QUETTA: Plodding his way through the desert in remote southwest Pakistan, Roshan the camel carries priceless cargo: books for children who can no longer go to school because of coronavirus lockdowns.
The school children, who live in remote villages where the streets are too narrow for vehicles, put on their best clothes and rush out to meet Roshan. They crowd around the animal shouting "the camel is here!"
Pakistan's schools first closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, and have only opened sporadically since then, with around 50 million school-age children and university students told to continue their education from home. It's been especially difficult in places like Balochistan, where in many villages internet access is almost non-existent.
Raheema Jalal, a high school principal who founded the Camel Library project with her sister, a federal minister, says she started the library last August because she wanted children around her remote hometown to continue learning despite schools being closed.
The project is a collaboration with the Female Education Trust and Alif Laila Book Bus Society, two NGOs that have been running children's library projects in the country for 36 years.
Roshan carries the books to four different villages in the district of Kech, visiting each village three times a week and staying for about two hours each time. Children borrow books and return them the next time Roshan visits.
"I like picture books, because when I look at the pictures and the photographs, I can understand the story better," nine-year-old Ambareen Imran told Reuters.
Jalal hopes to continue and expand the project to cover more villages, but needs funding: around $118 a month is needed now each month for Roshan.
Murad Ali, Roshan's owner, says he was taken aback when he was first contacted about the project, but thought camels were the sensible mode of transport. He enjoys the trips and seeing the happy children and still earns as much as he used to when he transported firewood.
Balochistan makes up nearly half of Pakistan by area, but the sparsely populated province is also the country's most impoverished.
Roshan the camel brings books to homeschooling children in rural Pakistan
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Roshan the camel brings books to homeschooling children in rural Pakistan
- Raheema Jalal started the library last August because she wanted children around her remote hometown to continue learning
- The school children put on their best clothes and rush out to meet Roshan
Pakistan PM convenes political leaders to discuss Iran crisis, regional tensions
- Leaders of major parties attend meeting on regional security and Pakistan’s military campaign
- Parliamentarians call for national unity and cohesion under current circumstances, says PMO
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif briefed leaders of various parliamentary parties on Wednesday about the ongoing crisis in Iran and Pakistan’s ongoing military conflict with Afghanistan, his office said in a statement.
The meeting comes as Pakistan has intensified military operations against the Afghan Taliban and militant groups targeting its civilians and security forces along its western frontier, while the wider region faces growing instability after recent US-Israeli strikes on Iran and subsequent attacks across the Gulf.
Sharif decided to convene the session to update the leaders of various political parties in parliament on the security situation and Pakistan’s diplomatic outreach as tensions spread across the region.
“Participants emphasized the need for national unity, consensus and cohesion in the current circumstances,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement.
The statement said parliamentarians appreciated Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts for peace in the region and stressed the need to accelerate them further.
They presented suggestions to the government on what its future course of action should be.
“All participants reaffirmed their strong resolve to eliminate terrorism from the country,” the statement said.
Representatives of major political parties, including the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan Peoples Party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Muttahida Qaumi Movement and other parliamentary groups attended the briefing.
Pakistan has accused Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities of allowing militant groups such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to operate from Afghan territory, allegations Kabul denies. Islamabad says it has targeted militant hideouts across the border after repeatedly raising the issue with Afghan officials.
The briefing also comes as the government closely monitors developments in the Middle East, where regional tensions have heightened concerns about energy supplies and broader security implications for the country.
