Sue's Musings

After that we visited the girls school and the boys school in town.  Also founded by Presbyterian missionaries (the boys school in 1915), when it was denationalized in 2002 (see my previous post) the Presbyterian Education Board (PEB) received it back in terrible shape.  Parts of buildings had to be torn down, some classrooms were unusable, others, barely usable.  They also did not, and still do not, have enough classrooms to handle all the enrollment requests.  Basically, the whole school needs to be reconstructed and enlarged, but they are doing the best they can.  And they are doing well.  During the nationalization period, student test scores plummeted.  Now they are almost back up to where they were before the government took over all the schools.  So in spite of very inadequate conditions, the teachers and administrators are doing exceptional jobs.  They are what makes the school what it is.  We heard several former students stand up at their welcome for us, and talk about how their education at this PEB school changed their lives, gave them confidence, and gave them a future.  Because of the work of PEB in Pakistan, new worlds are opening up to students who may not have had any hope before.  The PEB schools really focus on reaching out to the poorest of the poor with education, scholarships, and resources, to give them a chance at a bright future, and to help them be good citizens, with good values.

The Principal of the boys school shared some comments about the needs of the school, and in addition to reconstruction, he said that the biggest need the school has is a photocopier!  They have to travel 15 km to make a photocopy, something many of us can do in our own homes.

We then visited the girls school and boarding house in Sangla Hill.  Another impressive school, much work has already been done there to reconstruct the school, and with the help of the PW Birthday Offering, to build a girls dorm.  It is a beautiful facility!  We participated in the dedication of two classrooms there, made possible by the donation of a very generous individual.

Another ministry that PEB has at the girls school is SHE – a project that helps poor women learn skills so they can sell their crafts to help support their families.  They also have a women’s shelter on campus for abused and battered women and their children.  There are currently 8 families there that the PEB is working with.

Today was a day that really emphasized the lives that PEB is changing through their schools and other ministries.  It is not often you can say one particular organization will have an unmistakable positive imprint on a people, but I think we can say that in this case.

If any of you reading this are interested in helping with some of the needs at the PEB schools, so that more children can be empowered and educated, you can find out more at the Friends of PEB website:  www.friendsofpeb.org.

We ended the day by attending a Muslim wedding.  This was day two of a three day celebration, and we all had a great time!  The Pakistani people have been wonderful and welcoming to us all, and a real pleasure to get to know.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 23, 2011

PAKISTAN – NAULAKHA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

 Today we joined in worship with the Naulakha Presbyterian Church in Lahore.  It was a rich experience – Rev. Sandy Murray from our group preached the sermon, and Rev. Ed Morgan gave greetings on our behalf.  After worship we met with a group of young people and church elders, and we shared with each other the various missions and ministries of our churches and presbyteries.  Like many of our churches, they are involved in serving the poor, in providing medical care, and in flood relief.

One of our ministries that they were very interested in was our Leadership Development for Ministry program.  They are interested in building leadership within their own congregation, and were excited to learn about what we are doing in the US.

One of the purely fun parts of the morning was having the church children ask to have their pictures taken with us,  I guess this was our brush with being celebrities!

Lunch at a local restaurant with the pastor and his family, a relaxing afternoon, and dinner with the executive director of PEB and friends, and a round of “Who can top this?” rounded out the evening.  In case you were wondering, 2 men and 3 goats on a small motorcycle trumps 8 people on a small motorcyle!

MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 2011

PAKISTAN – PASRUR SCHOOL

 On our way to Pasrur PEB School, about a three hour drive from Lahore on what one of our group members said was the worst road she had ever been on!  It was rough enough the PEB staff wouldn’t let any of us sit in the back of the van!  The countryside was beautiful – and interesting.  Almost all of the farming and work is still done by hand – brick making, oxen plowing fields, harvesting by hand.  We even saw two men on scafolding building a brick wall almost two stories up, with a third man throwing bricks up to them one at a time!About two hours in, it was tea time, so of course we pulled off on the side of the road, and the PEB staff (the men only!) set up the tea service and served us all.  We took pictures of them serving and cleaning up so we could show their wives they really are capable of housework!

When we got to Pasrur school, we discovered why Ed Morgan didn’t want to miss this school.  The entire school turned out for our arrival (that part was normal), and started yelling “Ed Morgan!”  Who knew we had such a celebrity in our midst?  Ed’s Iowa congregation had adopted this school and had given a significant amount of money to rehab the school and build the girls boarding house.

This school is a model of what can happen with the other PEB schools with the right investment.  Even then, we saw classes meeting in the hallways because they are still short on classrooms.

Each class we visited welcomed us warmly, and gave us homemade cards.   Most said something like “welcome.”  One said “we welcome you with zest and zeal!”  That was fun.  A sobering one from one girl just said “do not foregt us.”  Looking at the kids it is easy to forget that utter proverty most come from and the sacrifices their parents have had to make so their children could attend a good school.  Without the help of churches like the Iowa City church and others, many of these kids would not have much of a future.  Let us not forget them.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2011

PAKISTAN – DAY ?

It’s amazing how you lose track of time here!  It has been a couple days since I have last upated the blog.  Some of you may have seen on my facebook page that there was a suicide bomber in Lahore a couple days ago, in which 7 people were killed.  We all called home to assure our families that we were all well.Since then, part of the group went on to a Mission hospital.  Unfortunately I wasn’t able to go, as was another of our group members.  Several of us have gotten sick, so that has definitely put a damper on the trip.  Forunately Veeda, our host, is very flexible, and the old city tour of Lahore that was planned for today has been rescheduled for tomorrow, in hopes that we will be feeling well enough to go.  Anyway – a short update today – time to go back to bed!

FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

PAKISTAN – WAGAH BORDER CROSSING

 Another day in Pakistan, another change of plans.  Remember in my last post I said we were to do a tour of the Old City of Lahore?  Well, due to security concerns, we had to cancel that.  Yesterday there was an incident in which a US embassy employee shot two youth in self-defense (they were trying to rob him), and another embassy employee, on the way to the police station to help, got into an accident with a motorcyclist, who died.  Things are very unstable in Pakistan right now, and with this incident involving US embassy employees, the PEB decided that it was not wise to take us into the old city.  We trust there judgment.  If there was anyone wanting to retalite against Americans because of this incident, there simply aren’t many around!  It really is interesting that when we are out in the schools or driving around Lahore, we see no caucasians except the ones working at Forman Christian College, where we are staying.  I’ve traveled many places all over the world, and I think the last time I experienced the utter lack of white faces around me was in China in 1981!So we had a quiet morning at the college, then a few of us went over to the PEB offices to have some lunch and meet with some of the children.

This afternoon we were able to keep to our original plans and visit the Wagah Border for the flag lowering ceremony.  This is a unique event, that takes place on the border between India and Pakistan.  It is almost like a half time pep rally at a football game – rally songs, flag waving, orchestrated cheering, offiers marching with exagerated steps, and finally the Indian and Pakistani solders meeting at the flags, a lot of posturing, throwing their ropes in each other’s faces, and lowering their flags in unison.  Obviously well reheresed!  And fun to watch.  Apparently about 5000 people attend each day, although the crowd was a little spare today.  Apparently that is not unexpected on a Friday.

So a little disappointing that we had to miss the historic tour, but a good day nonetheless.

Tomorrow is the culmination of the trip – a drive to Sargoda, to dedicate a classroom funded by Minnesota Valleys Presbytery, and to participate in the groundbreaking of a new boys dorm for the boys school.  Usually there is about a dozen of us when we’ve gone out to visit schools, tomorrow there will be about 35 of us going up in a bus for the four hour dive to the school.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 2011

PAKISTAN – SARGODHA

 Today was the main event of the trip – the dedication of the classroom that Minnesota Valleys Presbytery contributed to build, as well as two other classrooms in the girls school, and the groundbreaking for the new boys school.  We received the full red carpet treatment – our seven trip members, members of the PEB Board, some members of the local parliament, and the principles of all the other PEB schools in Pakistan.  I got a kick out of the kids who were wearing spiderman masks as they threw rose petals at us.  I think they were supposed to throw them at our feet to walk on, but they had more fun throwing them at our faces The school currently has just under 800 students, girls and boys, some in English medium, some in Urdu medium.  The new boys school, when all three phases are complete, will have over 2000 boys.  This area is desperately in need of a boys school.  It is expected that once the boys school is filled (there is already a waiting list), it will provide income for scholarships for needy Christian students.  There was a lot of excitement at the school, and after the program, several parents came up to me and were sharing their thanks for the boys school.  The parents in the area have been asking for one for a while, especially since the government requires girls and boys after grade 5 to be in separate schools, and some of there kids were already older than that.  If there was no school built for the boys, the boys currently in the school would lose the quality education they were getting at the PEB school.  So the need was great and immediate.  The first phase of the school should be finished in about a year.  The other two phases will be completed as funding comes in.

We did have a bit of a bump on the way home – most of our people were in a bus, a few of us were in a van and we had to pull over on the motorway because it was overheating.  After numerous phone calls, we reunited with the bus and another car, and transfered over, and were on our way again, leaving a few faithful PEB staff people to deal with the broken down van.

This was a great end to the trip – and it really highlighted what PEB is about – giving hope to children, and building hope for the future of Pakistan, by educating children and teaching them the values that will help them be good students, good citizens, and good people.  I have been so impressed to see during these two weeks the work the Presbyterian Education Board in Pakistan is doing here, and the lives that they are already changing.  If we want peace in the world, it will begin with educating our children, no matter who they are, or where they are.

Tomorrow we worship in the morning and spend a little time at the PEB office in the afternoon.  Then we will take the entire PEB staff out to dinner, then off to the aiport for our long flight home.  It has been a good visit!  If anyone ever wants to see first hand what PEB is doing here, I would recommend you come and visit.  You will be amazed at what they are doing, with so little!

Signing off…