Pakistani Visitors

Here's a blog that will be like preaching to the choir since many of us have met the wonderful visitors from Pakistan that have been adding some exotic color to the "lush green" of Easton. However, for readers who didn't get a chance to meet Ms. Sadaf Rani and Ms. Shagufta Ahmed Ansari, here's the story.

Sadaf and Shagufta are part of a group of 13 Pakistani media experts who are visiting the US as part of a cultural exchange. The group was split up among Massachusetts towns for 2 1/2 day visits before moving on to programs in Boston, New York, and Washington. Shagufta works as an Assistant Director of the External Publicity Wing at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting while Sadaf is a Senior Producer at Radio Pakistan.

Colleen Corona served as the women's host while they were visiting Easton. The goal of the trip is to compare media and journalism in the two countries, but for all who met Sadaf and Shagufta it was an opportunity to overcome some of the misconceptions Americans have about Pakistan. Luckily for me, my media students were invited to interview the two visitors. You'll be able to see that formal interview on ECAT within a few days, but, of course, the best stuff happened after the students turned off the cameras and swarmed around the two women.

We didn't know what to expect from our visitors. Pakistan is a predominantly Muslim country so I think the students expected burkas and veils or at least head scarfs. What we got were two modern women dressed in the spectacularly colorful clothes of Pakistan. Sadaf told me the dress was a choice and showed me pictures of the other women in the group who were wearing western clothes. She told me that even she wore jeans at home, but always in combination with the beautiful traditional style of blouse.

Ironically, the pair arrived in the week when Newsweek magazine listed Pakistan as the eighth worst country for the treatment of women. Our visitors are from Islamabad, the capital and a large modern city. Women have made great strides there and in other cities. As in the US certain professions had always been open to women, and women often worked outside the house running small businesses. In the last two decades many more professions have been opened to women again just like the US. Both women used their own industry as an example. Where once there were only a few channels on TV now there are 70 TV channels and a vibrant radio culture providing new opportunities for women. Pakistan even has affirmative action with job quotas for women. Pay discrimination isn't allowed-equal pay for people in equal positions was something they were justly proud of.

Pakistan is a big country with almost 200 million people. Most live in rural areas and make their living in agriculture. There the culture is more traditional and there things like the 800 honor killings mentioned in Newsweek can occur. Sadaf told me she had never known of an honor killing in her wide circle of family and friends. I couldn't help but think of at least four murders that have happened to people I knew-all man on woman violence.

Islam does have different cultural rules. Both women have cars in Islamabad, but they wouldn't drive a male co-worker to a restaurant. Only male family members or "trusted family friends." Of course, Sadaf mentioned, college girls drive fellow students all the time. Both women emphasized the positive traditions of Islam and noted that their religion did not prevent engagement with the modern world of the Internet and social media.

Our visitors were candid about the problems of their country without being critical of the government. They noted their long border with Afghanistan, which has been troubled since the 1980s, and their traditional rivalry with India. These concerns have led to a large military, and the military budget is a huge drain on a developing economy that makes for shortages in funds for education, medical care, and economic development. In Pakistan even government supported schools charge a fee to attend. Media censorship is more of a problem there, but things are improving and with dozens of channels in both TV and radio many reports questioning government policies appear every day. Both woman left my students with a number of websites to check out. Sadaf even has a Facebook page. English is one of the official languages of Pakistan (it's mandatory in schools) along with Urdu and five regional languages so we can easily keep tabs on the media there.

Later in the day of our TV interview I got to share a meal with our visitors. We chatted about movies, shopping, fall foliage (they have it too!) and recipes. I asked why do we have such mistaken ideas about each other. These two savvy media folks were quick to point the finger at modern media. While media is making the world a global village, it tends to give us snapshots and soundbites rather than depth. We all agreed if more people could just talk around a kitchen table, the world would be a better place.