Giving Voice To The Deaf

DEAF REACH

This past weekend Zoha and I attended a fundraiser and thought to share this experience with you.

It was one of the various emails we all get in the inbox about many a fundraiser happening in the community. It was to be at Antun's Hicksville, the All Pakistani Banquet Hall.  Food has become a lot better since taken over by Pakistanis (Read Shaheen).

Zoha received it through the Alliance network. It was about an organization running schools for the deaf in Karachi. As it is an issue close to our heart, we discussed and decided to attend it. I did not think it will be so different than what I would have thought of it.

It was arranged with the help of a local Pakistani organization PACOLI, http://pacoli.net/index.html Pakistani American Community of Long Island. It has been around for a while and has undergone several reorganizations and changes, and is now without any physician in a leadership post, perhaps a first for any Pakistani diaspora organization. But that is besides the point.

Just the fact that a project like that is happening in the middle of our cities is commendable in its own right. The race and ethnicity of the founders is important however. I am surprised at my own ignorance that while we all know and hear about the Greg Mortensons, Todd Sheas, Ethen Caseys and others like them, I had never heard of Richard Geary. And here is this guy who is living in Pakistan for all the times I had lived outside the country, starting an organization from scratch and building it into a state of the art school system for the deaf.   His partner is his wife who again, is an outsider. Amazing story and equally amazing is our ignorance of  it.

Although the world over the old "Deaf" is being replaced by "hearing impaired", the name Deaf Reach has a resonance to it. Perhaps that is the reason the name of the schools is Deaf Reach.  The organization is Family Educational Services Foundation. http://www.fesf.org.pk/ It has a highly interactive FB Page. https://www.facebook.com/deafreachkarachi?fref=ts

It is a touching story of a white American man and his Filipina wife. They had a deaf child. It changed their life in more than one ways. They first started a school in the Philippines and then moved to India. Some stroke of fortune (for Pakistan) brought them to Karachi and somehow it was difficult to go back to India. They decided to stay in Pakistan instead and start a school. There may be more to it, as far as the story is concerned  but the matter of the fact is, that Heidi and Richard Geary have made Pakistan their home. Their initial school of around 12 children have now grown into many schools across Sindh and one in Lahore. They are about to open, if not already opened, a branch in Turkey!

I was moved by the work they do and the commitment they have shown in a far away foreign land. Their own son, unfortunately died in a car accident a few years back when he had moved back to the USA.

Now they have been gifted a land in Rashidabad. Many would know about the Rashidabad and the story of a father and his colleagues in PAF who have created an oasis of education in the desert of Singh in memory of his son Rashid who diverted the plane away to save innocent lives when his plane was to crash and in the process paid with his  life. In Rashidabad they will have a state of the art School for the Deaf.

It was heartwarming to see these young kids, who would have been without much of education or self esteem, now learning Urdu, English, Pakistani Sign Language and skills to be a useful member of the society.

Astonishing to know that a whole KFC opposite Urdu College is run by these hearing impaired children. Amazing.

After the presentation, which was very moving, and left everybody teary eyed, there was a stand up comedian Saad Haroon.

This is the first time the organization is making a reach out to the diaspora in USA. Their funds are collected through I-care Foundation, which I know personally by working with Fatimid, that it is a well reputed organization. 

Over all an evening spend well and worthwhile. Thanks to all the organizers.

And heartfelt thanks to Richard Geary. He can be reached at r.geary@fesf.org.pk .

Donations can be made online by visiting the weblink. http://www.i-care-america.org/family-educational-services-foundation/

Barcelona

For Slide Show click here

The first time I heard of Barcelona was in 1971. I was ten years old and the first Men's Field Hockey Cup was being played in this Spanish city. The name had a musical ring to it. Those were the romantic days of Pakistan Hockey, Tanvir Dar and Rashid Junior. I remember sitting close to the radio and getting excited on the penalty corners of legendary Tanvir Dar.  Pakistan already had Olympic Gold and Asian Cup at that time and had something like a Triple Crown with this victory. Champions Trophy did not exist at that time.

Pakistan somehow managed to be in Semifinals, beat India and then defeated Spain in the finals. This was the last good news in Pakistan before the civil war in East Pakistan would end the year on a most painful note.

Fast forward to 2012.

Our trip to Spain ended with Barcelona.
We had to rent two cars from the AC Marriott Seville to the airport. It is the same road which we had traveled two days back on the way back from Granada. The ride to the airport was 35 Euro each car, a separate amount was added for the telephone handling.

Barcelona looked like a different country from the rest of Spain. Large, cosmopolitan and vibrant. It felt somewhat the same when I went to Karachi during my second year medical college trip from Multan. Large, bustling, diverse and vibrant. People seem to speak a different language and indeed they do. Majority speak Catalan, although everybody understands Spanish.

Hespera Towers is an elegant hotel, it was the best hotel during our stay. Tipu had perhaps arranged for an upscale hotel as the last stop on our tour. The only drawback was the distance from the city center. It is at the end of a subway train line, and takes about half an hour each way.

We had two nights to stay there and enjoyed every bit of it. The city of Barcelona, for the visitors, revolves around two men. Gaudi and Picasso, a gay conservative architect and a womanizer communist artist, . The two famous landmarks ie  the Guadi's place, Park Guell a Utopian community he tried to built at the northern end of the city and the world largest cathedral, still in the making, Holy Family Cathedral, is Sargada Familia are the everlasting gift of Gaudi to the city.

Park Guell reminds one of Disney, a sort of its predecessor and an actual community. The houses, the park and the community center, all idealistic.

Sargada Familia:
Once built it will perhaps be the largest and longest continuously built church in the world. Started in  1882 it will perhaps finish in 2026 or so. It is a 20-21st century masterpiece. We did not have the time to get inside.   It combines the old Gothic style church building architecture with the modern Gaudi concepts of environment. Many of the statues include the four seasons , the farms, vegetables and the flowers.

There are three facades, each with a theme of its own. Nativity for the Birth of Christ, Passion for the Crucifixion, and The Glory Facade for the ascension to the Heavens.

Nativity

Passion:

One of the controversial statue is the Naked Jesus, For close up check here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasirgondal/7911098734/in/set-72157631361600476/lightbox/

The Ramblas:

But the heart of Barcelona is this mile and a half long strip on foot from to. If you have not gone anywhere in the city but take the walk down and up the Ramblas, you have visited the essence of the city. It is one of those stories where the once the worst part of the city gets turned into the most colorful sites. It was the draining pipelines of the city wall and were renovated to form a walkway around it and here it is.

We got off at the station Catalunya. Coming out in the open, there is a big central garden full of fountains, statues,  pigeons and people, Placa de Catalunya.

 A very lively place.
Ramblas is one of many streets which start or end up here. It is like a big circular center. All big stores are here, FNAC, Zara,El Corte Ingles. Cafe Zurich is a nice place to have coffee. We had Saleem's birthday in Hard Rock Cafe here on the second day.

Walking down the Ramblas is traveling through Barcelona in full color. You see everything city is famous for. People of every color and creed, with kiosks lining the boulevard, jugglers playing, artists painting, beggars begging, musicians and dancers performing and onlookers ogling.

Fountain of youth known as Fountain of Canaletes is just south of Catalunya. Legend says that a drink form it ensures a return trip to Barcelona.

Farmers market, La Boqueria is an interesting place. I bought dates from an Asian vendor.

At the end of it is once again Columbus. His towering monument, where he is looking at the waters. Although it was here that he returned from his first trip to the New World, but the future successes in the Americas meant less importance for Barcelona and more for the western ports like Seville  for the future returning vessels.

Beyond the monument is the large shopping area in the Waterfront..



Next day we took the bus trip of the city and it took us to the Gaudi city. This is the architect's own version of a Utopian place, It is on a hill and on looks the city and the Holy Family Cathedral  the most famous art piece of Gaudi. One of his tiles reminded me of Multan.

Picasso's life had quite a few years of Barcelona, His house is now Picasso's museum in the old city. It was a long line and we could not go in there. At the end of that corner is the church of sailors ie Santa Maria Church.

Many Indians and Pakistanis in here. From cab drivers to street vendors. I did not find much of us in Andalusia.

And the next day we left Spain for Geneva.

Sweet memories. Words of Iqbal on his way back from Spain say it well.

ہسپانیہ تو خون مسلماں کا امیں ہے

 مانند حرم پاک ہے تو میری نظر میں 

پوشیدہ تیری خاک میں سجدوں کے نشاں ہیں 

خاموش اذانیں ہیں تیری باد سحر میں 

غرناطہ بھی دیکھا مری آنکھوں نے و لیکن 

تسکین مسافر نہ سفر میں نہ حضر میں 

دیکھا بھی دکھایا بھی سنایا بھی سنا بھی 

ہے دل کی تسلی نہ نظر میں نہ خبر میں 

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References:

1. http://www.asian-women-magazine.com/pakistan/hockey/barcelona-world-cup-1971.php
2. Rick Steve;s Spain 2012
3. http://www.allamaiqbal.com/