June 2017 Project: Women are the real hope for Pakistan. Let’s all help them together! | Caritas Sant'Antonio ONLUS

Pakistan is a great country that is overwhelmingly Muslim. Its laws, customs and traditions are starkly defined by this religious identity: it is not easy to be a ‘minority’ here, to profess a faith that is different from Islam. The condition of women is also one of oppression: girls are often denied an education, women are sidelined, segregated within the family or obliged to do humble and underpaid jobs.

Khushpur is a small Christian village that is deeply devoted to Saint Anthony: every family has an image of him. Fr. Giancarlo Zamengo, General Director of the Messenger of Saint Anthony has met many of these families one to one; he has talked to the elderly, children and young people. But above all he has listened to what the women had to tell him: it is not easy to meet them outside, so he met them within their own homes and in the places where the Christian community meets. He has seen their eyes, and has heard their stories of struggle and tears.

A job… in order to build a better future

This year, on the occasion of the Feast of Saint Anthony, we friars have decided to build a Centre for Vocational Training for the women of Khushpur, because women are the real hope for the future of this country. Fr. Giancarlo discovered this while meeting Malala, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, and in meeting Layla, Sharrona, Sana, Camila, Rose and the many other women of Khuspur involved in constructing a better future for their children and families.

In the Centre they will be able to learn a job and become tailors – in this way creating clothes with the exquisitely beautiful fabric found in this country. Only work will make them free, and will enable them to be respected, and to preserve their faith and culture while living in peace in their own land. The Centre will be open to young girls as well. They are often obliged to terminate their education for fear of being attacked.

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