Human Resilience Project -The Journey Continues

 

The Journey Continues... 


 We followed our guide out of Imran Khan's residence to an unassuming leafy suburb of Lahore, not far from the house, there stood a small modern building. What struck me about it at once was it's matrimonial syncing with the traditional architecture. You wouldn't expect it gazing over from across the street: An amazing building, every nook and cranny of which was well thought-out. The  woodwork so wondrous, so intricate and lovingly preserved, the ceiling so high, so unexpectedly captivating that for a moment I thought, we had inadvertently walked into Lothlórien, the sanctuary for Elves in Lord Of The Rings.  Whatever maybe said about the movie, I did like those sets and special effects.  I chuckled to myself all the while, half expecting Gladriel to step out of a room any moment.

   Whilst I was lost in my fantasies admiring the building, Aleema Khan didn't disappoint me when she came out of her office to greet us.  A smart, confident woman, quietly reflecting her brother's persona, led us into the board room.


 
  We didn't have any formal appointment, but she very kindly,  accommodated us in her busy schedule for a quick casual chat. Not known to many people, at least outside of Pakistan, Aleema Khan acts as Imran Khan's right hand in his philanthropic endeavours, a board member of the foundation, she has been overseeing the flood aid.

"The extent of the calamity was such that all international organisations predicted it would take us at least 20 years to recover. But it's down to the generous donations from the ex-pats and Pakistanis unrelenting efforts that the affected population is already over the worst of it in 6-8 months, of course the continuous efforts are still required and will be needed for quite some time", she gently expressed her views.


  When asked, what was the priority when trying to reach out the flood affected, she said, "Most villagers were more concerned about the lost livelihood and their ability to stand back on their feet than immediate shelter."

       Which is an astounding fact! It goes to show the resilient spirit of the ordinary men and women of Pakistan who would rather get seeds as donation to sow back in their farms and get the wheel of life going again, than stay in camps and sit there, waiting with hat in hands.  In complete contrast to the rulers of the country, ironically.

“We find that people's beliefs about their efficacy affect the sorts of choices they make in very significant ways. ”

The foundation has proudly collected a lump-sum of $5,813,020.98 so far, a figure shown on their website.   http://imrankhanfoundation.org/   

  A majority of that amount has gone on the initial relief efforts and then on seeds distribution and the development of model villages sympathetic to the indigenous  architecture, in the worst-affected areas. It has to be said the foundation has the credibility of one of the most transparent  and reliable local NGOs. Was there a need to do more? I had to see for myself.

Aleema Khan

   After passing on my particulars and officially submitting my project details to the head of marketing, Mr. Abid Hussain, we had thumbs up for our next stage. we were going to leave for Islamabad at 3:30 AM in the wee hours of the morning.

 

Abid Hussein- Head Of Marketing IKF

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Human Resilience Project -The Journey Begins

The Journey Begins




My journey began from Switzerland. After countless emails, numerous calls to the relevant people and quite a few efforts to chase up people to even respond to my emails, I finally had my itinerary for 9 days in Pakistan.


I hadn't visited Pakistan  in about 11-12 years. I was warned that a lot had changed. Curious and anxious, I made my way to Lahore. An historical and 2nd largest city of Pakistan.

On the first day, I was scheduled to meet with Imran Khan- ex-cricketer, a prominent political figure and a dedicated philanthropist. I had been following the Pukaar initiative and it seemed logical to begin with Imran Khan's foundation. The meeting was organised through his foundation that my team member Omeir Zahid had helped put together.

 Fresh off the plane, jet-lagged, I headed in the direction of Imran Khan's residence, along with my team. We were lucky to catch Imran Khan that day as he was extremely busy with the preparation for the protest he was going to lead the next day against the drone attacks.

 

I was quite genuinely and pleasantly surprised by Mr. Khan's simple living style. Due to his commitments,  I was lucky to grab a few moments to chat  casually over a very simple  but delightful breakfast.

    I explained briefly the intentions, aims and objectives of my trip and the Human Resilience Project.


*To bring hope through art in natural disaster hit areas in the poverty stricken countries after a certain time has lapsed, where the main interest from most of the helping bodies and the international media's focus has moved on. The profits from the exhibitions and sales of photos and relevant material will be dedicated to the flood affected communities. My focus, to begin with, would be mainly in Pakistan, Peru and Haiti.


Objectives:


1- Assess and document the rehabilitation process in those areas.


2- Tell the story of human resilience through photo essays.


3- Join hands with reliable and dedicated organisations working in those communities.


4. Organise photo exhibitions around the world. Starting from Middle East and Europe. Online campaign will also be initiated for fund-raising.


5- Dedicate the profit from the exhibitions to the betterment and facilitation of the rehabilitation process as required.


6- Open schools in villages.
Education is the only key to free humanity from mental slavery.


7. Spread hope through art.

He listened carefully, asked a few questions about how am I going to achieve this, made a few suggestions and gave me his vote of support. Delighted by my motivation, he then suggested I meet with his sister Aleema Khan- who is a board member of Imran Khan's Foundation and has overseen the flood-relief efforts. It was agreed that we would meet again for a formal interview  and photos on my next trip as time was short for me, this time around. He asked me when I would be back. I mentioned, perhaps in the next six months.

 He briefly looked at his political party supporters in the room with a twinkle in his eyes and said, " A lot can change in 6 months!"

Indeed, we await a positive change in Pakistan, hopefully soon!

    
                 The message on the posters: "Let's sow a seed of hope for a new Pakistan".


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Human Resilience Project- Reflections

Reflections:




Before I set out to tell the story of my journey, I would like to mention that I find a few questions reverberating in my mind like an echo through the caves of Son Doong. 


Is there any point? There is this never-ending trail of man-made or natural disasters hitting one part of the world or the other, all the time. Just the other day,  the massive storm system sadly dropped an F4 tornado in the heart of Joplin, USA. Killing 117 people and completely wiping out the streets.


.http://www.theblaze.com/stories/unbelieveable-before-and-after-picture-from-joplin-mo-neighborhood/


Are my efforts enough?  Would I even make a dent in the fabric of global misery?! What can one woman really do?!  I am just a drop of rain in the desert.


One part of being resilient is also this ability to turn a blind eye to distant misery. We go on. Life goes on. Natural disasters strike, NGOs move in. Government helps. Individuals donate. After a short while, NGOs move out. Government finds someone more needy to help. XYZ sum of money gets spent on a certain community or a locality. Chapter closed. However,  are lives of the affected ever the same?

The answer is- probably not. Most lives change beyond recognition. Humans are as resilient as they are sensitive to external factors. Most of us have encountered a set-back of some sort. Death of a loved one;  A loss of job; A bad diagnosis; Robbery, rape, assault, domestic violence; Inability to pay a mortgage or bills or even a separation or a divorce, hit some lives just as hard as an F4 Tornado in the heart of Joplin. 



What happens next? Who picks up the pieces? Family, friends, neighbours, colleagues, even some kind-hearted  strangers play their role up to a certain point. Then it really is this inner strength that we find somehow in our deep recesses of darkness- a shadow that looms over our heads, a quagmire of sadness or this steep feeling of helplessness. Everyone else helps but it is, in essence us, who help ourselves- by finding a leeway, a second chance or a stroke of luck. But every now and then, we do need that extra gentle nudge to put us on the right path- to help us focus and achieve what we set out to achieve; may it be the pursuit of happiness or something else to move on with our lives or even find new beginnings.




Same goes for these communities, struck with natural disasters. After everyone else moves one, they help themselves in most cases and they find that inner resolve to get on with their lives. And what I aim to do is to provide that gentle nudge to help put things in the right place. 


I gently whisper to myself- listen dearest, I am not just one woman, standing alone to do something bigger than myself. I am resilient enough to overcome my own personal obstacles and step  out of my comfort zone to make a difference to other lives.  I believe when I stand up to bring hope to these forgotten souls through art as that is my medium, I'll find many more to join me and work as a team. I am not going to be alone. I may be a single drop of rain in the desert but when there are many more drops like me, the desert will quench it's thirst.

One place at a time. One step at a time. 

“I see my path, but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it.”

More to follow!

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you can read about the aims & objectives of the project here:

http://www.beakayani.co.uk/#!projects




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Human Resilience Project- Looking Back

Looking Back

A quick reminder of how bad it really was; 

Pakistan saw one of the worst flooding in over 80 years in that geographical pocket. More than 9 thousand villages were washed away entirely. The havoc caused was considerably worse  and catastrophic than flash floods. Water stayed for about 45 days in quite a few locations completely destroying the crops, crippling their agriculture based economy. More than 2 million people were displaced and thousands died.

In Peru, the calamity was shocking but the scale was not as severe as Pakistan, Haiti, Japan. However, thousands of families were displaced and acres of cropland were destroyed in Ica and Cusco.  Any comparisons would not be fair. They did not attract international media’s sympathy as much as they should have and the speed at which they got help was quite slow and it remains to be seen if they did get adequate help or not.  

Haiti needs no introduction. The world rocked and wept with Haiti as the buildings collapsed changing their skyline and their lives- trapping and killing hundreds of thousands. Help poured in but got hampered in the face of damaged infrastructure; corruption and then Cholera epidemic broke out.  3 million people were affected. The final death toll is suspected to be much higher than the Haitian governments’ figures of 316, 000. 

The question remains: What is the situation now after a year has passed?



 March 2011;
My commitment to make this project happen    = Check!
Contacts made in the aforementioned countries = Nada!


I set forth to correct this imbalance.



I had to quickly decide; how to go about achieving this arduous task. Do I go by myself and just rely on the availability of volunteers or contact the reliable organisations, already involved in philanthropic work on the ground?!


I chose the latter.

More to follow!




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Pictures source; Reuters

Human Resilience Project- Bringing light to forgotten sorrows

First Post

         Whilst, sitting in my comfy abode in Zurich, Switzerland, 
as I was going through the devastating images of carnage and destruction in Japan-the sheer scale of which was incomparable,  a niggling thought occurred to me.


What happened to all those people who were affected by natural disasters the year before?

The media scrutiny had moved on. Their local government's focus had moved on. As luck would have it, most areas were also poverty-stricken in the third-world countries where corruption was rife. NGOs had their hands full with the unrelenting global disasters that showed no signs of subsiding. Who was helping the people who were left behind even after no one was interested in helping them anymore? Had it turned into a silent tragedy, where no one heard their sighs anymore?  Most of the people had already generously spared whatever they could to help out of their hard-earned money. So who would help them now?! Didn't they still need help? What had been done? More importantly, what could still be done?! A lot of questions raised in my mind, were there any tangible answers? 

I had to see for myself!


Places that immediately came to my mind were Pakistan (1/5th of the country was submerged), Haiti and Peru. Peru was not even covered properly by the media. I happened to know the scale of misery through a friend who had his farm there. 

The list, however, is not comprehensive by any means and I am open to adding other places resources permitting.


I began contacting friends and presented the following idea;


I would visit the natural-disasters-affected-areas. Utilise my photographic skills to document the rehabilitation process, capture life and people. Focus on the resilience of human spirit to bounce back to life.

Highlight the efforts of generous souls involved in helping the rehabilitation process when everyone else has moved on. 


Raise awareness through exhibitions around the world. All profits of any revenue generated through the sales of my prints and exhibitions would be allocated to those communities in need. 

Welcome anyone who wants to join hands to accomplish this daunting task.


Some of my friends came forward with generous offers to help in whatever capacity they could on the ground and afterward when I had some material in my hand. Full of encouragement and hope to bring whatever positivity I could to those areas, I commenced "The Human Resilience Project".  What kind of help?! That remained to be seen.


The journey of a thousand steps thus began.

More to follow!




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