On the way to Kemari

“Sorry, sorry go to Kemari, in a ghada gari (donkey cart)”. This old ditty from a time when  Kemari seemed miles away from the urban centre of Karachi, is strangely appropriate. Because the story i am about to tell you involves a donkey cart,   Shireen Jinnah Colony, a dense settlement, on the way to Kemari, and a family of 7 children. 

Shireen Jinnah is barely a 7 minute drive from Clifton, the affluent shopping-working-residential heart of Karachi. Take one turn, and you’re through the looking glass: back-stage-Karachi. The behind the scenes that houses the people who are the cogs in the machinery that keeps this city of 20 million going. The juxtaposition is stark: The reflection of brand new Sky scrapers and the nest of topsy-turvy derelict  tiny box houses separated in the real world by a polluted inlet, jostle in the rippling murky waters. This is where Arshad Bibi and her seven children live. 

Arshad Bibi is a force of nature. She ambles, slowly. Followed rank and file by her seven duckings. Her slow waddling walk does not reflect the panic that must be her constant companion, the everyday-struggle to keep the ducklings fed and clothed. Aged 19 to 3, none of them can even afford to think about school. They live in 2 tiny rented rooms at the top of their landlord’s house. A small kitchen, and a dark windowless backroom in which they sleep. Windows you see, are a luxury. With Pakistan in the midst of an inflationary tail-spin driven by the risk of an IMF default, the landlord has once again increased her rent. Worse, the properties in Shireen Jinnah are at in the  government’s cross-hairs and their drive to take back encroachments. The proximity to Clifton means that this slum-laden strip is hugely valuable. More so, apparently than the thousands of souls who inhabit it. For Arshad Bibi this would be disastrous. She can’t afford to move further, because that would make it impossible for Meethu (Sweetling) and Sultan (King), the family’s greatest assets, their 2 donkeys,  to ply their trade. This is where the Donkey cart comes in.

Arshad bibi is the widow of a donkey cart driver. He died just about 3 years ago when Arshad was still pregnant with their youngest Urooj. With no other means. she turned to her 3 older children to help make a living. With none of the 3 able to read or  write even their names, the choices were limited. The eldest Ali Waqas took a job (from which he was let go) taking care of the animals of a well-off subarban family – several chickens, dogs, parrots. He lived in fear of any of the animals getting sick, as he was told he would have to replace them. Fozia his sister works as a live-in-maid with a family who Arshad Bibi knows. She earns Rs 15,000 a month (less than $75), a meagre salary but Arshad Bibi cannot risk placing her with a family she does not know. She comes home once a week if she is lucky, The then 15-year old Ali Waqar took up his father’s job, plying the  donkey-cart to collect garbage. It is Ali Waqar whom we met first when he was in a spot of trouble. KAS Access-to-justice, A Boon Initiative focused on providing free legal help, rescued him when he was apprehended with a friend cutting the grill on a house in high-end neighbourhood in Karachi. They were not trying to break-in, they were looking to sell the iron to scavengers to feed their families. As “Garbage wars” are waged in Karachi, with different companies vying for contractual garbage collection services, AW is seeing his livelihood disappear. When AW was caught (this was his second time. His mother was referred to us for help, by a kind patron. With the Intervention of one our Boon Initiative Heroes  and the help of the SHO in charge of the police station, we were able to have both AW released with a warning. L-O-V-E is stepping in to pull these boys back from the precipice they are on. The temptation of “easy money” earned from pecadillos is a gateway to a life of crime. Meeting with the family we found them to be all undocumented. Arshad Bibi’s Identity card had expired 11 years ago, her marriage was unregistered, she had never obtained a death certificate for her husband, and the children? As far as official records were concerned they did not exist. With no family in Karachi, KAS Access-to-Justice organised for Arshad’s brother to visit from Punjab. Their records were painstakingly built and finally brought up to date.

L-O-V-E is helping the family with food and rent, and getting the newly documented children into school after the summer vacations. We are looking to find the means to increase their livelihood. From helping Ali Waqas to find a job, to exploring the possibility of building a specially equipped Donkey cart that could be used  by the older brothers to give rides on the beach at the week-ends. The bigger challenge, one that we may have to deal with in the near future, will be to provide them with safe and secure housing.

With a little help from you, and a little L-O-V-E this family is keeping the demons at bay and looking to latch on the glimmer of hope they see for a brighter future.