Beating the Odds: Distributing Books in Pakistan
PakistanPal
Late last month, suicide attacks hit Pakistan’s International Islamic
University in relatively peaceful Islamabad, killing at least six
people – another violent event that continues to pull the capital
further into the fray. In even less secure areas, such as Pakistan’s
Swat Valley in the North-West Frontier Province and Balochistan,
Pakistan’s largest province, such targeted violence is well known –
militants in mid-January imposed a ban on girls’ schools, claiming
that they do not abide by the teachings of Islam. Since then, hundreds
of boys’ and girls’ schools have been systematically shuttered or
burned down and girls threatened with acid or death for violating the
ban and bravely attending school anyway.
This situation, coupled with rising violence as the Pakistani
government increases efforts against militant forces, has caused
growing security challenges to Books for Asia’s operations in
Pakistan. When the program first started back in the 1950s, security
posed little risk and books were delivered on the backs of camels
across rugged terrain. Now, the danger involved in traveling with a
truckload of books to institutions in remote destinations is by far
the program’s greatest concern.
Determined not to neglect any part of the country, the Books for Asia
program takes books from Islamabad to a central location in far-flung
provinces such as Peshawar or Quetta. The idea is to invite
institutions in the area to travel short distances to pick out books
from the location themselves. These “Book Fairs” help overcome
security challenges by providing a centralized, secure location that
allows books to reach people in more remote or insecure areas. The
fairs are wildly successful and have allowed the program to distribute
nearly 40,000 books so far through this model. Currently, more than 40
percent of all books donated in Pakistan go to institutions in the
North-West Frontier and Balochistan Provinces.
Representatives from different institutions select books at a Books
for Asia Book Fair.
Another Day, Another Challenge
In a warehouse in San Leandro, California, just south of Oakland,
stacks of boxes filled with books, shrink-wrapped and methodically
tagged by destination – Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Afghanistan,
Indonesia, Pakistan – are balanced atop rows of wooden forklift
pallets. It’s hard to imagine that these sparkling new books donated
by major publishers – from learning ABCs to Botany 101 – can ever make
the arduous journeys that lie ahead. The books are loaded onto
container ships at Oakland’s port, from where they travel days, weeks,
even months, to their respective destinations: primary schools and
universities, libraries, and resource centers across Asia.
Despite often treacherous voyages and head-spinning transportation
logistics, The Asia Foundation’s Books for Asia program has been
distributing books like these throughout Asia since 1954. Which,
despite the challenges, is how more than 3 million books have reached
the hands of people in Pakistan, including in some of the country’s
most conflict-riddled and remote areas.
Fighting Illiteracy, One Page at a Time
Pakistan’s literacy rate, at around 50 percent, remains an acute
development challenge, while the pre-existing gap between girls and
boys has only worsened with the recent targeting of girls’ schools.
The situation is worse along the Afghan border of the Federally
Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), where the literacy rate for girls
hovers in the single digits, compared to 30 percent for boys.
The battle against illiteracy is partly due to a lack of educational
institutions. However, many factors contribute to the problem,
including poverty, a lack of skilled teachers, reluctance to send
girls to school, fear of attending school due to security concerns, as
well as insufficient commitment from the government. These challenges
are more severe for children internally displaced by conflict. The
past year has seen approximately 2 million people displaced from
northwest Pakistan, and now more than 100,000 from South Waziristan.
Hundreds of thousands have returned home to northwest Pakistan, but
displacement continues, as does violence. Education has been disrupted
considerably. Hundreds of thousands of children have been left with no
access to schools, and tens of thousands of four- to six-year-olds
live in camps for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP).
Due to increased conflict in certain areas of Pakistan, hundreds of
thousands of children have been displaced, such as these above, and
are living temporarily in IDP camps.
Despite these dismal circumstances, it could be said that a silver
lining is emerging for some displaced children whose schools were
destroyed or who were banned from attending school in their hometown.
The Pakistani government and international NGOs are now working
together to build tent schools in the camps, providing a semblance of
education in a relatively secure environment. In partnership with the
Government of Pakistan through the National Commission for Human
Development, the Ministry of Women Development, and Islamic Relief,
and with local civil society groups, Books for Asia has begun donating
books to IDP camps. Plans are in place to donate more books when the
new container of books arrives in the coming months from the warehouse
in San Leandro.
Since the IDP schools reach children, especially girls, who might
otherwise not receive an education, parents living in the camps often
express pleasure at the exposure to education, however limited. They
also show great interest in continuing their children’s education upon
return to their homes. However, challenges remain. These schools need
basic supplies and equipment such as desks and chairs. With winter
approaching, sitting on the bare floor will no longer be a viable
option. The camps are overcrowded and demand for books is very high.
Finding funds to pay delivery freight charges for the books is another
reality, since host institutions normally pay freight fees and the IDP
schools are in no position to take on such a cost.
Reviving the Books for Asia’s “Box Libraries Initiative” could be part
of the solution. Running from 1986 to 1990, the initiative provided
local-language children’s books as well as new Books for Asia-donated
English-language books. These were packaged in large metal boxes for
distribution to community schools and resource centers that lacked the
sufficient infrastructure to support full shipments of English-
language books.
English language education is mandatory in much of Pakistan. Many
girls and boys, generally segregated until university, attend English-
language track schools that begin English curriculum at age six, or
attend regular government schools taught in the local language but
which require students to take and pass English-language courses. But
in the case of the IDP camps, where education for children has been
disrupted, providing such tools as box libraries with local-language
books alongside English books could complement the curriculum and
better prepare students when – and wherever – they return home.
Syed Zahid Abbas (zab...@asiafound.org) is the Manager of the
Foundation’s Books for Asia Program in Pakistan, and Alma Freeman
(afre...@asiafound.org) works in The Asia Foundation’s Communications
office. Read more about The Asia Foundation’s Books for Asia Program
in Pakistan.
Article Source : http://asiafoundation.org/in-asia/2009/11/04/beating-the-odds-distributing-books-in-pakistan/