Roshan the camel carries books for children who can no longer go to school because of lockdown imposed due to coronavirus pandemic. Roshan plods through the desert in Balochistan in remote southwest Pakistan, to reach little readers.
Around 50 million school children and university students continue their education from home since Pakistan’s educational institutions closed due Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. Lack of internet access in many villages in places like Balochistan makes it difficult for the students to attend online classes.
Raheema Jalal, a High School Principal and her sister Zubaida Jalal, a Federal Minister in the Pakistan Government founded the Camel Library project. They started the library in August 2020 so that children around their remote hometown can continue to learn despite schools being closed.
The project is in collaboration with the Female Education Trust and Alif Laila Book Bus Society, two non-government organisations (NGOs) that have been running children’s library projects in the country for the past 36 years.
Roshan the camel carries the books to four villages in the district of Kech three times a week and stays for about two hours each time. Children borrow books and return them the next time Roshan visits the village.
Raheema Jalal hopes to continue and expand the library project so that children from more villages can benefit from this. But expansion needs funding. The project pays around $118 a month for the service by Roshan.
Murad Ali, Roshan’s owner was surprised when he was approached by the authorities for Roshan’s services to run the unique project. He enjoys his trips and is also pleased to see happy children around his priceless cargo. He still earns as much as he used to earn when he transported firewood.
Balochistan is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. It is an arid desert and mountainous area in the southwestern region of the country. Though it is the largest province in terms of land area, it is the least populated. It is also the country’s most impoverished region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Quetta.
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