Columban Fr Joe Joyce (left) & Jerry Lohera (right) in Pakistan. Photo: Jerry Lohera
As a part of my seminary formation, I was assigned to a tribal village in the Sindh, Pakistan. There were many days when I felt at home there. However it was also upsetting to see the amount of poverty and the majority of children from the villages working in the fields. When you get to know the people and spend time with them, there can be some very positive and rewarding reactions too.
For the last three days I have been staying with Shakoor’s family in the village of Tajeli. It is in a remote area about a two-hour journey from the parish centre. They have been sharing their meals with me, chapatti which is an unleavened wheat or rice bread, a lentil named dahl and sabzi which are vegetables.
Early one morning we left the village riding on a packed truck driven by a Balochi, that is, a native of Balochistan which is a province of Pakistan on the border with Iran.
I was fortunate enough to sit with him in the front seat and we had a good chat in my limited Urdu language. We were on our way to a big farm to pick okra, which is known as ladies’ fingers in some countries. I imagine the owner of the farm must have been quite wealthy. As I started joining in the work of picking the okra, my companions warned me that my hands would become very itchy. One of them even offered his gloves to me, but I bravely refused the offer and bore the consequences!
Around ten in the morning we had a break and drank some tea that someone brought out for us. I discovered that many, if not all of the workers, were working on an empty stomach and that normally they have no breakfast. After our cup of tea everyone was back at work with no delay. I believe that these workers are paid seven rupees for one kilo of okra harvested. That is not much more than 12 cents (AUD) for one kilo of okra. Most of the work these people are able to get is seasonal.
Jerry Lohera (left) with the farmworkers in Pakistan. Photo: Jerry Lohera
We sat in an open field under the heat of the sun all exhausted, waiting for the truck to bring us back to the village. I noticed some of the women laughing at me. I believe they were commenting on my hunger and exhaustion. “Brother must be very hungry now!” But I could see from the faces of everyone that we were all hungry and very tired. That day opened my eyes to the daily struggle these people have to find work and to earn some money in order to feed their families. It was a moment of enlightenment for me and I felt I was privileged to be with them.
The night after my first day in the fields, a headache disturbed my sleep until morning. The second night, it was my stomach that troubled me and kept me awake. But, thank God, the third night was a restful one. I had been thinking about abandoning my fellow workers and returning to the parish centre. However, I’m thankful now that I resisted that temptation and stayed with the work and my fellow workers and completed my days of immersion, sound and safe.
Looking back on that experience of my four days in the village of Tajeli, I am aware of some impressions that have stayed with me. The first one is the reality of the life of those people. They are poor, they work as day labourers on farms and they might have a little land themselves but there is very little rain and no irrigation. The water they have has a heavy mineral content making it unsuitable for crops. There is no Government health programme. Due to the absence of educational opportunities, many of them are illiterate. The second impression or conviction I received is that these people are very dear to God, loved by God, the God whom I am called to serve as a Columban missionary.
Wherever I go on mission, I am called to bring an open and grateful heart. It is a privilege for me to spend time with these people, to be close to them and let them help me to reflect on my missionary vocation. Gospel joy, oftentimes, is found in simplicity of life and being with the poor and being identified as one of them.
Columban seminarian, Jerry Lohera from the Philippines, was on First Mission Assignment in Pakistan.
Listen to "A heart for the poor"
Related links
- Read more from The Far East - January/February 2021
