I wanted to be happy every day, and do things that truly matter to me…so the day after I came back from India was helping out local Rotary Club to pack food and supplies for the flood victims, and few days later accompanied them, and my Finnish friends to Pakistani navy flood relief camp at Malik, Thatta (interior Sindh), and it was very interesting to see the well-organised flood camp, but also heartbreaking to see small children running around without clothes in the burning sun, and them looking at us from their tents and coming to greet the unfamiliar sight, as these people live in villages where you hardly ever see any foreigners around.
Me and Rotary people with the children at Malik
After the flood camp trip, the Eid was here…for 4 days we were just chilling out, and spending nice time with the interns, as everyone was busy with their families and relatives, but we cooked awesome Finnish-Sri Lankan-Russian dinner with the interns, and had a nice dinner with the Rotary Club members, and in last day of Eid had awesome day at the beach, and were invited to AIESEC dinner with the interns and members…must have been some of the most relaxing days since many years!
Me and the Finnish girls at Eid
Besides, volunteering for flood relief, have started challenging myself with cooking and drawing, first every day, then few times a week, as hadn’t drawn almost anything for 10 years! Was also acting in a play over two weeks ago at Arts Council, and was interviewed to local TV about it. It was very interesting to be acting in English in modern Urdu play about the life in Karachi, and was surprised about the bustling underground theatre and music scene in Pakistan!
Also, went to karaoke with my Finnish friend, and started dancing salsa again, and even tried out playing base guitar after 6 years! So have fully unleashed my long-lost creativity with drawing, singing, dancing, acting…and feel a lot happier!
Surely been also spending more time with friends, and going to the beach nearly every week, crabbing with interns…said goodbye to a Finnish friend, and welcomed a new Finnish intern…so, we have a good Finnish community in Karachi, and we have been invited to Independence Day dinner in Islamabad in December!
A week ago I started writing my dissertation after reading few books and journal articles on Pakistan, and writing about Pakistani politics in Karachi is so interesting, as I’m living the things that I read about in the books, by staying at home when there are riots on the streets, my play and work being cancelled due to a shooting of MQM leader in London, or a bomb blast in sufi shrine just one kilometre away from my home…but the craziest thing is that today a friend of mine from UK messaged me and asked whether I was okay after the weekend, and I wasn’t even aware that 40 people had been killed due to elections at Orangi Town! My life isn’t affected by these unfortunate events, and the media portrays Karachi and Pakistan in much more negative light than things really are…yes, things happen, but life goes on…and people have started to awaken to the inconsistencies in the society and are trying to do their bit to help out…e.g. a lot of people, NGOs and companies are doing their share for the flood relief, which hardly got any international media attention at first, although over 20million people have been affected, and over 1600 people killed, which makes it one of the worst natural crises in the world, worse than Indonesian tsunami in 2004 or Haiti earthquake earlier this year. One of my friends single-handedly raised 20 million rupees through her foreign friends, and another company, JS Bank, has set up 8 flood camps for thousands of flood victims, and I visited their camp last week in Sahwen Sharif and I was so glad to see the kids being schooled after the devastation, and although their village nearby is still under water…we had to take a boat to see the underwater villages, where only bits of bigger houses or some mosques are on top of the water…images that you normally only see in documentaries or in news…
Children at Malik flood camp
Since I was 5 years old, when I wanted to become singer and UN Ambassador, I have wanted to do my bit for the society, and have been involved with scouts for 15 years, and done volunteering with disabled people, but it is only here in Pakistan that I can directly affect the society around me…In fact, Pakistan has so many possibilities to offer…it is not every day you could go to radio shows to talk about your work, or being interviewed by local TV, or being offered a job for which you have no qualifications for, or start teaching salsa professionally, or actually living the events you are writing dissertation about or volunteering for flood relief…and feel perfectly at home here doing work that matters, interacting with various companies, trainees and people around Pakistan, going to the beach to enjoy boogie boarding at the Arabian sea, admire beautiful sun sets from our rooftop…
Play TV interview about AIESEC
Greetings to my fellow MCP on the other side of the world! I'm so happy you discovered the things that bring you energy and happiness! I actually did the same and life is smiling :D
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