Roshan the camel is on an important mission.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
He purposely plods through the arid desert terrain of Pakistan's Balochistan, his broad feet sinking into the hot sand at every step. His destination is a village where dozens of children, all wearing their Sunday best, await him and his cargo of books.
"The camel is here!! The camel is here!" the delighted children chant as they surround Roshan, the camel library.
In March 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic raging across the country, Pakistan closed its schools, sending over 50 million school and university-going students home, to the dismay of tens of thousands of parents and people connected with the education system.
Video: Reuters
Raheema Jalal, principal of Zubeda Jalal Girls High School (ZJGHS), who founded the Camel Library project with her sister, a federal minister, says she started the library last August because she wanted children around her remote hometown to continue learning despite schools being closed.
The project collaborates with the Female Education Trust (FET) and Alif Laila Book Bus Society (ALBBS), two NGOs who has been running children's library projects in the country for 36 years.
Roshan carries the books to four different villages in the district of Kach, making the journey on alternate week days. The library is open for two to three hours, from around 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and children choose the books they like and return them when the library comes again.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
"I like picture books, because when I look at the pictures and the photographs, I can understand the story better," nine-year-old Ambareen Imran said.
The village schools have reopened, but local officials say they have received many more requests for the library to continue in spite of the resumption.
Jala hopes to continue and expand the project to cover more villages and is looking into funding. As of now almost the entire budget of Rs 18,000 ($117.50) goes to the employment of Roshan.
Murad Ali, the owner of Roshan, says he was taken aback when he was first contacted about the project, but thought that camels were the most sensible mode of transport in the remote and rugged area where village streets are too narrow for vehicles. He enjoys the trips, seeing the happy children and on top of that, he still earns just as much as when he used to carry firewood.
Balochistan, Pakistan's largest province by area is an arid desert and mountainous region in the southwest of Pakistan constituting 44% of Pakistan's total land mass and a population of 12.34 million. It is Pakistan's most impoverished province, with a 40% literacy rate – the lowest in the country. Around 62% of children between the ages of five and 16 in Balochistan are out of school in rural areas of the backward province.
