Three cups of tea: One man to change the world!

After reading three cups of tea my perception of Americans have change (please do not take offense ;p) it is pretty funny how I believe this one man, Greg Mortens0n can definitely change many lives (in this case especially in Pakistan and Afghanistan). I agreed when in one of the video of Mortenson we watched in class on how people, especially the Americans are being ignorant when it doesn't have anything to do with them; I am pretty sure not many people care about what is going on out there let alone take action on it like what Mortenson have done for the past years. Through his book, Mortenson made good points of the importance of education on how both boys and girls have to be educated. He believed that one way to combat "terrorism" is through education, which I totally agree with because education is important and that is what I learn too in my religion; that there are only two things you'll bring with you when you die and that is your religion and your education :)

Save Education!

As can be seen from the previous two blogs, the videos about the Taliban taking over schools, and this picture, people are concerned and want to save the education of children, especially women in the Swat Valley.
I believe the Pakistani Government should be more involved and try to force the Taliban back to help save the education. It is hard enough for people in rural areas to have a school to go to and the Taliban is making it even tougher for students to go to school. Women in these areas are often not allowed to go to school because if there is a school men are usually the first to be allowed to go. The Pakistani Government needs to help the people in the Swat Valley, especially women attempting to go to school. The more people who are educated in Pakistan, the more the country will improve and eventually become a developed nation in the world.

Fatima Jinnah- Karen

A (Bara-Dari )Monument at Fatima Jinnah Park in Islamabad
Fatima Jinnah is most well known for her political support to her brother Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the leader of Muslim India, and founder of Pakistan but she did much more than that during her life. After the death of their father, Fatima was encouraged to finish school by her brother, and later went on to attend the Dr Ahmad Dental College in and opened her own dental practice in Calcutta when it was frowned upon by society for women to have a professional career. Although she was supported by her brother in this decision, most of the rest of her family was opposed to it. Later in life she joined the All India Muslim League and helped to form the All India Muslim Women Students Federation in 1941 in Delhi. She even went on to run for the Presidency of Pakistan in 1965. She died in 1967 of heart failure but it is speculated that she was actually murdered. Her legacy lives on in many schools and other national monuments that are named after her and in the political history of Pakistan. She will no doubt be a woman to look up to in the fight for women's rights for decades to come.

The Taliban Are Taking Over Schools!

This video talks about the closing of schools and the rules put in place by the Taliban on schools in the Swat Valley. Women who are attempting to go to school cannot do so without adhering to the regulations put in place by the Taliban. This is a major problem in Pakistan currently because women do not often get the chance to go to schools in rural areas, especially in the Northwest Frontier Province.

Women and Education in the Swat Valley- Karen

This is a video showing girls in the Swat Valley who want to go to school and are preparing to fight the Taliban to do so.

Women, Education, and Poverty

It really sad how in certain areas in Pakistan, women are forbid to go to school. In most Pakistani culture women are still label as mothers and wives therefore their place is to be at home only. As one of the third world and the poorest countries, you may think that these are might be the reasons that prevent women to enroll in schools. Sadly, this is not the case. Most Pakistani family believes that education is not part of the women's world; men think that women just have to be at home; cleaning, cooking, and taking care of their children. In one of the article that I read for our research paper, it is said that education is the most important essential to help the country from poverty but yet women are not allowed to get an education let alone expected to help the country to reduced the percentage of poverty in Pakistan. So I was just wondering, if these men were willing to let their girls to go to schools, will it help Pakistan in terms of building up their economics for the better?

Three Cups of Tea: Food- Karen

I was amazed this week of the foods that we cooked and about what I have learned about food from Three Cups of Tea. The things that Greg Mortenson tried while he was in Pakistan makes our class look less than adventurous in what we ate this week. I would be especially reluctant to try what was described as sheep organ stew. I would also have a hard time swallowing butter tea. From Greg's description of the first time he had it in the mountains when Mouzafer made it for him, it sounds supremely unpleasant. Ingredients of Paiyu Cha (the Balti name for butter tea) includes mar (rancid yak butter), salt, green tea, baking soda, and goats milk. Those ingredients mixed together sound less than pleasant to me so for now I think I will stick with restaurant made Indian food, and homemade Mattar Queema, made with beef. Also, I like the thought of a eating a hearty breakfast rather than the sweet masala like tea and chapatti bread the Pakistani eat each day, so eggs and bacon it is for me. Bon Appetite!