Pakistan: ‘You are the angels in our life’
The Catholic Church in Pakistan “goes to the margins” to free Christians from slavery.
The mighty Indus flows through the Pakistani province of Sindh. The land around the life-giving river is the birthplace of many civilizations. As early as 8000 B.C., the first people settled here and began to practice farming. From the former provincial capital of Hyderabad, the road cuts southward through fields as far as the eye can see. Men, women, and children work there in the heat. It is early morning, and the thermometer shows 90 degrees Fahrenheit. At the height of summer, the temperature regularly rises to over 120 degrees.
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) accompanied Bishop Samson Shukardin of Hyderabad on a visit to the area, which was badly hit by floods in the summer of 2022. He explained that the workers in the fields are not paid for their labor. “All the lands in the Sindh province belong to big landowners,” he said. “The workers apply to cultivate the land and live on it. If the owner agrees, they can start farming. They must pay for the seeds and tools themselves, and many go into debt for it. If the harvest is successful, they are allowed to keep half of the income, while the other half goes to the landowner.”
The farmers use the income to pay their debts and buy seeds for the coming season. Theoretically, the farmers and their families can earn a modest living this way. But in practice, the majority are caught in a debt trap that turns them into serfs of the rich landowners. If a harvest fails, the families not only lose their own share, but they must also compensate the landowner for the expected profit. If they are unable to pay, they must stay and perform forced labor. This medieval servitude decides the fate of many of the province’s Christian and Hindu families. And last year’s floods made their situation worse: all their harvests failed; villages were destroyed; and their debt grew.
For Bishop Shukardin, the Church’s most urgent task is to give hope to these modern slaves. In the villages of the Indus Delta, catechists like Veero Akhiani “go to the margins,” as Pope Francis says. Akhiani regularly visits families in their villages, teaches the children, leads devotions, and prays with the people. “When the flood came, all the houses were destroyed, and the villagers had to take refuge in the concrete walls of the canals,” Akhiani said. “We provided them with food and medicine.”
But the Church’s most important gift, says Bishop Shukardin, is education. “Those who go to school can then find jobs in the cities,” he explained. “So at least the children can escape the vicious cycle of poverty.” This is why education is the Church’s priority task in the villages, he said. Classes are often held in the open air, because a school can only be built if a landowner permits it. “Many of the big landowners see education as a threat to their livelihood and do not allow a school to be built,” said Bishop Shukardin.
But in a small unnamed village south of Gharo, one landowner approved the construction of a school. He specified the exact length and width for the draughty wooden shack, so 70 children must cram into 540 square feet, even though the building is surrounded by wasteland. They sit on plastic stools or the bare floor; the wind whistles through cracks in the walls; a heavy rain would wash the hut away.
And in the village, there is no electricity. It is only thanks to ACN’s flood relief that the families here are not undernourished and can receive medical care. So, people from all over the region gathered to thank ACN. A man named Yousaf and his wife Haniya stepped forward with their seven children, representing the community. “We have worked hard but achieved nothing,” Yousaf said in a quiet voice. He looked down at the ground and swallowed; Haniya looked at him with love. And then his voice became stronger. “But now, we have food, and one day, our children will be better off than we are. Thanks to the school, thanks to the teachers, thanks to you. You are the angels in our life.”
Bishop Shukardin is aware that teachers roving from village to village in what are, at best, improvised buildings is only a stopgap solution. So, he has asked ACN for help in increasing access to education.
In concrete terms, the Diocese of Hyderabad is building Catholic boarding schools for this purpose. One is in Tando Allahyar, which means “the city blessed by God,” and anyone who visits its boarding school feels the truth of that name. Children’s bright eyes sparkle with dreams of the future; when ACN visited, the girls did a traditional dance, and the boys showed off their English. Tarja, a shy, polite, seven-year-old girl told ACN that she wants to be a fighter pilot in the Pakistan Air Force. At this, Bishop Shukardin smiled. “We Christians love our country, but we are only a small minority, some two percent of the population. That’s why it would be good if more Christians had important posts in the army, police, and administration.” Tarja nodded. She will do her best.
Whether that will be enough, however, is not certain. “Inflation in the country is very high; food prices have doubled within a year,” Bishop Shukardin reported. “The children’s parents can hardly afford school fees. They rely on scholarships.”
So the boarding school in Tando Allahyar can continue as one of the diocese’s most promising projects, ACN assists with the maintenance of the buildings and with new construction. For example, a new residential wing to accommodate more students was built in 2023. But the demand from Christian families remains high. That is why the aid of human angels is still needed to help the children of the Sindh province escape slavery and make a living as mature adults in the cities.
—Andre Stiefenhover
