My trip to Pakistan was a home coming experience for my brother and I. It was also a cultural enlightening for myself. This picture was taken on top of my aunt’s house in a suburb of Lahore. Although only in Pakistan a little longer than a month, I feel like we accomplished a world of experiences. I am most thankful that I was able to engage this culture on the level every day person and not from the overpriced, well polished, and authentic shoes of an outsider. Being of the same ethnic back round allowed my brother and I to blend into the crowd.
This is another picture from the roof of my aunt’s house. It can give you some incite to the every day life of the average person. Most people live in these complexes with their entire families. When the family grows too large to be accommodated by these structures they usually don't move far. The blue barrel like things on the roofs of these houses provide water through a gravity feed system.
You can only pump water to fill these barrels when the electricity is working and there is a good supply of water to draw from. So it's a good day when there is water to be had and the power is on in the morning long enough to get the days supply of drinking, bathing and cleaning water. While I was in Pakistan the power was usually on every other hour or so. From what I had heard this was a good scenario. As I understand the power is sometimes only on for a few hours spread sporadically throughout the day. The worst comes in the dead of summer when everyone is trying to run air conditioning (usually fans).
The whole country has this problem with the power and the only ones who can avoid functioning by candlelight during the day are ones who can afford gas-powered generators. Needless to say these people are few and far between. The generators are common in the larger establishments though. There are a slew of living problems associated with this lack of electricity. No refrigeration for your foods; which is remedied by constant market trips, no light; which is battled with natural gas lamps and candles, a lack of air conditioning; to which they have no solid solution, and a lack of a water to name a few.
To be continued . . .
