Beaches to bombs

by Rose Killalea

It was surreal flying into Islamabad on the night of the 21st September 2012. As I traversed the world from Paris to Abu Dhabi to Islamabad, all the news was of Pakistan; ablaze with protests, demonstrators, bombs, gunshots, and killings and following the release of the infamous Youtube video denigrating Islam and the prophet Muhammad.

At every airport I thought an email would recall me, but no, and I arrived at 2.30 am, with no local money, nor an address to go to, only an assurance that someone would meet me. A little anxious, but I decided there was nothing to do but carry on, and stay calm! As it happened, within an hour I was in an unmarked car with a Pakistani man who showed me no identification, driving down the road in the early hours of the morning. I thought "well if this is a kidnapping, here goes nothing".

Embracing an Abundant Life

By Rose Killalea

St Peters Church in Rome

I find myself in Pakistan, the muezzin just outside my window calling Muslims to prayer on a cool and dark evening. I'm here to work with Medicine Sans Frontieres (MSF) in a hospital in Taliban territory. My personal mission in my down-time, suggested by a friend, is to write about art in the churches and mosques of Pakistan. I grab this idea of hers with both hands, inspired immediately by the art/church connection, and the challenge of writing. Little do I know I will be confined to quarters in Pakistan for security reasons, and will never get to explore beyond the walls of the compound.

But Pakistan comes to me instead, through the many locals I work with, and I see their love of beauty and art in the gorgeous fabrics of the shalwar kameese the women wear, in their handmade jewellery, in the superbly decorated trucks and tuktuks they drive, painted and gilded on every part visible to the naked eye.