Monthly Archives: August 2014

The following day we headed up the adventurous 55km Shimshal Road from the KKH and Passu. This road has a long and interesting history. It was built with a lot of local villager voluntary work over a 20 year period with some financial support from the Government of Pakistan and the Aga Khan Foundation.

It opened in 2003 and turned a 3-7 day journey on foot into a 3 hour drive. See history of the Shimshal road by David Butz, Brock University, Canada.

The road had been blocked by a rockslide 10 days earlier so we were not sure if we could get through to Shimshal that day. After one hour of driving the windy, narrow and exposed gravel road we came to the blocked area. There were at least 10 men working on repairing the road under the supervision of a government engineer. We were told that it would be at least another day before the road would reopen. It certainly did not look like the road was close to being finished. They were using dynamite to break up some overhanging rock to use as a base for the road and reduce the chances of further rockfall in the area.

We waited a couple of hours in the mid day sun to see if any opportunities opened up to get a ride to Shimshal from the far side of the blockage.

Fortunately a driver showed up from the Pasu side but had keys for a jeep on the Shimshal side of the blockage. All 8 of us loaded up the vehicle and headed happily to Shimshal. It was a great relief to get through the blockage because a big part of this trip’s objective was to spend some time with the shepherds at Shimshal Pass (4700m).We were concerned that we would not have enough time to make it there and back by foot.

We were very happy to arrive in Shimshal in the late afternoon after a number of challenging river crossings. Shimshal (3,000m) has a population of approximately 2,000 people living in 3 villages (Aminabad, Shimshal and Khizarabad) at the far end of the valley. These three villages consist of Wakhi speaking residents that support herds of sheep, goats and yaks that are moved up and down valley with the seasons.

Shimshal residents have hydroelectricity for approximately 5 months/year. There are current efforts being made to extend the hydroelectricity availability using a natural spring further down valley that does not freeze in the winter. Shimshal currently does not have any access to landline/ mobile or internet connectivity. The community has a satellite phone that is only used for emergencies.

The equivalent Local Support Organisation (LSO) for Shimshal is the Shimshal Nature Trust (SNT).

The previous government run dispensary in Shimshal was replaced in 2011 by a privately (German) funded and supported Shimshal Health Care Centre. This new Health Care Centre was built by the community with external funding from Misereor, Germany, Gesundheit fur Shimshal e.v Germany (Lisa and Horst Buschmann) with the support and advice from Nawbhar Education and Welfare Development Organisation(NEWDO),Shimshal.

The new Health Care Centre is bright, cheerful, quite spacious with running water, a birthing suite, consultation room, pharmacy area, and administration room. It is supported by a staff of 5 people i.e. Dispenser, LHV, Midwife, Assistant Nurse and Administrator. The Dispenser, Mr Farman Ullah has been providing medical care to his community for the past 36 years. He has and continues to be a real asset to his community. The administrator Mr Zulfiqar is very competent, motivated and also very active as a community leader including SNT.

The following morning we drove the 23 km north and west to Misgar. The approach to Misgar village is especially beautiful this time of the year. The fields were vibrant with wheat/barley and alfalfa crops with snow capped peaks towards Mintaka and Kilik Passes in the background. The water in Misgar is very pure. It looks so clear as it runs through the human made channels throughout the village.

We had a breakfast meeting with Mr Abdullah and the LSO coordinator and board member at his home in Misgar. He has a beautiful garden, full of vegetables and fruit trees.

Misgar is an oasis in a very dry mountain landscape. In many ways it is a model village in their agricultural practices and community support/engagement.

We visited the Misgar Dispensary with Mr Abdullah. He now has a medical technician working with him.

He appeared to have quite a good supply of medicines and dressings.

There is currently no LHV/midwife working in Misgar. All pregnant women have to travel to Sost to deliver their babies.

Intermittently, the 16km gravel road from Misgar to the KKH gets blocked by mud/rock slides and occasionally snow in the winter months.

BHI has agreed to spend up to 480,000 rupees (20,000 rupees/month x 2yrs) towards the training of one selected candidate from the Misgar Valley to complete the combined LHV/Midwife 2 year program at the Aga Khan University in Karachi. The selected candidate will need to commit to working in the Misgar Valley for a minimum of 3 years after completing the program.

We met with some LSO representatives and 4 potential candidates for the LHV/midwife training program.

We explained that the position would be open to all candidates from the Misgar Valley. The selection of the candidate should be fair and transparent and go to the best qualified applicant. The selection should come from the LSO and confirmed by KADO and BHI.

Misgar village has landline phone access but no mobile phone or internet connectivity yet. We discussed e-health possibilities once there is connectivity in the future. We did discuss the possibility of e-health training for health workers from Misgar at the KADO IT Centre in the future.

We also met with two Basic Health Workers, one works in a room attached to her home in the main village(where we met) and the other is assigned at the lower end of the village. They help with vaccinations and mother/child care in their community.

We then visited a Female Youth Vocational Training Centre. The program has been operational for 6 months and is run by a very enthusiastic female teacher. They have a number of sewing machines that help produce their clothing products. With Imran’s help, we discussed developing a marketing plan once the products are made. Imran indicated that KADO could help with a marketing program and training.

We then visited a Women’s Carpet Making Centre and viewed some of their fine products. They would also benefit from more education in the marketing area.

We visited the old British built Post Office. It was built in 1915 and is still operational today as a post office. Misgar was historically part of the old Silk Route for caravans of human and animal movement over Mintaka and Kilik Passes into Central Asia.

We tried to arrange a visit with shepherds at Mintaka(4827m) and Kilik Passes(4726m) prior to our arrival.

Unfortunately both areas are closed to westerners for polital/security reasons.

We returned to Sost later that day.