Dáire King is a 16-year-old student at St Jarleth’s College in Tuam, Ireland. He took advantage of a Transition Year to visit his uncle, Columban Fr Tomás King on mission in Pakistan.
Photos: Fr Pat Raleigh SSC
Part of my life growing up was the occasional phone call I would receive from my uncle, Tomás, who is a Columban missionary priest in Pakistan. Every conversation I had with him over the phone would include the question: “When are you coming to Pakistan, Dáire?”
While I knew he was usually joking, it still made the phone call a little awkward as I was unable to tell him I had no plans to go to Pakistan to see him. I would always answer with, “Maybe next year.” In fact I did not think I would ever go to Pakistan and never imagined myself wanting to go there. That was until my brother, Cathal, who is two years older than I decided to visit Pakistan during his Transition Year. I thought he was extremely courageous to go to this unknown country with our aunt, Mary.
Tomás did have visitors from Ireland before, including his sisters and brother, but Cathal was the first of our generation in the family to visit. As my older brother, he set an example for me and made me realise that when you have the opportunity you should take chances and be adventurous.
The mainstream media tends to portray Pakistan as a dangerous place, but Cathal went and experienced it for himself and debunked that myth. Following in his footsteps and hearing how much he enjoyed it, I decided to go to Pakistan along with my cousin, Eoin, during my Transition Year. I had to see for myself what Tomás has been experiencing for the last 27 years.
My first day in Pakistan was somewhat overwhelming. I could not believe that I was actually there with my cousin and uncle and not back in Ireland with them during one of Tomás’ occasional visits home. One thing I noticed in the city of Karachi, where we stayed for the first two days, was the smog. In the streets of the city distant buildings were not very visible and I could smell the fumes and smoke. This was my first experience of smog and for the first time, I got a real sense of how air pollution affects the environment.
After doing some travelling around the city, I began to realise why there is so much smog. Over the two days in Karachi I saw only a few bicycles. Instead, there were motorbikes everywhere, carrying up to five people. It seemed like the motorbike is the family vehicle. The traffic was chaotic and it is no wonder that the air is so polluted with all the fumes from the thousands if not millions of motor vehicles.
In Tomás’ parish, there was a rubbish dump that we visited, and this dump was a shocking sight, to say the least! There was every kind of rubbish to be seen in large heaps that caused foul smells. We saw families working on the dump, sorting and burning rubbish. Young children worked there to help their fathers earn less than a living.
This dump showed me that while the government does not provide proper services to deal with all the rubbish and to recycle it, poor people collect it and sell what is reusable to eke out a precarious living. Seeing these children working in these conditions, while in other countries other children their age attend school, really put things into perspective for me.
Following my uncle around the southern part of Pakistan I got to see him deal with many different people in difficult situations. He is always trying to help those who are in need and seeing him work so selflessly really inspired me to think about my own actions. His constant efforts to help these people obtain basic needs like education made me realise how much we people from developed countries take for granted.
We went to two remote villages where people lived in mud huts and one of their biggest concerns was to ensure that we enjoyed our visit. They offered us a lovely dinner and I do not think I had ever appreciated where the food came from as much as I did then. It felt like so much more than a dinner, it was a gift.
We also visited a parish where Tomás was previously based and where he and Columban missionaries helped people break free from bonded labour by providing land to build houses on. We heard that Government officials falsely claimed that the land was being encroached upon and demolished many houses illegally.
While we were observing the wrecked houses, a lady invited us over for tea as she boiled water on the ground where her house had been. Her family found chairs for us to sit down beside their tent while Tomás talked to them. It was very upsetting to see what they had to suffer. But they wanted us to feel welcome and they seemed to put us before themselves.
Thinking about my life in Ireland and seeing these people struggle through each day really put my wealth into perspective and I am not talking only about money. I am blessed to be living in a place where education is free for everyone, where there is no shortage of water, where opportunities are endless and dreams can be fulfilled with determination and hard work. What I used to call ‘hard work’ would be a walk in the park for most of the people I met in Pakistan. They work tirelessly for their landlords just to be able to feed their families each day.
Fr Tomás King in Pakistan. Photos: Fr Pat Raleigh SSC
My visit to Pakistan was an eye-opener, seeing the poverty first-hand. The thing that stood out for me was the generosity and kindness of the people no matter how bad their situation was.
I have never felt as welcome in another country as I did in Pakistan and I will definitely visit Tomás there in the future. Seeing how hard these people’s lives are, I can understand why Tomás devotes so much of his time to helping them. I am proud to call him my uncle.
Dáire King is a 16-year-old student at St Jarleth’s College in Tuam, Ireland.
Listen to "Eye opening work in Pakistan"
Related links
- Read more from The Far East, August 2020
