A happy beneficiary of a water well in the village of Mubarek Goth, provided by Heaven’s Family’s Safe Water Ministry
Head Coverings
David’s 2nd Photo-Blog from Pakistan
Today we visited three more Marwari villages in Southern Pakistan that are benefitting from Heaven’s Family Safe Water projects. The inhabitants of today’s villages, just as was the case in the two villages we visited yesterday, are economic slaves. They work for wealthy Muslim landowners to whom they are perpetually in debt because of interest rates of 10% per month.
Most of the Marwari people are Hindus, and as such are part of the lowest Hindu caste, the “untouchables.” They have thus always been despised by the higher Hindu castes. When Pakistan was partitioned from India as a separate nation in 1947, the majority of Hindus fled from what became Pakistan, but the Marwari people stayed. They knew they were cursed by the Hindu gods no matter where they lived. In Hinduism, if you are born into the untouchable caste, you know you are simply suffering for the sins you committed in a prior life.
Praise God that there are a few Pakistani Christians who are reaching out to the Marwari, and my friend, Sarfraz William, is a leader in that regard. He knows the “untouchable” Marwari are, like the rest of us, created in God’s image, and he and his team have planted 30 churches among them over the past 12 years. Those churches range in size from 25 to 200 people.
The Marwari are understandably skeptical of outsiders, because they have only ever been exploited. But when a handful of new believers in a Marwari village announce that their spiritual brothers and sisters from 40 other nations (who support the ministry of Heaven’s Family) are providing a water well, it softens skeptical hearts of people who have been drinking muddy water that often makes them ill.
Below are a few of my favorite photos from the day with captions. Tomorrow we’ll be visiting villages where there are new believers who are drinking unsafe water and who are hoping for a water well.
Generally speaking, married Marwari women keep their faces covered in the presence of any men besides their husbands. I observed, however, some subtle clues that they are not enthusiastic about the custom, which I can understand from wearing a mask during the COVID tyranny.
At this Heaven’s Family well in the village of Mubarek Goth, we persuaded some female beneficiaries to reveal their beautiful faces.
Another happy beneficiary of a water well provided by Heaven’s Family’s Safe Water Ministry, in the village of Taali.
On the right is my friend, Sarfraz William, with his arm around an elder of Shabar Lo, which is the last village we visited today, and one that is hoping for a water well. The stagnant ponds behind them do not contain water that is safe to drink, but I observed a child drinking from one of them when we arrived.
Colorful clothing is certainly an aspect of Marwari culture, but I noticed in repeated visits to the same villages that everyone is wearing the same clothes every day.
Generally speaking, Marwari women are responsible to gather drinking and cooking water, which can sometimes require several-mile treks with water pots carried on heads.
These photogenic little friends never stopped giggling any time I looked their way.
In a group of about 40 children at one village, this little boy was singularly naked and didn’t seem to mind in the least. After I noticed the expression on the face of the baby at the left and his hand position, I imagined him thinking, “I can’t believe I’m sitting next to the only person here who isn’t wearing clothes!”
David
Heaven’s Family
