Of mobile phones in unlikely places
31.05.2010
For whom the bell tolls, for whom the phone rings. I grew up in a home where we took for granted having a family car, indoor plumbing, and electrical service. I can remember when to this list of modern marvels a twelve inch black and white television was added. Still later, about 1953, we finally got a sturdy, black, no-frills Western Electric telephone. It was a 'party line' that we shared with another family in the area. Now this particular telephone had neither push buttons nor a dial. It was easy to use. You picked up the receiver spoke to an operator, giving her the number you wanted to reach and she put through your call. (Trust me, I am still more than three decades away from celebrating my 100th birthday! But we did live in an area beyond the growing edge of the city.)
It was probably the fact that the telephone was one of the last conveniences to arrive in our house that caused me to be so completely surprised by the ring of a mobile telephone while I was visiting our missionaries in Pakistan in December.
Fr. Dan O'Connor, Sister Theresa and Columban lay missionary Carmela travelled out to a small Christian settlement for a pastoral visit with a large extended Catholic Parkari-Kohli family, at their rural compound, a collection of small thatched buildings at the edge of a sugar cane field and away from a paved road. The walls and the floors of the houses were made of dried mud. There were few manufactured items around to remind a visitor that this is the twenty-first century. The compound was ringed with branches from thorn bushes to keep out intruders. There was no electrical service. One of the daughters-in-law was sent to get water from a stream. She returned and delivered a full basin, carrying it on her head without spilling a precious drop. 
Tea was prepared by boiling water over an open fire. The adults and children were dressed in traditional clothing. Then, from somewhere nearby, I began to hear the unmistakable ringing of someone's mobile phone and one of the men pulled a small telephone from under the folds of the blanket wrapped around his shoulders and walked a few paces away to take the call. I think my surprise was justified!
I never did find out how he kept the telephone's battery charged. A solar device? A hand-cranked charger? Even in a major city like Karachi, 'load sharing' means that the power goes on and off for up to eight hours each day. Later I was told that cell phones can be charged from an automobile battery – for a small fee, of course.
Since mobile telephony was introduced to Pakistan competing companies serve different market segments. Instaphone claims to be able to deliver coverage to an ever expanding network of 185 cities. Ufone now covers over 100 key cities and prominent highways across Pakistan. One company alone claims to have 20,000,000 subscribers in its customer base.
Because of the popularity of mobile telephones, Pakistanis, even those in rural areas, have come a long way in terms of the way they communicate. From living in isolation, to basic one-to-one voice communication, customers can now also do text messaging (SMS). Mobile phone companies have more customers than even the most optimistic promoters would have predicted 20 years ago. Small shops in the towns and along the highways sell pre-paid cards for as little as 100 rupees (US$1.20).
There are obvious benefits to putting phones in the hands of the population. People who live far from the towns can now call some medically trained person in case of sickness or accident. On the other hand, easy-to-obtain mobile telephones make coordinating the business of terrorists easier.
In discussing all this with Fr. Tomas King, he mentioned something that would never have occurred to me. In the past, the B.C. era, 'before cellphones', a missionary's visit to a small village would always come as a surprise. There would be no time to pluck a chicken and prepare a feast, so the people would always apologise for serving simpler fare to Father. Now, that they can be reached by phone, he is expected to let them know ahead of time about the visit. There is now time to do the hospitable thing and shift one of the chickens from the yard to the pot!
If they knew this, the chickens might not be so nonchalant when the phone rings!
Fr John Burger served as a missionary in Japan and in the USA, and is a member of the Superior General's Council.
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