Filmstrip, Hungary's old-school projectors children love

Budapest (AFP) – Tablets and mobile phones may have to be prised from the fingers of children elsewhere, but in Hungary storytime can be all about a 100-year-old piece of tech -- filmstrip.


Issued on: 24/03/2024 - 

The Csosz-Horvath children (and their cuddly toys) get ready for bed with a filmstrip story 

Generations of kids there have been enthralled with stories told with the help of a projector.

Alexandra Csosz-Horvath turns off the lights and reads "Sleeping Beauty" from a series of still captioned images projected onto the bedroom wall -- her three- and seven-year-old clearly under her spell.

"We're together, it's cozier than the cinema yet it's better than a book," said the 44-year-old lawyer.

Filmstrip -- a century-old storytelling medium that was killed off in the West by the video cassette in the 1980s -- is not just hanging on in Hungary, it is thriving with a new wave of enthusiasts charmed by its slower-paced entertainment.

Printed on rolls of film, the still images were never meant to move.

Long tradition

"Between the 1940s and the 1980s filmstrips were used worldwide as a cost-effective visualisation tool in education and other fields," Levente Borsos, of Seoul's Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, told AFP.

But while it was surpassed by more advanced technologies in the West, it became a popular form of home entertainment in the Soviet bloc where TVs and videos were harder to come by.

Hungarian mother Alexandra Csosz-Horvath prepares to show a filmstrip story 

© ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP

When communism collapsed, filmstrip began to disappear -- except in Hungary, where the since privatised Diafilmgyarto company survives as the country's sole producer.

"Continuous filmstrip publishing and slide shows at home can be considered a Hungarian peculiarity, a special part of the country's cultural heritage," Borsos said.
Revival

Producer Diafilmgyarto has seen sales rebound from 60,000 in the 1990s to 230,000 rolls last year.

Each film -- produced solely for the domestic market -- costs around five euros ($5.50), less than a cinema ticket. Most are adaptations of classic fairy tales or children's books.

One bestseller, Hungarian classic "The Old Lady and the Fawn" about a woman taking care of a young deer, has been in the top 10 since its release in 1957, according to Diafilmgyarto's managing director Gabriella Lendvai.

The company also commissions artists, including some famous Hungarians, to create exclusive content for its filmstrips.

It's "an irreplaceable tradition in Hungarian culture", said Beata Hajdu-Toth, who attended a recent filmstrip screening in a Budapest cinema along with her son to celebrate Diafilmgyarto's 70th anniversary.

"I am very happy it's part of our life and hopefully I will be able to narrate to my grandchildren as well," the 37-year-old added.

At her home in the Budapest suburbs, Csosz-Horvath also hails the tradition, preferring it to fast-paced cartoons, which she said drive the children "wild".

Three generations of the Hungarian Csosz-Horvath family gather to watch the filmstrip show

 © ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP

"They just can't understand that what happens in three seconds on the screen happens in three hours in real life," she said.

With filmstrips "they don't believe that everything happens in the blink of an eye."

© 2024 AFP

Funding bill bars US embassies from flying LGBTQ Pride flags

Washington (AFP) – Tucked in the massive funding bill signed Saturday by President Joe Biden is a provision banning the flying of LGBTQ Pride flags over US embassies, but the White House has vowed to work toward its repeal.

Issued on: 23/03/2024 - 
The rainbow Pride flag is seen hanging below the US flag outside the US embassy in Moscow on June 25, 2021, during Pride month © Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP/File
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The prohibition was one of many side issues included in the mammoth $1.2 trillion package to fund the government through September, which passed early Saturday shortly after a midnight deadline.

As Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, a conservative Christian, scrambled for votes to get the bill passed in his chamber, he "boasted" of the Pride flag ban as a reason his party should support the bill, the Daily Beast reported.

The White House said Saturday it would seek to find a way to repeal the ban on flying the rainbow flag, which celebrates the movement for LGBTQ equality.

"Biden believes it was inappropriate to abuse the process that was essential to keep the government open by including this policy targeting LGBTQI+ Americans," a White House statement said, adding that the president "is committed to fighting for LGBTQI+ equality at home and abroad."




The White House said that while it had not been able to block the flag proposal, it was "successful in defeating 50+ other policy riders attacking the LGBTQI+ community that Congressional Republicans attempted to insert into the legislation."

The law signed by Biden says that no US funding can be used to "fly or display a flag over a facility of the United States Department of State" other than US or other government-related flags, or flags supporting prisoners of war, missing-in-action soldiers, hostages and wrongfully imprisoned Americans.

But while such flags may not be flown "over" US embassies, it does not speak to displaying them elsewhere on embassy grounds or inside offices, the Biden camp has argued.

"It will have no impact on the ability of members of the LGBTQI+ community to serve openly in our embassies or to celebrate Pride," the White House said, referencing the month, usually in June, when LGBTQ parades and other events are held.

The Biden administration has strongly embraced LGBTQ rights. In a sharp change from the Trump administration, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has not only allowed but encouraged US missions to fly the rainbow flag during Pride month.

Blinken's predecessor Mike Pompeo, an evangelical Christian, ordered that only the US flag fly from embassy flagpoles.

In 2015, former president Barack Obama's administration lit up the White House in rainbow colors -- delighting liberals and infuriating some conservatives -- as it celebrated the landmark Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage across the United States.

© 2024 AFP

Sixteen bear cubs rescued from home in Laos

Bangkok (AFP) – Sixteen undernourished Asiatic black bear cubs have been found in a home in Laos capital Vientiane by a conservation charity, the largest rescue of the year.


Issued on: 24/03/2024 - 

Across Asia, thousands of the animals are kept as pets or farmed to extract their bile for use in costly traditional medicine 

© Handout / FREE THE BEARS/AFP

The clutch of cubs, also known as moon bears after the white crescent of fur across their chests, are classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of endangered species.

Across Asia, thousands of the animals are kept as pets or farmed to extract their bile for use in costly traditional medicine.

Wildlife conservation charity Free the Bears said they found 17 cubs in the private home in Laos early last week, but that one of them had already died.

"When we arrived at the house there were bear cubs everywhere," said Fatong Yang, animal manager with the charity.

Wildlife conservation charity Free the Bears said they found 17 cubs in the private home in Laos early last week, but that one of them had already died 

© Handout / FREE THE BEARS/AFP

The group found ten males and six females, weighing between 1.3 to four kilograms and believed to be around two to four months old.

"Cubs this small are extremely vulnerable. In the wild their mothers would never leave them and we suspect the mothers were killed by poachers," Fatong said in a statement over the weekend.

Charity head Matt Hunt said the organisation would have to bring in experts from Cambodia to cope with the number rescued, surpassing a 2019 mission when five cubs were saved in the country's north.

"This is the most bears we've rescued in a single year and we're only three months into 2024," he said.

Free the Bears said that police were alerted to the house after a neighbour heard the cries of one of the cubs.

Charity head Matt Hunt said the organisation would have to bring in experts from Cambodia to cope with the number rescued 

© Handout / FREE THE BEARS/AFP

One Laotian person has been taken into custody, the group said, while police continue to search for the owner of the property.

The cubs have been transferred to Luang Prabang Wildlife Sanctuary, Free the Bears said in a statement, where they will be bottle-fed and closely monitored.

Hunt added that they were "so happy sixteen of the seventeen are alive and have a second chance to live a life free from fear and suffering".

© 2024 AFP

Sprinklers and drip irrigation help Iraqis beat drought

Al-Azrakiya (Iraq) (AFP) – After four years of drought, Iraqi farmer Mohammed Sami was about to abandon his father's parched land, but then a water-saving irrigation system revived his crops and his hopes.


Issued on: 24/03/2024 -

A water-saving irrigation system revived Iraqi farmer Mohammed Sami's crops -- and hopes 

© AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP

He is among hundreds of farmers in the country battered by heatwaves, scarce rain and depleted rivers to benefit from new water management systems brought by the UN World Food Programme.

The systems use automated sprinklers and drip irrigation to ensure scarce water is used in the most efficient way and is not lost as run-off or evaporated under the blazing sun.

"Since 2019, due to the water scarcity, we have been unable to farm the land," said 38-year-old Sami in his village of Al-Azrakiya in the central province of Anbar.

Crushed by the drought that was turning his 10 donums, or about one hectare, of land into desert, Sami started working in a nearby city as a day labourer several years ago.

"I thought about giving up farming for good," he said.

But then, two years ago, Sami's prospects changed, and his land has flourished again.

The WFP helped with a new automated irrigation system that waters his field for just two hours per day, two to three days a week.

"I now irrigate 10 donums with the same amount of water that I used for one donum before," he said, adding that his wheat harvest had shot up from seven to 12 tonnes per year.

New irrigation systems replace traditional methods like flooding used for millenia 

© AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP

Last year the WFP project helped more than 1,100 farmers "in areas most affected by climate change and drought," said Khansae Ghazi from the UN agency's Baghdad office.

The new irrigation systems "use 70 percent less water than traditional methods such as flooding" -- the vastly more wasteful method used for millennia.

The modern techniques allow farmers to grow diverse crops year-round, also including barley, cucumber, watermelon and eggplant, and reduce "the reliance on unpredictable rainfall", the WFP said.
Land of Two Rivers

Iraq, still recovering from years of war and chaos, is one of the five countries most impacted by some effects of climate change, according to the United Nations.

The site of ancient Mesopotamia, where civilisations flourished on the banks of the mighty Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Iraq now endures extreme water scarcity, worsened by upstream river dams in Iran and Turkey.

"Iraq is the Land of Two Rivers, its more than 7,000-year-old civilisation has always relied on farming," said agriculture ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Khazai.

"For decades, the country was afflicted by floods, not drought."

Iraq's agriculture ministry says farmers struggled at first to switch to moden irrigation systems

 © AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP

But as rainfall has become more irregular and water more scarce, leaving aquifers depleted, many farmers have abandoned their plots in the new dust-bowl regions.

During the 2021–22 season, the farm sector's productivity plunged by 36 percent from the previous year, said the WFP.

State authorities have restricted water use for agriculture to ensure sufficient drinking water for Iraq's 43 million people.

To fight the problem, the ministry has also started offering sprinkler systems that farmers can pay off over a decade, with the state covering 30 percent of the cost.

"At first, it was difficult for the farmer to switch to modern irrigation," said Khazai.

But now the ministry hopes to boost harvests to more than six million tons of wheat in 2024, from five million last year.

This would exceed Iraq's domestic needs and present a big jump from around two million tonnes in 2022.

The UN agency warns there are limits to the gains brought by new techniques.

"While modern irrigation systems can significantly improve water efficiency and agricultural practices in Iraq, it may not be sufficient to tackle the complex issue of drought," it said.

But for now, farmers are happy with the gains they are seeing, among them Souad Mehdi in the village of Al-Azrakiya near the Euphrates, who said she has doubled her harvest.

Iraqi villager Souad Mehdi says instead of two days, she now takes two hours to water her crops

 © AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP

The 40-year-old grows wheat and barley in the winter and corn, tomatoes and eggplant in the summer on her one-hectare plot.

"It used to take us two days to water our crops," she said. Now, she fills a basin with river water then turns on the sprinklers, a task that "doesn't take more than two hours".

© 2024 AFP

Powerful storm leaves at least nine dead in Brazil

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – A powerful storm has claimed at least nine lives in southeastern Brazil, particularly in the mountainous part of Rio de Janeiro state, where authorities on Saturday deployed rescue teams to deal with a "critical" situation.


Issued on: 23/03/2024 - 

Members of the Civil Defense, firefighters and neighbours work to rescue victims in a zone affected by heavy rains in Petropolis, Brazil

 © Pablo PORCIUNCULA / AFP

Three people died in a house collapse in the city of Petropolis, 70 kilometers (45 miles) from the capital, according to a bulletin from an emergency committee comprising Rio government and civil defense officials.

In addition, an AFP team confirmed the discovery Saturday of another body in the rubble. Earlier, a girl who had been buried overnight was pulled out alive.

Other deaths were reported earlier in Santa Cruz da Serra, where a man drowned when his truck plunged into a river; in Teresopolis, where a person died in a house collapse; and in Arraial do Cabo, where a person was struck by lightning.

In addition, two children, aged three and nine, died Friday in separate storm-related events in Sao Paolo state, officials said.

Late Friday, Rio Governor Claudio Castro said the situation in Petropolis was "critical" due to "intense rains and the overflowing of the Quitandinha River."

Dozens of soldiers with dogs were deployed to the scene, while schools opened their doors to the displaced, the governor said.

As of Saturday morning, some 90 people had been rescued alive, the bulletin said.

Firefighters move an electric generator after completing their rescue work at a zone affected by heavy rains in Petropolis, Brazil 

© Pablo PORCIUNCULA / AFP

Images on local media showed rivers of water, mud and debris rushing down slopes in picturesque Petropolis, where memories remain fresh of a catastrophic storm in February 2022 that claimed 241 lives.

The latest storm dropped 270 millimeters (11 inches) of rain in just 24 hours, the Rio government said.

The National Institute of Meteorology had predicted a severe storm, particularly in Rio, with rainfall of 200mm a day from Friday through Sunday -- more than the 141mm the area normally receives in all of March.

Rio authorities had declared an administrative holiday on Friday as the storm approached and urged people to stay home.

The rains came as a powerful cold front descended on the area just days after a record heat wave had seen temperatures of up to 62 centigrade (143 Fahrenheit).

© 2024 AFP

Southeast Brazil battered by downpours, at least a dozen killed

Petrópolis (Brazil) (AFP) – A powerful storm has claimed at least a dozen lives in southeastern Brazil, mostly in the mountainous parts of Rio de Janeiro state, where authorities on Saturday deployed rescue teams to deal with a "critical" situation.

Issued on: 23/03/2024 - 

Rescuers carry a girl, who had been trapped for hours under the rubble of her house that was destroyed by heavy rains in Petropolis, Brazil, on March 23, 2024 

© Pablo PORCIUNCULA / AFP

The deluge came as Brazil, South America's largest country, suffers through a recent string of extreme weather events, which experts say are more likely to occur due to climate change.

At least eight people have been killed in the state of Rio de Janeiro, officials said, while the neighboring state of Espirito Santo has confirmed at least four dead and seven missing.

Such environmental tragedies "are intensifying with climate change," President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, adding that thousands had been left homeless by the storm.

He expressed sympathy for the victims, and said his government was working with state and local authorities to "protect, prevent and repair flood damage."

Four of the deaths in Rio state occurred when the storm caused a house to collapse in the city of Petropolis, 70 kilometers (45 miles) inland from the capital.

An AFP team witnessed the rescue of a girl Saturday morning who had been buried more than 16 hours in the rubble.

Her father, who was found dead next to her, "heroically protected the girl with his body," a neighbor and owner of a local bar told AFP.

"We are in pain, but grateful for this miracle," said Luis Claudio de Souza, 63.

Farther up the coast, in the state of Espirito Santo, officials have thus far reported four deaths.

The state's governor Renato Casagrande described a "chaotic situation" in the town of Mimoso do Sul, with the number of fatalities there yet to be determined.

And in Sao Paolo state, two children were hospitalized for injuries sustained during the storm on Friday.

A municipal cemetery in Petropolis suffered major damage under the heavy rains

 © Pablo PORCIUNCULA / AFP

Late Friday, Rio Governor Claudio Castro said the situation in Petropolis was "critical" due to "intense rains and the overflowing of the Quitandinha River."
Heat wave

Dozens of soldiers with dogs were deployed to the scene, while schools opened their doors to the displaced, the governor said.

Some 90 people have been rescued since Friday, according to a bulletin from an emergency committee comprising Rio government and civil defense officials.

Images on local media showed rivers of water, mud and debris rushing down slopes in picturesque Petropolis, where memories remain fresh of a catastrophic storm in February 2022 that claimed 241 lives.

In Mimoso do Sul, a fire truck was seen being dragged down a street by currents, while images released Saturday by the state fire department showed entire neighborhoods under water, with only the roofs of houses visible.

Forecasts predicted heavy rainfall continuing Saturday in the mountains and north of Rio.

Petropolis has already recorded 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) in 24 hours, while other cities, such as Teresopolis and Mage, added more than 22 cm, according to official estimates.

The National Institute of Meteorology had predicted a severe storm, particularly in Rio, with rainfall of 20 cm a day from Friday through Sunday. Normally, the area receives 14 cm of rain in all of March.

Rio authorities had declared an administrative holiday on Friday as the storm approached and urged people to stay home.

The rubble of homes destroyed by heavy rains in Petropolis, Brazil, on March 23, 2024 

© Florian PLAUCHEUR / AFP

The storm follows a record heat wave, when humidity helped send the heat index soaring above 62 degrees Celsius (143 degrees Fahrenheit).

© 2024 AFP

Turkey's 'Communist mayor' embarks on conquest of Istanbul district

Istanbul (AFP) – Fatih Macoglu, the popular "Communist Mayor" of a city in eastern Turkey, is now vying for control of a vibrant and hip Istanbul district along the Asian banks of the Bosphorus.

Issued on: 24/03/2024 - 

Fatih Macoglu on the campaign trail in the Kadikoy district of Istanbul © BULENT KILIC / AFP

In 2019, he was elected mayor of Tunceli, a majority Kurdish Alevi city in eastern Anatolia known for being extremely secular and left-leaning.

During his five-year term, he won plaudits for knocking down the doors of his office as a form of transparency.

This time, in the March 31 elections, he is setting his sights on the Kadikoy district of Istanbul, a bastion of the secular opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).

The charismatic, moustached 55-year-old is standing as a candidate for the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP), which has no seats in the national parliament.

In an interview with AFP during his election campaign in Kadikoy, Macoglu said his experience as mayor proved good governance was possible.

"The world is getting worse and I believe the Socialists can reverse this trend," he said.

"Socialists are competent to rule this country and this world."

-'Honest approach'-

In 2019, Macoglu became the first Communist mayor of Tunceli, a city that was formerly known as Dersim and that has a turbulent history.

He took over a city council that had been run by the pro-Kurdish HDP party -- until it was handed to a government-appointed trustee in the wake of a failed coup in 2016 that aimed to topple long-standing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Macoglu refused to use his official car and posted his council's finances on a banner hanging on the front of his office building to show people how he spent their money.

He opened a cooperative to promote organic honey and chickpeas, whose sales funded university students from poor families, and provided free transport for students.

"I closely followed Macoglu's successful practices. I was impressed by his honest approach to politics," said Sevgi Celik, a 42-year-old resident of Kadikoy.

"I have faith he will do the same here in Kadikoy," Celik added.

Macoglu told AFP his experience as mayor proved good governance was possible

 © BULENT KILIC / AFP

"I think we are not going through good times. The country in general is not in a good state. For things to get better, we need better people in power."

Murat Karabiyik, 46, agreed the current order needed to change.

"We cannot find shelter. We cannot eat. We cannot drink. We cannot travel. This must change," he said.

"People affiliated to political parties are usually chasing profits. This is not the case here. God willing, we will change this."

Asked if he would stick to the same novel approach if elected mayor of Kadikoy, Macoglu said: "Of course. Our city functions because we have a programme."

Macoglu's bid for Kadikoy -- an arty neighbourhood with lively cafes, bars and galleries -- drew rebuke from supporters of the CHP and the pro-Kurdish DEM party, which is also standing in Istanbul.

They said Macoglu should have run for a working class district of Istanbul or else stayed in Tunceli.

Macoglu told AFP he found the criticism useful but stressed he was not opposed to either of the opposition parties.

"We are Socialists. We want to explain to the public that there are better programmes. We are not against any party."

-'We will win'-

Some commentators say Macoglu could draw votes from people disappointed with the CHP, which took control of Istanbul in 2019 from Erdogan's Islamic conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP).

"You can be assured that we will win," he said confidently.

Macoglu has promised transparency, freedoms and accountability, including opening the council's resources to the general public, rather than reserving the funds for individuals or monopolies.

He said he would be inclusive towards all groups -- including the LGBTQ community, which freely expresses itsel in Kadikoy and is frequently attacked by Erdogan's right-wing alliance.

Macoglu has promised transparency, freedoms and accountability 

© BULENT KILIC / AFP

Erdogan has consistently railed against LGBTQ people in Turkey.

They were a particular target of his on the campaign trail for last year's presidential election, when he accused them of threatening traditional family values and called them "perverse".

"We defend everyone's right to life, including LGBTQ people," Macoglu said.

"We say this especially because the current political climate marginalises these issues."

Asked if the "Communist mayor" nickname bothered him, Macoglu said: "Not at all. It makes me happy."

"Communism is a way of life. The capitalist, imperialist system has given Communists a very bad image that they don't deserve," he said.

"Wherever I go in the country, there are millions of people who say... 'If this is Communism, it's very good.'"

© 2024 AFP

India celebrates Holi, the Hindu festival of colours


Issued on: 23/03/2024 -

01:23

India celebrates Holi

Video by:FRANCE 24

Holi, widely known as the Hindu festival of colors, is a joyful annual celebration at the advent of spring with cultural and religious significance. Typically observed in March in India, Nepal, other South Asian countries and across the diaspora, the festival celebrates love and signifies a time of rebirth and rejuvenation – a time to embrace the positive and let go of negative energy.

Hundreds protest in India against arrest of leading opposition figure

Issued on: 23/03/2024 -

01:29
Video by:FRANCE 24

Hundreds of protesters in India's capital took to the streets for a second day Saturday, demanding the immediate release of one of the top rivals of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as the country gears up for a national election next month. Arvind Kejriwal, New Delhi’s top elected official and one of the country’s most consequential politicians of the past decade, was arrested Thursday by the federal Enforcement Directorate who accused his party and ministers for accepting 1 billion rupees ($12 million) in bribes from liquor contractors nearly two years ago.

List reveals Indian firms made big donations to BJP

AFP 

Published March 23, 2024 

MUMBAI: Huge donations by firms under criminal investigation or suspected of being shell companies have been funnelled to India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and other parties, new data showed, highlighting the backscratching ties between corporate titans and the government.

Last week, India’s election commission published a list detailing buyers of electoral bonds, a contentious funding scheme that has helped Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party build an immense campaign war chest dwarfing rivals.

Electoral bonds account for more than half of all political donations and were anonymous until India’s top court ruled them illegal weeks before the start of elections next month.

A review of the list found that of the $1.5 billion donated through the scheme, at least $94 million was donated by 17 companies after they faced — either directly or through their subsidiaries — investigations for tax evasion, fraud or other corporate malfeasance.


“The electoral bond scheme was sinful in conception, faulty in design and intended to prevent transparency,” lawmaker Abhishek Singhvi of the opposition Congress party said.

“Each of these vices stand exposed… by the huge disclosures tumbling out of the closets.”

‘Knocked at their doors’

Opposition party lawmakers claim the electoral bonds list shows that firms were donating to BJP in the hopes of influencing the outcome of criminal probes.

The BJP was far and away the single biggest beneficiary of the scheme, receiving $730m, or 47 per cent, of total bonds cashed since April 2019.

Its main competitor Congress received around $171m over the same period.

Among the companies named as donors are Hero MotoCorp, the country’s biggest motorbike maker by sales. It donated $2.4m to the BJP seven months after confirming its finances were being investigated by the tax department.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, a top drug firm, bought $1.17m worth of electoral bonds for the BJP eight months after the media reported an investigation for alleged tax evasion.

Indian miner Vedanta, whose parent company was once listed on the London Stock Exchange, donated more than $40m spread across half a dozen parties over the past five years.

Local media reported in 2022 that the country’s main financial crime agency began investigating the company in 2018 for allegedly paying bribes to facilitate Indian visas for Chinese technicians.

No definitive proof of such a quid pro quo has surfaced. Authorities have also not publicly announced whether investigations against donor companies have been closed or withdrawn.

Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s finance minister, said last week that any allegation of a link between criminal investigations and political donations was based on “huge assumptions”.

“What if the companies gave the money, and after that, we still went and knocked at their doors?” she told a panel hosted by television channel India Today.

The BJP was not the only party to receive electoral bonds from companies facing legal investigation.

Among the several parties funded by lottery company Future Gaming — the biggest single donor under the scheme with a spend of $164m — were the government and opposition of southern Tamil Nadu state.

Ties between corporate India and the country’s political class have previously blown up into public scandal _ including to the benefit of Modi, who was swept to office a decade ago on a wave of public discontent over corruption.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2024

 

The wheel of life: How a simple tool is helping ease Thari women’s toughest chore — fetching water

Along with providing water, H2O Wheels are also financially and socially empowering the women of Tharparkar.

Dawn.com Published March 22, 2024 

In the barren desert of Tharpakar, where desolate dunes spread across thousands of miles and living beings are a sight for sore eyes, Issiya Begum walks five kilometres, barefoot, every day to fetch water.

The water, which is most often substituted with life, has given her a lifelong disability — a condition where her back is permanently bent. The incident occurred some years back when Issiya Begum was transporting water-filled clay pots from the nearby well to her home.

Like other Thari women, Issiya too is in charge of fetching water for her house. But one day, her frail back couldn’t bear the burden any more and caved in forever. That did not stop her from “fulfilling her responsibility” though, and the arduous journeys continue day in and day out.

Studies show that 72 per cent of women across Pakistan — especially in rural areas — are responsible for carrying household water and spend nearly three-fourths of their day in the exercise. The almost nine-hour-long job, without a single day off, not only affects the livelihood of these women but also their mental and physical health.

For young girls, these gender-bound responsibilities snatch their already dwindling chance at education. However, the women of Thar and other areas that stand in the face of a water crisis don’t have a choice and they have come to terms with it — after all, water is life.

But when Nida Sheikh, a behavioural science graduate and the chief executive officer of Tayaba Organisation, visited the area, the “inhumane practice” of fetching water deeply disturbed her and prompted her to transform adversity into an opportunity.

Water on wheels

The first time Sheikh visited rural Sindh and Punjab was for a project on female entrepreneurship. But by the end of the trip, she had identified a pattern — most women were unable to even take a nap or socialise in the quest for water.

“In most of these areas, I came across marginalised women who were walking for kilometres and spending hours only to fetch a basic need,” she told Dawn.com. “Even when they reach their destination, these women have to pull out water from 200-250 meter deep wells and then carry those pots back home.

“Some days, they make multiple such journeys in a day … it is unimaginable, the toll this entire process takes on their minds and bodies,” said Sheikh. “It saddened me to realise that while I took clean water for granted, women in my own country struggled daily for water collection.”

After each visit, she would come back home even more unsettled. And then, she met Bilal Bin Saqib, a classmate who had laid the foundation of the Tayaba Organisation. He shared with her the innovative concept of water barrels he had encountered during his travels in Africa and discussed the endeavour of replicating a similar solution to ease the transportation struggles of millions in Pakistan.

After several prototypes and prolonged interaction with locals, the Tayaba Organisation, a non-profit organisation, invented the H2O or “Help 2 Others” Wheel — a water-carrying device that removes the burden from the women’s shoulders.

Produced from UV-stabilised polyethene, the H2O Wheel basically allows water to be carried inside a wheel — shaped like a gallon — and features a firm handle for control over tough and rocky terrain. It also features a sealable hole, where the water can be stored.

The wheel, which weighs about 40kgs, can store water that lasts a family of seven for at least three days. “Once ready, the H2O Wheel was pitched to family and friends and Tayaba Organisation found an anonymous donor who continues to fund us to date,” said Sheikh.

Initially, the NGO distributed a few 100 wheels informally, as part of a pilot project. “We began by talking to women and understanding the types of issues they faced while fetching water.

So far, the organisation has distributed over 30,000 H2O Wheels to women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab. Over the years, Sheikh went on to say, the wheel has seen several modifications, all done based on the suggestions of the beneficiaries.

Changing lives

Until four years ago, Sughri Ratan, who lives in the Bhadari village of Tharparkar’s Chachro tehsil, used to spend seven hours every day walking to and from her house to fetch water.

“For our daily usage, we needed at least three to four clay pots … and sometimes even that wouldn’t be enough,” she told Dawn.com. Carrying three pots full to the brim is equivalent to carrying at least 10kgs of water, every day.

The tedious exercise had worn out Sughri, both physically and emotionally.

In 2022, when she was first provided with the H2O Wheel, Sughri was a little sceptical, unsure if it would even work. “But once we got the hang of how to use them, these devices brought immense relief … paidal na chalna ka sukoon, wazan na uthane ka sukoon [relief of not being on foot and carrying heavy loads].

“Now, we can easily collect water for three days in one go which can be used for washing, bathing, cooking and other chores,” she said.

But most importantly, the wheels, along with water also brought money to Sughri’s household as she now utilises the time, earlier spent in fetching water, on embroidery. “Earlier, we would prepare two to three pieces a month but now the quantity has doubled,” she said.

Sughri’s neighbours, Kenku and Teejan, also narrated a similar story.

Women in the desert of Thar use the H2O Wheel for transportation of water. — photo by Tayaba Organisation

The Tayaba Organisation, in partnership with the Sami Foundation in Sindh, has managed to distribute more than 2,000 H2O Wheels to both drought and flood-struck areas like Umerkot and Dadu.

“There is high demand and requests from women living in surrounding villages for the provision of these wheels as well,” said Suresh Kumar, the spokesperson of the foundation.

A 2022 assessment of the H2O Wheels, conducted by Ipsos, revealed that the health and hygiene of both adults and children in Tharparkar and Umerkot improved due to the availability of water, with a 35pc increase in the frequency of handwashing.

“Safe water availability has also reduced disease incidence by 39pc among adults and 31pc in children,” the assessment report, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, noted.

Moreover, an average increase of Rs3,000 was witnessed in the incomes of women as they now had more time to spend on other activities such as handiwork.

Particularly in Umerkot, the role of men in water hauling significantly increased. “Females can comfortably ask their male family members to share the responsibility, especially pregnant, lactating and old-aged women,” the report highlighted.

Furthermore, with more time at hand, women were able to socialise more which contributed to their psychological health and well-being.

A better tomorrow

Along with H2O Wheels, Tayaba Organisation has also initiated a number of other projects that include the installation of portable toilets, provision of reusable sanitary napkins and H2O Air — a dispenser-like device that can produce water through precipitation and humidity.

“In all these projects, we follow a natural and organic process based on the communication with the people who are in the heart of the water crisis,” Sheikh said, elaborating that Tayaba Organisation follows the Maslow pyramid — a theory that states that our actions are motivated by certain physiological and psychological needs that progress from basic to complex — and aims to push marginalised women higher up in the hierarchy of needs.

The journey, however, has been anything but easy — there were several moments when Sheikh felt isolated and overwhelmed by the magnitude of the challenges she faced. In these times, international recognition helped not just her but also her organisation.

Last year, she was recognised as one of the top 10 winners of the One Young World’s LEAD 2030 $500,000 fund for Sustainable Development Initiatives. The award money will help her implement innovative solutions such as the H2O Wheels and solar water facilities.

Sheikh says this will help Tayaba Organisation as there is so much more that needs to be done, especially as Pakistan faces a huge risk of water scarcity in the upcoming years.

“Water is life! It is an essential resource for survival. When you provide someone with water, you offer them a chance at life,” she s

PAKISTAN

‘The pride of Thar’: How Krishna Kumari broke the Senate’s glass ceiling

Kumari's lifelong struggles, determination and advocacy made her the first Hindu Dalit woman elected to the Senate in 2018.

Muskaan Mujahid
22 Mar, 2024

When Krishna Kumari donned her vibrant traditional attire in Parliament, she didn’t just proudly represent her community — she also encapsulated the struggles, determination and advocacy that made her the first Hindu Dalit woman to be elected to the Senate.

Kumari — lovingly called Keshoo Bai by her parents — is a 45-year-old rights activist belonging to the Kohli community from the remote village of Dhana Gam in Sindh’s Nagarparkar. She was elected as a PPP senator on a reserved seat for women in March 2018.

Social media was abuzz with congratulatory posts as it celebrated the win for Pakistan’s Hindu community, which made up under two per cent of the country’s population in 2017.

Kumari was greeted with traditional songs and flowers upon her arrival in her hometown of Nagarparkar after securing the party ticket, and received a round of applause from her fellow senators on the day of her oath-taking.



“I was told that it is such a big Upper House of Pakistan, where there are big names seen on the TV and in newspapers. […] So there was a fear in my heart but senators not just from my party but from others as well supported me a lot,” the recently retired senator recalled to Images.

However, that was only the beginning of her career in mainstream politics. Her journey of striving for an education despite a myriad of challenges, fighting against bonded labour and raising awareness about women’s and social issues goes way back.

“Finally, we are seen as humans,” Kumari — belonging to a much-neglected caste within the Hindu community — was quoted as saying by The New York Times when elected.

Kumari had a tough childhood when she and her family were held for three years as bonded labourers in a private jail allegedly owned by the landlord of Umerkot district’s Kunri. They were set free in a police raid.

“We didn’t know what rights we have and even if we should ask for them or not as our people used to think that our conditions were our fate,” the ex-senator said.

“I used to think the same but as I received education, […] I got to know that working under someone or what was happening with us was wrong.”

Her parents facilitated her and her brother Veerji’s studies despite the difficulties they faced. Married off at the young age of 16, Kumari attributes her success to the support she received from her parents and in-laws — a story rarely heard in Pakistan’s villages.

The lone girl at school

As a girl growing up in a remote area where education was not prevalent, Kumari was a pioneer for other girls in her community. “I used to be the only girl among all the boys who would go to the school with my brother,” Kumari recalled.

“My parents did not even know what education was. Till today, I cannot understand how my father even considered the idea of sending me to school,” she said.

Stressing the importance of being determined in one’s actions, she emphasised, “Once you resolve that you have to get ahead, then there aren’t any obstacles in your path and you also get support.”

“Education is almost non-existent in our community,” Kumari said. When her parents received a marriage proposal for her when she had completed eighth grade, it might have spelled the end to her education.

But as they say, where there’s a will, there’s a way. The rights activist said her father-in-law assured her parents that they would let her continue her studies. Kumari appreciated her husband and mother-in-law as well for being supportive of her.

“Sometimes he would take an off from school, sometimes I would,” she described how the couple would manage their studies and personal lives simultaneously.

Kumari said her daughter was just a month old when she sat for her ninth grade exams. Nevertheless, the new mother continued her studies — juggling them with her family responsibilities like many working women do. “I would go to my university after dropping off my daughter at her school.”

Encouraged and supported by a trailblazer like her mother, Kumari’s eldest daughter has completed her M Phil degree and her second daughter has done an MBBS. Her son and a third daughter are currently enrolled in university.

Raising awareness on social issues

“My brother and I thought to start working for people. We started social work in 2008 and also got an NGO (non-governmental organisation) registered,” Kumari said.

She has worked as the chairperson and project director of Development, Awareness and Management of Natural Resources (Daman), a non-profit civil society organisation.

She recalled working with Alliance Against Social Harassment at Workplace (Aasha) and on a 2010 bill that made the harassment of women a crime — which was not just a legal milestone but also encouraged discussion on the topic.

“We don’t even like to mention the topic in public and ignore it by labelling it a ‘social vice’. They put a curtain on it saying ‘don’t talk about it as it would lead to our defamation’,” Kumari said.

“After the law was enacted, we had to work on implementing it in the entire country,” she said, adding that she used to hold talks and counsel people facing various social issues at a legal aid centre in Hyderabad that she headed.

Counselling was not the only aspect of Kumari’s work. Working with the culture department, she used to bring groups of women to Lok Virsa, where they would perform dandiya dances to the beats of drums.

While her brother won a union council election and joined the PPP in 2014, Kumari entered Pakistan’s political scene in 2018 when she also joined the same party.

Climbing up the Senate stairs

There is no shortage of problems faced by women in Pakistan in both their personal and professional lives. For Kumari, there was the added challenge of navigating political waters as a member of a minority community.

“As we have a patriarchal system, of course, women are kept caged in a box — ‘don’t go outside alone; if a few people would sit together [and talk], what would they say’,” she said, echoing what many women around the country have to hear.

However, Kumari said she had a “good time” during her Senate tenure. “I never felt that I am from so and so area or from a minority or that someone pressured us or kept us caged in a box,” she said.

Speaking about her party, she said, “I have never felt [marginalised] within the party. They never let me feel like a minority.”

Krishna Kumari arrives at Parliament with her parents on March 12, 2018.

 — Tanveer Shahzad / White Star


Noting that there was now a “good ratio” of women in Parliament and the provincial assemblies, she said that “conditions in Pakistan for women have improved compared to other Asian countries”.

There is still a long way to go, as, according to IPU Parline, the percentage of women in the Senate has slightly increased from 16 per cent to 19pc from 2012-2021. For the National Assembly, the percentage has remained stagnant at around 20pc for the previous three tenures.

Standing up for her community

From forced conversions and marriages to kidnappings, Sindh and the its minority residents have for years been plagued by serious issues that still require concrete solutions.

Of course, a top priority for Kumari was reducing the dangers faced by her community.

The rights activist lamented the rejection of a 2021 bill against forced conversions by a parliamentary committee after it faced opposition from certain lawmakers.

“I wanted with all my heart that it had gotten passed as I don’t think it was harmful to anyone,” she said, adding that its approval could have solved many issues faced by the Hindu community.

“It was just like a bill for domestic violence or harassment. Similarly, issues faced by minorities would have been solved. Yeh dukh hai mujhe [This saddens me],” an audibly dejected Kumari said.

However, keeping her hopes high and with her usual determination, the former senator said she would introduce the bill again if she got a chance to do so.

Speaking up for everyone

Kumari’s actions have been loud and clear in declaring that her activism is not just for the minorities in Pakistan but for every person who is being wronged and treated unjustly.

While she chaired her first Senate session on Women’s Day in 2019, it was the session on Kashmir Day in 2022 — the second chaired by her — that left an indelible mark on her career, having been reported in Indian media as well.

“It was a slap on their face that [a woman from a community] that is not even 3pc [of the population] is chairing the Upper House of Pakistan on such a day. In my opinion, there cannot be a bigger shameful thing for Modi,” the ex-senator slammed the Indian prime minister.

Senator Krishna Kumari chairs a Senate session on Feb 4, 2022.

 — DawnNewsTV


“What India is doing with the minorities, I wanted to give them and Modi the message that what you are doing is wrong. They also have rights, [including] the right to live and move freely,” Kumari said resolutely.

Expressing how glad she was to get the opportunity, she said, “If I see that there is injustice taking place somewhere… my heart is very weak so if something is happening somewhere, I end up crying.”

And it’s not just human rights violations that Kumar speaks up against. Her work has also extended to protecting nature and heritage.

In August last year, she tabled a resolution asking the government to declare the Karoonjhar Mountain Range in Tharparkar a national heritage site and a national park for wildlife conservation. The resolution was passed by the Senate.

‘A lot to work on’

While her tenure as a senator may have ended, Kumari remains resolute in her mission to continue her social awareness activities and improve the living conditions of the people in her hometown.

“My work is ongoing in Tharparkar […] There are a lot of things that need to be worked on,” she said, adding that her focus currently is on education and maternal health.

Recalling work done by the PPP in the area, she said, “Roads have been constructed but more work is needed as the area is huge. […] Providing various villages with access to drinking water is also needed.”

Stories like Kumari’s are rarerly heard in Pakistan, where tribes, business, family, caste and so many other things influence mainstream politics. Here’s to hoping that Pakistan sees a greater representation of minorities because issues faced by them — and this country — cannot be solved without grass-root efforts.

This March, Images is profiling trailblazing women who are stirring change in our society. Women who inspire us and women who make us proud. You can read all our stories on inspiring Pakistani women here.

Trailblazers and change makers