Blogs from Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Asia - page 2

Dear All Just a quick blog to pass the news on that V.S.O. have descided to stop international volunteering in Pakistan until the political situation becomes more settled so we will be coming back a couple of months earleir than intended. We now plan to leave at the end of July ready to go back to work in Coventry in September. All volunteers are to leave by September. This is sad news for many reasons--we have never felt in danger in the area where we are placed and we our having some good success in our work which will now have to be curtailed. However it will be lovely to see everyone again and bore you all with even more photos and stories of 'When we were in Pakistan..........' Good news--we are getting some monies from ... read more

School blog 2 As I write this I think you are all looking forward to half term, what ever the weather!! The holidays here do not seem to be so well defined---some depend on the phases of the moon and others on the decision of the government or who ever runs the school. Any how it means that sometimes Geoff and I are surprised to realise that there is no school today! The weather also plays a part in if school happens or not---rain is a problem, even just a little, as the ‘roads’ turn to mud very quickly, the class rooms are dark and the outdoor option not possible so few teachers turn up and even less students. Infact today is a wet day so we are home early and I am writing this sitting ... read more

Christmas at the fruit farm 2008-12-30 Thank you to everyone who sent Christmas messages. We had a much better Christmas than I thought but missed our family and friends a lot and needed tissues at times! We came to a place called Renala Khurd, where 2 other VSO volunteers are based. They live in one of the guest houses located at Mitchell’s Fruit Farm , a well established business that has been around for years hence the feeling of old colonial times!! The guest house has 4 big en-suite bedrooms, a lounge, huge entrance hall and a kitchen with a 2 burner gas stove and 1 electric ring! A fridge and a sink! And a beautiful veranda and a garden with a lawn and roses! Most of the volunteers who came out with us in October ... read more

This time Iwould like to post only the route that I follow since Katmandu... read more

At first it is a contest of which side can be louder, prouder, and more patriotic. When it is all said and done, citizens of both nations crowd at the locked gates that separate them. They cheerfully and curiously speak to each other while clasping the painted bars, knowing full well it is the closest they will ever come to setting foot on what was once a singular India sixty years ago. After proceeding through broken-down metal detectors (or simply stepping to the side of them to get through), the Pakistanis segregate their public by gender. The men occupy one section of the curved grandstands to the left; the women go the other way. If there is any advantage at all to witnessing the border closing ceremony on the Pakistani side, it is the VIP seating ... read more