inspired the local community to register a CBO to help us bring health and development to the village.  “I may be crippled and disabled,” Sahib Gul told me, “but I want to help my community.” 

We have been working in KPK Province since 2014 on a number of projects including micro-enterprise development, a mobile health clinic, radio programming and most recently a new well for clean drinking water.   The well has been so successful that many have stopped going to the local health worker with stomach complaints.  Zahid, who has a clinic nearby, showed me the incoming patients register saying, “Now, fewer patients are coming with gastrointestinal problems.” Sahib Gul has also been feeling much better after using the new bore water.

It’s a privilege to be working in this area, with people who really want to make a difference and take responsibility for their own change.  To me, they are local heroes.  As I met recently with the community for the second monthly meeting to form the CBO, we began to lay plans for next year, to do more to help in the area of health, education and we will be developing FM radio programmes to be a voice for the voiceless.    

Local artist and musician Sahib Gul demonstrates the art of beatboxing

Local artist and musician Sahib Gul demonstrates the art of beatboxing

“Better than Nestle's!” - Clean water brings health to Pakistan community

By Jon Hargreaves

“You have lost me my business,” health clinic owner,  Zahid jokingly tells HCR Pakistan director Hazeen Latif.   He was speaking at the opening of the new drinking well in his village, provided by HCR, funded by an Australian church.  “Since this well opened three weeks ago,” Zahid says, “I am selling less Flagyl because fewer people are having stomach problems.”  With a smile on his face he says, “this water is even better than Nestlé's.”  The well project was a result of a consultation facilitated by HCR which identified some of the main needs facing the community. 

Schoolboy tries the clean drinking water from the new well in his village, KPK province, Pakistan

Schoolboy tries the clean drinking water from the new well in his village, KPK province, Pakistan

HCR has been working in this village in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province since 2013, helping the community understand and tackle their health and social development challenges.  “It has been such a privilege to walk alongside this community for the last three years and feel like I’m part of them,” says Hazeen.  “During that time we’ve seen some great things happen, like the medical camp that HCR sponsored with a local partner. We also sponsored a community cricket match and have done a micro-enterprise project, "he added,"but perhaps the most difficult time was when a nearby school was attacked by terrorists and I experienced the grief the community was going through."

HCR has been working in Pakistan in development and disaster response since 2013, with a vision of seeing whole of life transformation in some of the most challenging places in the country.

Well-digging in KPK, Pakistan is very manual (Video)

Well-digging in KPK, Pakistan is very manual (Video)

10th Anniversary for Syban program

The tenth anniversary for Syban program was on the 11th of May. Syban Radio program was launched in Pakistan by Feba Pakistan in 2006 as a response to the devastating Muzaffarabad earthquake in late 2005, where 80 000 died and an estimated 4 million others left homeless.  Various government agencies in Pakistan had asked HCR to help them respond to the earthquake at the same time Feba Pakistan was looking at FM radio involvement. The program led to an ongoing expansion of programs into FM broadcasting stations in other cities in partnership with local churches. HCR is currently evaluating transformative outcomes of the expansion program.

When Ross was in Pakistan in April/May the team began planning for tenth anniversary celebrations, asking the community what they thought of the Syban radio program.

ISMAIL (regular listener of SYBAN)

Greetings my name is ISMAIL. I live in UPPER CHATTER MUZZAFARABAD. I have been listening pro SYBAN for last five years continuously. In SYBAN most significant topics are discussed for their solution. It is very good program. On the accomplishment of 10 years of SYBAN I say congratulation. I listen to it eagerly, you should also listen. It is my voice, thanks.

AMEER UL DIN MUGHAL (JOURNALIST from SAMHA NEWS)

Greetings I am AMIR UL DIN MUGHAL. I am doing work in AZAD JAMU & KASHMIR, as a representative of SAMHA TELEVSION channel. Apart from it I am also working on my website. So far as Program SYBAN is concerned, it is very good Program, I have been invited in it many time for giving my services to the community. It is very good program. SYBAN is working on education, health, and other social issues very effectively. On the HAPPY 10th anniversary of SYBAN, I say congratulation with the best wishes that may it keep on working effectively for removing social evils and we become a developed country one day. Thanks!

RJ UMAIR (VOK FM105)

Hello I am RJ UMAIR here; I have been working with VOCIE OF KASHMIR FM 105, for eight years. So far as SYBAN Program is concerned, since the time of earth quake in MUZZAFARABAD by helping the effected of the earthquake, to on word SYBAN team very effectively working on education, health, and other social issues.  ON the eve of 10TH ANNVARSARY of SYBAN I say congratulation to all SYBAN`s team with my best wishes thanks.

NADEEM AHMED AWAN (PWD person with disability, and chairman of SAHARA WELFARE COMMITTEE)

Click link below to see his video response. 

A vision better than sight guides Wahid.

 

Our story begins in October 2005, when a magnitude 7.6 earthquake changed Pakistan-administered Azad Jammu Kashmir forever. The quake shook a mountainous region around Muzaffarabad, a city 100 kilometres northeast of Islamabad, at the foothills of the Himalaya mountains. At least 86,000 people were killed, more than 69,000 injured.

Not far from the epicentre of the earthquake is the village of Chalabandi, which was virtually swept away by a massive landslide. The only way out for any survivors in Chalabandi and nearby villages  was across the mud and rubble of the landslide. A road of sorts led to a landing pad for helicopters. Volunteers brought in food, medicine, blankets and tents for survivors but many aid workers refused to go to Chalabandi for fear of looters.

Wahid lived in Chalabandi with his mum, dad and two younger siblings, a sister and brother. As with many school children, both siblings did not survive when their school building crumbled and collapsed, such was the violence of the earthquake. Wahid’s terror was shaped by something affecting no other; the 10 year old had become blind in his first year of birth through a medical condition that could not be treated because of a lack of medical services.

It’s now 2016. The last 11 years have been difficult, Wahid admits. Rebuilding their lives has been slow. An uncle has helped them to restore their demolished house. Wajid’s father has found poorly-paid work as a security guard in a nearby school. The noise, confusion and uncertainty of the earthquake is not a distant memory for Wahid has a daily reminder: his mother continues to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, so great was the impact of the earthquake on her.

But Wahid has a vision. With education as a priority, he studies humanities and arts subjects at an institute that specialises in educating people who live with disabilities. Dedication and commitment is necessary: the institute is about four hours travel from Chalabandi on local transport. Each week, for the past few years, he has made the journey to attend classes and tutorials.

Wahid has had to learn to deal with the torments of unsympathetic people. “People,” he said, “injured my feelings by laughing at me. They did not help me, but just made me a source of their humour.“

One day he heard Syban (Shelter) a community development radio program broadcast on a local radio station by an HCR partner. A guest was talking about the rights of people living with disabilities (PWDs) and how they can lead a productive life like anyone without disabilities. Inspired, Wahid contacted the radio program with an offer to tell his story of pursuing an education despite being blind. All he wanted was for people to change their attitude toward PWDs: to accept them, to support them. His words were passionate and, unusually for someone speaking on the radio in Pakistan, very direct in his appeal. “Although I have a disability I have the vision and the courage to live like normal people. I want to be a part of changing our community. All of you listeners could have a child or family member, just like me, who becomes disabled through no fault of their own. I am a member of this community so please consider me, and those like me, human beings!’’

The story doesn’t end there.

Syban is dedicated to empowering people to tell their stories and contribute to discussion and social learning. Wahid’s appearance led him to being asked to join an advisory group for a local disability NGO and to counsel other PWDs. Not only that, the NGO now provides Wahid dedicated transport for his journey from Chalabandi to his college in the distant town.

Syban has received praise from the community for its efforts to support people with disabilities.

Syban has received praise from the community for its efforts to support people with disabilities.

More importantly, Wahid has become a part of the Syban radio program. He has attended workshops to learn radio programming skills, and there are plans for him to become a Syban reporter on disability issues.

Wahid may be blind, but he has a vision. Syban is using HCR’s community-centred strategies to empower Wahid, and others like him, to contribute to the transformation of their community.

The irony of Charsadda attack

By Ross James

When attackers stormed the Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, northwest Pakistan on Wednesday, 20 January 2016, they exposed a great irony.

Twenty one people, not including four men killed by security forces, died. Among those dead are 17 students and a lecturer who shot back at the gunmen with his pistol, to allow his students to flee, before he was killed by a gunman. The assault ended after hours of intense fighting, when security forces cornered the attackers into two university buildings, killing them before they could explode their suicide vests.

It is ironic that the university is named after a Pashtun nationalist leader who believed in non-violent struggle against the British raj and was a friend of Mohandas Ghandi.

It is ironic that the attack comes at a time when Pakistan’s political and military forces attempt to counter terrorism. “We don’t want to be known as a terrorist state”, a lecturer in political studies at the Foundation University in Rawalpindi told me just a few months ago. The Pakistan Taliban had finally seemed to be weakened, but commentators worry that, even if diminished, the remaining terrorists have retained their capacity for brutality.

Protesters after the attack Source: Dunya News, Death Toll in Bacha Khan University attack rises to 21, 2016 from http://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/318761-Death-toll-in-Bacha-Khan-University-attack-rises-t

Protesters after the attack Source: Dunya News, Death Toll in Bacha Khan University attack rises to 21, 2016 from http://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/318761-Death-toll-in-Bacha-Khan-University-attack-rises-t

It is ironic that the attack seems to have exposed a rift in the Taliban with a high-level spokesman denying the Islamist group carried out the attack, shortly after a prominent Pakistan Taliban commander claimed responsibility.

And it is ironic that that the attack took place not far from a community-driven peace-building project that HCR is assisting with advice and training. Community leaders reported their relatives working or studying at the university were safe. The community-driven initiative is aiming to overcome deeply-entrenched ethnic and religious tensions with activities to improve health, increase social capital, reduce inter-communal fighting, promote small business and empower the communities with community-centred radio programming that they design and present. Director of HCR Pakistan, Mr Hazeen, says, “although the project has only been going for two years, we are seeing transformation, and community leaders are very supportive of the project and the aims. Despite the efforts by terrorists to impose their extremist ideology, people are tired of the fighting and its negative impact on their families, communities and quality of life. Together, the community and HCR are doing good.”

For news coverage and photographs:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35359072

http://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/318761-Death-toll-in-Bacha-Khan-University-attack-rises-t

Food scientists in Pakistan impressed with HCR’s community-centred radio model

An international conference in Pakistan has heard HCR explain how community-centred radio programming can help support sustainable development. International scientists gathered to report on sustainable crop technology at the “Scientists for Sustainability” forum in Islamabad, which was organized by the Lok Sanjh Foundation (LSF) and the Rural Business Development Center.

HCR Pakistan Director, Hazeen Latif, was invited to deliver a paper about HCR’s experience of how social change can occur when communities, radio stations and service providers collaborate in the making of messages for education and information at the local level. Hazeen made the point that radio programming methods need to respond to changes in the way listeners listen to radio. Recent research in Pakistan shows that around 90% of listeners in urban and rural areas use a mobile phone to listen to radio. Around 10% used a pocket radio.

After the audience responded with loud applause to Hazeen’s presentation, the conference Chair, Juma Salum Shamte, from Tanzania, said it was the first time he understood how radio programming was relevant to the issues being addressed by the conference. Dr. Shahid Zia, Director of the LSF declared “We want this model in Pakistan”.

HCR's Hazeen Latif with Gabriel (left) and Juma Shamte (right), conference delegates from Tanzania.

HCR's Hazeen Latif with Gabriel (left) and Juma Shamte (right), conference delegates from Tanzania.

Delegates who wrote the conference recommendations included the adoption of community-centred radio as a support to sustainable development.

Light in the Darkness: Communities come together

In the shadow of the brutal massacre of 145 children and staff at a school in Peshawar last week by Taliban militants, Muslim and Christian communities in a town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, have come together to light candles for the slain and to celebrate the birth of Isa or Jesus, revered by both communities.

In a project, spearheaded by HCR Pakistan, where the two communities are working together to use media to tackle health and social issues and build community cohesion, church and mosque leaders along with members from both communities remembered the families affected by the tragedy and spoke of the need for peace and harmony.  While the pastor announced that they would not celebrate Christmas this year in the light of the murders, an Imam said that his community had brought a cake to celebrate the birth of Isa and that they must celebrate.

A Muslim community radio station in the UK, Awaz FM, joined the event live to report on the interfaith gathering and to discuss the deep grief felt by all Pakistanis at this time.  They were joined by the mayors of High Wycombe and Slough, Cllrs Khalil Ahmed and Shafiq Chaudhry, who praised the organisers of the event, saying more events of this nature were needed to foster peace and understanding among Pakistani communities. 

First Response Radio needed in Pakistan

Thirty participants from Pakistan’s major FM radio channels and representatives from INGO and NGO agencies have welcomed plans to set up a First Response Radio (FRR) network in Pakistan.   Speaking at FRR’s inaugural meeting at a hotel in Islamabad, IOM (International Organisation for Migration) coordinator Naima Saeed told the audience that radio was a key medium for communicating with survivors after a disaster and that establishing First Response radio in Pakistan will be a great step forward in helping disaster affected communities. 

IOM's Naima Saeed speaking at the First Response Radio inaugural event in Islamabad

IOM's Naima Saeed speaking at the First Response Radio inaugural event in Islamabad

The event marks the start of a plan to equip and train local teams to set up a radio station within 72 hours of a disaster anywhere in Pakistan.   HCR’s Hazeen Latif who is the First Response Pakistan coordinator says, “In the last ten years, nine teams have been trained, 15 disasters responded to, and we’ve been getting closer to the 72 hour mark as witnessed in the First Response Radio deployment to Philippines following Typhoon Haiyan.”

The event in Islamabad was a collaborative venture between Pakistan-based NGO, Foundation for Better Tomorrow (FFBT), First Response and HCR. 

HCR's Jon Hargreaves, Ross James and Hazeen Latif with Shaikh Wasim Ahmed, CEO of FFTB

HCR's Jon Hargreaves, Ross James and Hazeen Latif with Shaikh Wasim Ahmed, CEO of FFTB