THURSDAY 23 OCTOBER 2014 • [email protected] • www.thepeninsulaqatar.com • 4455 7741 inside St. Vincent: CAMPUS The neighbourly • SIS holds Chairman’s Mr Murray Polemic Challenge P | 4 P | 8-9 WHEELS • Audi Qatar goes pink for breast cancer awareness month P | 6 FOOD • Fresh take on a herb roasted turkey P | 7 HEALTH • Fluoride intake increases bone fractures P | 11 Breaking taboos and pursuing jobs traditionally done by men, the first batch TECHNOLOGY of women to train as high altitude guides • Words With Friends at northern Pakistan’s remote Shimshal gets revamped Mountaineering School are preparing to put for its fifth birthday four years of hard study to the test. P | 12 BREAKING NEW LEARN ARABIC • Learn commonly used Arabic words and their meanings GROUNDS P | 13 2 PLUS | THURSDAY 23 OCTOBER 2014 COVER STORY High in Pakistan’s mountains, women break taboos Pakistani students from the Shimshal By Gohar Abbas Mountaineering School prepare to climb near to embark on a practical demonstra- the Shimshal village in the northern Hunza valley. tions of climbing class. group of young Pakistani They are the first batch of women girls sit on a carpeted floor to train as high altitude guides at the listening as their teacher Shimshal Mountaineering School, set A writes on a whiteboard, pre- up in 2009 with support of Italian paring his students for the rigours of climber Simone Moro. climbing some of the world's highest peaks. Isolated community This is Shimshal Mountaineering The women have spent the last four School, tucked away in a remote vil- years learning ice and rock climbing lage in the breathtaking mountains of techniques, rescue skills and tourism Pakistan’s far north, close to the border management. with China. At 3,100m (10,000 feet) above sea While most of Pakistan’s over- level, Shimshal is the highest settle- whelmingly patriarchal society largely ment in the Hunza valley, connected to relegates women to domestic roles, the rest of the world by a rough jeep- in the northern Hunza valley, where only road just 11 years ago. most people follow a moderate version The narrow, unpaved road twists of Islam, a more liberal attitude has through high mountains, over wooden long prevailed. bridges and dangerous turns with the Now the women of the region are constant risk of landslides to reach the breaking more taboos and training for small village of 250 households. jobs traditionally done by men, includ- There is no running water and elec- ing as carpenters and climbing guides tricity is available only through solar on the Himalayan peaks. panels the locals buy from China, but “You have to be careful, check your despite the isolation, the literacy rate equipment and the rope, any slight in the village is 98 percent — around damage can result in death,” Niamat twice the Pakistani national average. Karim, the climbing instructor warns It has produced some world famous the students. climbers including Samina Baig, the Karim is giving last-minute advice to first Pakistani woman to scale Mount the eight young women who are about Everest. PLUS | THURSDAY 23 OCTOBER 2014 3 The eight women training as guides have scaled four local peaks, including Minglik Sar and Julio Sar, both over 6,000 metres. Carpenters work at a woodshop in Altit village in the northern Hunza valley. The people of Shimshal depend on But while the women are challenging my husband I had started the job of Norwegian embassy, also aims to mod- tourism for their income and the vil- tradition by training as guides, there a men but I had no choice — I had to ernise local skills. lage has produced an average of one is still a long way to go to change atti- support my kids.” Project head Safiullah Baig said mountaineer in every household. tudes, and so far Begum has not been With the 8,000 rupees ($80) a month traditionally, male carpenters worked The eight women training as guides able to turn professional. she earns in the carpentry workshop, to a mental plan of houses they were have scaled four local peaks, including “I know its difficult and it will take Gulshan pays for her children to go building — a somewhat unscientific Minglik Sar and Julio Sar, both over a long time to make it a profession for through school, and she has also used approach. 6,000 metres. females but my kids are my hope”, she her skills to build and furnish a new “These girls are using scientific For aspiring mountaineer Takht said. house for her family. knowledge at every step right from Bika, 23, the school is a “dream come As well as giving poor and margin- mapping and design and their work true”. ‘I had to support my kids’ alised women a chance to earn a liv- is more feasible and sustainable,” Baig “My uncle and brother are moun- Lower down in the valley, away ing, the WSE project, funded by the said. AFP taineers and I always used to wait for from the snowy peaks, Bibi Gulshan, their return whenever they went for a another mother-of-two whose late summit,” Bika said. husband died while fighting in the “I used to play with their climbing army has a similar tale of battling to gear, they were my childhood toys — I change minds. never had a doll.” She trained as a carpenter under For Duor Begum, mountaineering the Women Social Enterprise (WSE), is a family tradition — and a way of a project set up in the area by the Aga honouring her husband, killed while Khan Development Network to provide climbing in the Hunza Valley. income opportunities for poor families “I have two kids to look after and I and advocate women’s empowerment don’t have a proper means of income,” at the same time. she said. Set up in 2003, the WSE now Begum joined the mountaineering employs over 110 women, between 19 school with the aim of continuing the and 35 years of age. legacy of her late husband and to make “I want to give the best education a living. to my kids so that they don’t feel the “I am taking all the risks for the absence of their father,” Gulshan said. future of my children, to give them “I started my job just 10 days after good education so that they can have my husband was martyred, my friends a better future”, she said. mocked me saying instead of mourning 4 PLUS | THURSDAY 23 OCTOBER 2014 CAMPUS Doha College Head Boy and Head Girl attend leadership workshop in Madrid oha College’s Head boy, Azan Ahmed and conference allowed us to meet with other students Head girl, Nora Al Naemi, attended the our age from other schools worldwide. It was great COBIS Student Leadership Conference at to share ideas and experiences.” This was echoed DKing's College Madrid, Spain last weekend by Head Girl Nora, “We were given lots of time to and were the only school represented at this confer- explore what Leadership means to us. There is no ence from Qatar. The conference provides leadership one way to lead people but we were encouraged to training and develops life skills for students coming stay true to our beliefs” to the end of their schooling careers. Teresa Woulfe, Senior Vice Principal, who also The Council of British International Schools joined the students, explained the benefits of the (COBIS) organise many events throughout the weekend training: “Doha College invests a lot of year from Child Protection and Safer Recruitment time and effort to continuously improve the devel- Training to the Conference for Bursars, Business opment of our students and staff, this is key to school Managers and HR Staff. The Student Leadership improvement. As a result, Doha College is recog- Conference was introduced as a result of other suc- nised globally as a reputable educational institution cessful educational conferences for students. Students in Qatar. It was excellent to be able to help Azan and attending the event learned about personal brand- Nora develop their skills and we will now encourage ing, presentation and public speaking skills, creative them to disseminate this training to their fellow problem solving, university life skills and much more. 6th Form students. It was also wonderful to be in To attend students had to be over 16 years old and Madrid for the launch of the new Student Magazine attending an international British school. from COBIS, we will aim to share an article in the Doha College’s Head Boy, Azan stated, “this magazine this year." The Peninsula Azan Ahmed and Nora Al Naemi at Madrid. SIS holds hantinketan Indian School The debate was judged by expert and Eshrat Jahan of Class IX. Green (SIS), Doha Qatar, organised external judges comprising Malini House emerged the House Winner Chairman’s its SIS Chairman’s Polemic Sahni, Educator and Trainer, closely followed by Blue and Red SChallenge, 2014, in its activ- Virendranath, Educator and Trainer, House. ity hall. The atmosphere was filled and George Edison, Vice Principal of The programme was attended by Polemic with intense debating on the topic – Birla Public School. Sarah Salah of Dr Subhash Nair, Principal, SIS, “Should Students be involved in the Class XII emerged as the best speaker Dudley O’Connor, Vice Principal, Challenge Teacher-evaluation process.” followed by Naveen Kelvin of Class XI CBSE-I and Shihabudeen Pulath, Vice-Principal (Admin). Speaking on the occasion, the judges applauded the efforts of the Speaker and Malini Sahni, advised the students to improve upon their skills by being neutral in their accent.