Dubai When Pakistan marks its 70th Independence Day next week, one village will embark on a historic drive, thanks to a UAE-based filmmaker.
Twenty-three-year-old Syed Owais Ali, a Pakistani resident of Fujairah, who will be visiting Hakimwala in southern Punjab of his home country later this month, will help replace its only car which had earlier been sold by the villagers to clear the debts of a cotton farmer who had migrated to the UAE only to return empty-handed.
Ali, who has a degree in film communication from Northwestern University in Qatar, told XPRESS he had retraced and filmed the journey of the 29-year-old farmer Sharif, who came to the UAE to escape a failed crop in August 2014. But as chance would have it, Sharif’s experience as an expat restaurant worker over the next 18 months did little to reverse his fortunes, following which he decided to go back to his village.
Challenges
“It is unclear what exactly happened, but my understanding is that he got really homesick and did not realise the challenges of being an expatriate. So he returned to Hakimwala in February last year which was when the 300-strong community paid off his loans by selling their only car, even though it was being used to transport the sick to hospital, three hours away.”
He said the film was subsequently aired by a prominent television channel in the region in April, the response to which was overwhelming.
He said, “A lot of people got in touch wanting to know how they could help. The village was suffering. Ailing patients could not be transferred to hospital as the only car was gone. The villagers had no money to replace it. There was only that much they could do with the few motorcycles they had.”
Ali said the huge response to the film prompted him to help set up an independent overseas fund-raiser for the villagers to buy a new car.
“The village needed $8,000 to replace the Suzuki Mehran that they had sold. But to their surprise, 174 generous donors rushed to help, raising $9,521 within a month,” he said.
Now that the money was in place, with an amount far more than what was expected, the villagers could get themselves a bigger car.
“They are looking at the possibility of buying a Suzuki Bolon, a small van as it would serve their purpose better. I will be travelling to the village soon to help finalise the purchase which will be made in the name of the village leader.”
For Ali, the biggest takeaway from the whole experience was the manner in which an entire community rallied behind one of the villagers in his time of need.
“The spirit of unity and community that the villagers of Hakimwala demonstrated is exemplary. They are simple people and do not realise the power of their action. It’s easy for others also to take what they did for granted. But there is so much to celebrate here, especially as Pakistan prepares to mark its Independence Day.”
He said when a despondent Sharif returned to his village, the kind gesture of his community kept him afloat. He quoted Sharif as saying, “I don’t care about the money, all I want is the villagers’ forgiveness.”
