Next: India

Hello all,
Tomorrow night we take the train to the border of India, Rajahstan. This is a weekly train that has new cars running on the old British rails. The service has only been running for about a year under the direction of Mussharuf. There are so many people in Pakistan with family in India and previously they had to go a very long way by train to get to India. We are booked to Jodhpur and from there we will book our way to Mirzapur. We have been in Karachi for the past 5 days staying in the office of a centre, A.P.H.A., providing services for disabled people, such as councilling, braces, prosthetic limbs, outreach and they also run a small school here for mentally challenged children. We have made great friends with Nishak, a volunteer administrator who had polio affecting his hands, Khalid, a young man who does everything, Mahmood, another member also in a wheelchair from polio. Every day we have a wonderful home cooked meal in one of their homes or the home of a relative, or other member of APHA, tonight we dine at Khalid's home and meet his wife and baby. We have learned so much about Islam, it's really a very loving and sensible religion. It seems the fundamentalists are basically uneducated over and above the Quran and the word Taliban means student of the Quran, nothing more. Young men who are uneducated can be easily manuplated. Free basic education is very much lacking in Pakistan, especially in the rural areas. A big problem for the country.
We have met people from the North West Frontier Province, Peshawar, we have been invited to Baluchistan, I'm sure we could travel safely anywhere in Pakistan through the friends we have made in the disability movement. And I have had no trouble finding accessible toilets or ramps in most of the homes we visit. We have made great friends. Ghulam Nabi Nizamani left to go back to his home in Sanghar 2 days ago so we no longer have our roommate. He is a fierce fighter for the rights of the disabled. We have learned the fascinating history of the Hurs who are Sufis and never submitted to British rule.
So tomorrow we will leave our friends and the dirty air and crazy driving of Karachi. Maybe on the long train ride I will have time to write up all that we have been doing in my journal. I have had no time.
As I write the Huzzan is calling the faithful to prayer from two mosques in the neighbourhood, I think it's number 4 or perhaps 3. It happens 5 times a day.
All the best to everyone. Enjoy the snow for those in BC.
Love to you all,
Judy and Ross