October 6, 2007

Dear Friends,

I have been back in Pakistan for a month and a half and some of you are probably wondering why you haven't heard from me yet. There are two reasons that I have not been in touch sooner. The first is that for a long time, our electricity was so unreliable and off more than it was on. The weather was still quite hot, and since more people used electricity in an effort to keep cool, there was too much of a drain of electrical power, so "load shedding" was done by turning off the power to different areas at intervals throughout the day and night. The difficulty was that there was no schedule, so no one knew when the electricity would go off or for how long. When the electricity would come back on, anyone who wanted or needed to use a computer would try to access the internet. There are not enough cables, so unless I got lucky, I could not get connected. When I did get lucky, often the connection timed out on me after only a few minutes and I would lose the messages I was trying to send. Please know that you were very much in my thoughts despite my inability to communicate with you. It is a very different world here!

The other reason I have not been in touch was that life got very busy very quickly. I have been very grateful that Sr. Anna came back with me for the opening of the school year because, just before school opened, two teachers said they would not return. Sr. Anna was able to find new teachers, but that involved last-minute orientations and trainings. We also have some part-time teachers from the universities nearby who are working with our older students. Their schedules changed at the universities, so we had to change our full-time teachers' schedules to accommodate the needs of the part-time people. Because of the large number of teachers on our staff, this was a huge undertaking. We tried to make teachers' schedules fair in terms of work load and planning periods, so many tries were required before we got something that worked.

I have been meeting with teachers on the different levels about planning and also teaching of reading and English grammar. Often I observe in the classrooms and meet individually with teachers to discuss whatever needs/concerns they may have. The door to my "office" is always open and both teachers and students come frequently for assistance. This is my "school life" here.

I have been equally busy in the after school hours with my community responsibilities, preparing our yearly financial report, teaching English to our postulants, keeping our annals, and helping other sisters when they need assistance with writing letters or reports. There is little "spare time."
Things move rather slowly here at times, but eventually get done. Last November, our Dominican Convent School was given a grant to purchase a school bus. The bus finally arrived over the summer. Needless to say, everyone was excited and the teachers themselves wanted a chance to ride in it, since that is as much a luxury for them as it is for our students. So, instead of providing food on the school premises as we usually do at our first faculty meeting, we took the teachers on the bus to a local restaurant. The teachers enjoyed the food, but I think the ride in our very own bus was even more exciting for them. The bus is used daily to transport students who live at a distance to and from school. They pay a small fee to use the bus, but it is much cheaper and more reliable than using a local rickshaw or van.

We also had received a grant to build an auditorium for our school last year. When I left in June, the foundation had been dug. Now the building is well underway. How hard these men have to work! All of the bricks are brought in by bull carts. There are no cranes or other machines to make the work easier, no pre-made scaffolding or ladders, and no strong, neat beams to hold up the areas just built or those being constructed. I was sorry that I failed to get a picture of the "trees" that held up the building! I don't know where the wood came from because trees are sparse around here, but there were easily 100-150 trees, with limbs removed, both inside and outside the building, keeping up the ceiling and the overhangs above the windows. It looked like a forest! Now the men are working on the balcony area. I am both fascinated by the process and saddened for these men who work so hard for very small salaries.

On a more humorous note: We had a presentation given at our school this week on tourism in Pakistan. The presenter was very knowledgeable about the many places of interest in Pakistan and the historical sights, but he never suspected that our students would ask the questions that the tourism industry failed to consider. "How," one girl asked, "can you encourage tourism to these sites you're showing when there are no roads leading to them and transportation to them is unavailable?" Another asked, "What do you see as the major hindrances to tourism in these places?" He was forced to admit that not only is there a lack of transportation, but also, there are no restrooms in most areas, no hotels, and often no source of fresh water. I think they may need some of our girls to help the tourism industry to do some major planning! If they manage to do the groundwork, there are certainly places that would be worth visiting for people interested in history, culture, art and architecture.

Pakistan is holding its presidential elections today and the results are supposed to be made known on October 17th. Please pray for a peaceful and wise election that will benefit this country and its people.

You are in my thought and prayers always.

Sr. Anne