Sharmeen Obaid Films

2008-06-10T07:26:00.001-04:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy was honored by the YWCA in Toronto on June 3rd for her services in the field of Communication

2008-03-23T03:49:00.001-04:00

YWCA Awards ceremony will be held in Toronto on June 3rd- Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy is being honored for her services in the field of communications.

2008-03-11T07:52:00.001-04:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy will be speaking with BBC Radio 4's Women's Hour on Wednesday March 12th at 10 a.m.

2008-03-11T07:41:00.001-04:00

Iraq: The Lost Generation airs on Channel 4 (U.K.) on March 16th at 7 p.m.

2008-03-06T07:09:00.005-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy will be speaking at the following Venues in the United States and Canada in April and May

1) April 10th- Northampton, MA- Smith College- 8:30 p.m.
Screening Iraq: The Lost Generation followed by a talk.

2) April 14th- Houston- The Museum of Fine Arts at 7 p.m.
Screening Afghanistan Unveiled followed by a talk.

3) April 15th - Washington DC- Women's National Democratic Club- 6 p.m.
Screening Afghanistan Unveiled followed by a talk.

Reservations can be made by phone or email. Email reservations to reservations@democraticwoman.org. For further information or to pay via credit card, contact Patricia Fitzgerald at (202)232-7363 during normal business hours.

4) April 16th- New York, NY- The New School- 6:30 p.m.
Screening Iraq: The Lost Generation followed by a talk.
Free and Open to the Public

5)April 20th- Toronto Canadian Council of Muslim Women- 2p.m.

6) May 21st- San Francisco- World Affairs Council
Screening Afghanistan Unveiled followed by a talk.

2008-03-04T12:07:00.003-05:00

YWCA Toronto announced its Women of Distinction awards for 2008 . One of the women being honored is Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy

2008-02-27T07:35:00.000-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's latest dispatch Pakistan: "We Routed the Men with Beards!" is now online-

2008-02-21T11:41:00.001-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's film about Iraqi refugees will air on Channel 4 on March 16th as part of a week of programmes examining the devastating fall-out of the war for Iraq and the Middle East, America and Britain.

2008-02-18T02:49:00.001-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's pre election video for the NY Times "Voices on Musharraf" discusses the President's approval ratings.

2008-02-18T02:41:00.002-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's election dispatch is now on PBS Frontline World's website- "Welcome to Democracy-Pakistan style"
Ms. Obaid Chinoy speaks to various voters and smaller political parties who allege that voter fraud and intimidation is taking place in Karachi.

2008-01-14T01:04:00.000-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy spoke to CNN's Don Lemon about the impact of Benazir Bhutto's death on Pakistan shortly after her assassination.

2008-01-04T03:09:00.000-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy will be speaking with Maureen Taylor of CBC's radio show "The Current"on Friday the 4th of January 8:30 a.m. EST
You may hear the show online-

2007-12-31T11:39:00.000-05:00

Toronto Star updated their 10 to watch list for 2007-It's been a dynamic 12 months for alumni of the Star's annual 'to watch' list

2007-12-31T11:25:00.000-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy spoke to CNN's Josh Levs about the reactions to Bhutto's death in Pakistan.
Watch the video online: CNN

2007-12-28T04:16:00.000-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy spoke to NPR's Morning Edition about the death of Benazir Bhutto.

2007-12-20T04:56:00.000-05:00

Smith College Alumni Quarterly featured Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's work in their Winter 2007-2008 issue.

2007-12-19T10:16:00.001-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's second Dispatch from Pakistan is now available on PBS Frontline World's website. The "Other" Bhutto is a conversation with Benazir Bhutto's niece, Fatima Bhutto.

2007-12-10T00:00:00.000-05:00

This week PBS Frontline World's Web Dispatch features Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's report from Pakistan. All through the month similiar dispatches will be posted on the website.

2007-09-24T09:33:00.000-04:00

Afghanistan Unveiled will be aired on ABC Australia's Four Corner Investigative series on 11.35 pm Tuesday 25 September; also on ABC2 at 9.30 pm Wednesday and 8 am Thursday.

2007-09-11T11:16:00.000-04:00

CBC Radio show "As it Happens" will interview Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy about her film Lifting the Veil on Tuesday September 11th at 11:45 a.m. EST

2007-09-11T03:09:00.000-04:00

Lifting the Veil will premier on CNN Domestic and International on Sept 15th and 16th around the world

15th Sept: U.SA. and Canada
8 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Sunday 16th September
8 p.m.

U.K.
Saturday 15th September
0700, 1500 & 2000
Sunday 16th September
0700 & 2000

ASIA:
Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Manila,
Singapore and Taipei
Saturday, September 15 at 1400 & 2200
Sunday, September 16 at 0300 & 1400
Monday, September 17 at 0300

Bangkok and Jakarta
Saturday, September 15 at 1300 & 2100
Sunday, September 16 at 0200 & 1300
Monday, September 17 at 0200

India (Mumbai, New Delhi)
Sat Sept 15 at 1130 & 1930
Sun Sept 16 at 0030 & 1130
Mon Sept 17 at 0030

Pakistan
Sat Sept 15 at 1100 and 1900
Sat Sept 15/Sun Sept 16 at 0000
Sunday Sept 16 at 1100
Sun Sept 16/Mon Sept 17 at 0000

2007-09-11T03:08:00.001-04:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy will appear on CNN (USA+Canada) to speak about her new film "Lifting the Veil" on Tuesday September 11 at 10:15 ET and 2:30 p.m. ET

2007-08-03T13:13:00.000-04:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy will be speaking to Julian Worricker on BBC Radio Five Live on Sunday August 5th 2007 about the current situation in Afghanistan.

2007-07-26T15:15:00.000-04:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy is spearheading The Citizens Archive of Pakistan and the Shanaakht Festival being held in Karachi from the 11th to the 14th of August. Details at: www.citizensarchive.org

2007-07-19T03:20:00.000-04:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy spoke to Michele Norris on NPR's "All Things Considered" about the political situation in Pakistan.

2007-07-16T10:20:00.000-04:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy will be speaking to CBC Radio "As it Happens" on Monday July 16th about the current political situation in Pakistan.

2007-06-19T08:33:00.000-04:00

SBS Radio in Australia interviewed Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy about her documentary films

2007-06-16T22:09:00.000-04:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy with Jon Snow at the awards ceremony

2007-06-15T08:00:00.001-04:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy was named Broadcast Journalist of the Year by One World Media Awards, at a ceremony held in London.

2007-06-04T01:59:00.000-04:00

On June 4th 2007 , the Guardian newspaper profiled Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's work.

Sharing her view of humanity

Paul Hoggart
Monday June 4, 2007

Guardian
Next Thursday's One World Media Awards are not quite the Baftas or the Emmys, but for broadcasters and journalists working in the developing world, or covering the developing world in the western media, they offer a welcome shaft of international limelight. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy belongs to this second group.

At 27 she is the youngest ever nominee for the Broadcast Journalist of the Year Award. She has made 12 films in five years, for Discovery Times and PBS in America, al-Jazeera and for Channel 4, who have shown two of her films in the last three weeks. Afghanistan Unveiled, for Dispatches, on May 17, was a heartrending exploration of the situation of many Afghan women despite the defeat of the Taliban. Last Friday's Birth of a Nation covered the struggles of democracy in East Timor for Unreported World.

Five of Obaid-Chinoy's films concern her native Pakistan, but she has also made documentaries about women in Saudi Arabia, Native American women in Canada, illegal abortions in the Philippines, Muslims in Sweden and the ill-treatment of Zimbabwean migrants in South Africa. Her portfolio is a global tour of gender oppression and social injustice.

The filmmaker has a knack of walking into potentially dangerous situations with a self-confidence more commonly associated with upper-class Victorians. This is not entirely coincidental. She explains that she went to Karachi Grammar School. "One of the best schools in Asia, which followed the British system. They put a lot of emphasis on debating and I learned to be most vocal," she recalls.

She began writing features for an English language newspaper at 14. "When I was 17 I wrote an expose of the behaviour of rich landlords' sons, driving around with guns, forcing their way into private parties. The day after it appeared, my father found profane graffiti about me all over the city. He told me to stay indoors and sent his men round to paint over my name."

Her father, a wealthy self-made businessman, initially opposed her going to university abroad, but her mother was determined her daughters should be educated up to masters level. "I staged a 36-hour hunger strike and my father let me go to Smith College in Massachusetts."

On a visit home she decided she wanted "to do something" about the plight of Afghan refugees after the US-led invasion. "The American news channels were full of rhetoric about getting the Taliban and finding Osama bin Laden and nothing about the impact of the war on civilians. I wanted to do something visual, so people could be part of that experience."

The then 22-year-old wrote to more than 80 TV companies without result, but an email to William Abrams, head of what was then New York Times Television, resulted in an agreement to fund her flights, and provide equipment and two weeks' training, on condition she would pay them back if they did not like the result.

When Obaid-Chinoy Fedexed the first month's filming to America, her executive producer told her the soundtrack had not recorded. She hired a cameraman who had never made a documentary and a soundman who had never recorded outdoors and reshot, adding explanatory pieces to camera. Originally just to help executives, these became part of the film, a style she has used since. The final result was the award-winning Terror's Children.

After a string of films in America, she was advised to seek co-production partners in the UK. A meeting with Kevin Sutcliffe, Channel 4's commissioning editor for news and current affairs, led to an offer to make Pakistan's Double Game, shown in 2005. She has now made five films for Channel 4. "You can get away with saying a lot more in the UK," she says. "Even a channel like HBO will air 10 documentaries about sex and drugs and one about a massacre in Iraq."

Her work has often exposed her to hostility. Filming in Kashmir, Obaid-Chinoy and her crew made a hasty exit from a meeting with a warlord, when they realised he suspected, correctly, that her cameraman was Jewish. Sometimes situations are just distressing. In the Philippines she had to leave the room while filming an illegal abortion. "I can still hear the girl's moans".

Underlying all her work is a fierce sense that practising Muslim women can be educated and free. "Where in the Qur'an does it say a woman must cover her face? I've read it front to back and I can't find it," she says.

"I find the political manipulation of Islam to be very troubling. We can't have a them-and-us attitude. We are part of this planet and we share it with the rest of humanity."
MediaGuardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007

2007-06-03T05:38:00.001-04:00

Eve Ensler's new book: A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant, and a Prayer includes a rant by Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy.

2007-06-01T09:14:00.001-04:00

"Birth of a Nation" will air on Channel 4 as part of its Unreported World series on June 1st at 7:35 p.m.

2007-06-01T09:11:00.001-04:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy has been short listed for the One World Media Award in the catagory "Broadcast Journalist of the year"
Winners will be announced on June 14th at a ceremony in London.

2007-05-28T11:12:00.000-04:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's interview about the effects of terrorism on Afghan child refugees is featured in this month's E Journal USA.

2007-05-17T02:45:00.000-04:00

The Independent published an article about the state of Afghan widows in Afghanistan. " Forgotten women turn Kabul into widows' capital" was published on May 17th.

2007-05-16T13:07:00.000-04:00

Radio Ikhlas in the U.K. will speak to Sharmeen OBaid Chinoy at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday May 17th about her work in the muslim world. The interview will be streamed live on the internet.

2007-05-16T13:04:00.000-04:00

BBC World Services Outlook will be speaking with Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy about her upcoming documentary film, Afghanistan Unveiled on Thursday May 17th at 2 p.m.(U.K.)

2007-04-26T13:45:00.000-04:00

On Thursday May 17th 2007 Channel 4 (U.K.) will air Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's latest film "Afghanistan Unveiled" at 9 p.m as part of its Dispatches series.

2007-04-26T11:26:00.000-04:00

In 2005, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's film "Pakistan's Double Game" featured Ghufran Haider a young Pakistani who saved the life of hundreds of worshippers by throwing his body on a suicide bomber.

Ghufran became a key witness in the mosque bombing case. Earlier this year, based on his testimony two accompalices of the suicide bomber were sentenced to death. Since then Ghufran and his family have been receiving death threats.

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy speaks to CBC Radio "As it Happens" to discuss Ghufran's plight.

2007-04-25T12:19:00.000-04:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy will be appearing on BBC Radio 4 on Monday April 30 with Andrew Marr on Start of the Week to discuss her upcoming film "Afghanistan Unveiled"
You can hear the show online through the website.

2007-04-22T04:59:00.000-04:00

ABC Australia aired "The New Apartheid" on Foreign Correspondents on April 10, 2007.

2007-04-04T20:02:00.000-04:00

ABC Australia will air Women of the Holy Kingdom on April 5, 2007 at 9:35 p.m.

2007-03-19T14:08:00.000-04:00

Human rights film and discussion: Merriam Park Library, 1831 Marshall Ave., St. Paul, will host a screening of the film "Women of the Holy Kingdom" at 7 p.m. Monday the 19th of March. The film documents the emerging women's movement in Saudi Arabia. A representative from Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights will lead a discussion afterward. The program is free. Call 651-642-0385 for more information.

2007-01-29T13:01:00.000-05:00

The Tri Continental Festival will be screening City of Guilt in Delhi, Mumbai and Banglore.

In Delhi:

On 19 Jan 07 At 11.30 AM

At the Alliance Française de Delhi, Lodhi Estate

In Mumbai (Bombay):

On 2 Feb 07 At 11 AM

At the Little Theatre, National Centre for the Performing Arts, Nariman Point

In Bangalore:

On 9 Feb 07 At 5.40 PM

At the Alliance Française de Bangalore, Thimmaiah Road, Vasanthnagar

2007-01-11T09:41:00.000-05:00

THE CHANGING CLIMATE, CHANGING COLORS: 24 CONTEMPORARY MUSLIM ARTISTS show in New York City will feature work by Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy. The opening ceremony is on Saturday January 20th at the Henry Street Settlement.
The show will run until March.

2007-01-02T06:49:00.000-05:00

The Toronto Star has named Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy as one of ten people to watch out for in 2007.
http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/166684

10 to watch in 2007 TheStar.com - News - 10 to watch in 2007

There are many remarkable people in the GTA who help make this city great. One of our most pleasant tasks each year at the Star is to choose 10 with big plans for the next 12 months. Our selection of individuals poised to make a splash in 2007 come from a wide diversity of worlds, from policing to social activism to the arts to sport to science to academia. You probably haven’t heard of some of them. But we predict that as the new year unfolds, you’ll become familiar with all of their names and their passionate commitment to what they do. Let’s raise a toast to 10 people who make the world go ’round.

http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/166609
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy TheStar.com - News - Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

LESLIE SCRIVENER
Toronto Star

In a scene from Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's first film, Terror's Children, a Pakistani boy in a pro-Taliban religious school looks gravely at her and says those who believe in God must not watch TV. Women do not need an education and, he says pointedly, the filmmaker's face should be covered with a veil.

Obaid-Chinoy's face is not covered. She's a Smith College alumna and has two post-graduate degrees from Stanford. And her fearless documentaries are shown around the world.

In her short career, launched when she was still in university, Obaid-Chinoy has made 10 personal, passionate documentaries and won as many prizes. Now 28 and based in Toronto, she is making two more films in 2007, one on the lives of Afghan women five years after the U.S. invasion, and another on the legacy of Zimbabwe strongman Robert Mugabe.

Obaid-Chinoy started work on the Afghan women film, which she's making for Britain's Channel 4, this month. "I'm not as interested in Kabul, but in the women in the tiny towns and villages, the voices you never hear," she says.

Terror's Children, about Afghan refugees living in her homeland, Pakistan, launched her career in 2002 and immediately won three awards.

Her second, a searing look at the rise of fundamentalism in Pakistan, won four more prizes, including the Livingston Award for young journalists under 35. Obaid-Chinoy was the first non-American to receive it. Other winners in the category of international reporting include David Remnick, now editor of The New Yorker, Thomas Friedman of The New York Times and Christiane Amanpour of CNN.

Bill Abrams, former president of New York Times Television, says when he first encountered Obaid-Chinoy, then a college student, "I thought, this person could be the next Christiane Amanpour – sophisticated, smart, fearless."

With patrician good looks, Obaid-Chinoy had a privileged upbringing in Karachi, one in which education and accomplishment were prized. Her mother, who married at 17 and stayed home to raise six children, wanted to be a journalist and encouraged her five daughters to write and express themselves.

Sharmeen grew up, as she says in one of her films, wearing jeans and listening to Guns N'Roses. She was the first in her family to go to a co-ed school. By 16, she was doing undercover stories on the sale of passports to illegal immigrants. "That landed me in a lot of trouble," she recalls. Her name, linked with profanities, was spray-painted around Karachi.

When her textile manufacturer father resisted her pleas to go to university in the U.S., she went on 36-hour hunger strike.

Obaid-Chinoy, who lives in York Mills with her husband, investment banker Fahd Chinoy, and his family, says that when she came here after getting married, "It seemed like the kind of country where there were no stories for me – no human rights violations, no women subjugated. But when you live in a country, then you understand its issues."

Which led to Highway of Tears, about the disappearance of native women in B.C., released this year. The CBC didn't respond to her proposal, but Al Jazeera International did and funded the project.

"I'd like to do a film in Canada," she says, "but it's too difficult. National Film Board funding takes too long, and there's too much paperwork; by the time the film is approved the topic is dead and gone.

"My topics are timely. When an event is happening is when I want to be there ... I think it is our duty to challenge the status quo. What good is my parents' wealth and education and upbringing if I'm not contributing to the world?"

2006-12-15T10:12:00.000-05:00

The International Museum of Women have launched an online discussion about War as part of their Imagining Ourselves program. Terror's Children has been featured as part of that dialogue.

2006-12-11T12:30:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday December 19th, Re-inventing the Taliban will be screened in Ahmedabad (India) by Drishti-Natarani Film Club at 8:30 p.m. For details and tickets contact: DRISHTI at 6661 4235

2006-12-03T13:29:00.000-05:00

To mark the 60th anniversary of the partition of the Indian Sub-Continent, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy is launching a multi-media project to be showcased in August in both India and Pakistan. The project is in its initial stages and the filmmaker is seeking out young artists, photographers, writers to collaberate with her. Please contact her if you are interested in participating...

2006-12-02T17:18:00.000-05:00

On December 6th, the National Film Board of Canada's web initiative CitizenShift will be launching a project titled "Global Women's Memorial" Highway of Tears will be a part of this effort.

2006-12-02T15:54:00.000-05:00

On Thursday December 14th, the Kara Film Festival (Karachi) will screen "Assimiliation No- Integration Yes" at 5 p.m. at the Arts Council Auditorium:

2006-11-15T19:05:00.000-05:00

City of Guilt will be screened accross India as part of the Tri Continental Film Festival. The dates for the festival are:

Delhi – 18th to 21st January 2007
Kolkata (Calcutta) – 22nd to 25th January 2007
Mumbai (Bombay) – 2nd to 4th February 2007
Chennai (Madras) – 5th to 8th February 2007
Bangalore – 9th to 11th February 2007

2006-11-15T18:57:00.000-05:00

The 23rd Annual MESA Film Fest will screen Women of the Holy Kingdom on Saturday November 18th at 10 a.m. in Boston (MA)at the Marriott Copley Square.

2006-11-15T18:53:00.000-05:00

Highway of Tears will be screened in Smithers, BC on Thursday November 16th 2006 between 4:30 and 7 p.m at the Roi Theater. For more information call Marilyn Krueger at The Smithers Community Center: 250-847-9515

2006-11-15T18:51:00.000-05:00

The International Peace Festival in Mumbai, India will screen "Assimilation No, Integration Yes" on Dec 2, 2006

2006-11-15T18:45:00.000-05:00

On Saturday December 2nd 2006, Vancouver Rape Relief & Women's Shelter will screen Highway of Tears at 12 p.m. as part of their "Remember Me" Campaign.

2006-10-25T00:23:00.000-04:00

Michael Smyth of CKNQ News Talk 980 in Vancouver will speak to Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy about the Highway of Tears on Wednesday October 25th at 8:30 p.m. PST on Nightline BC.

2006-10-13T18:10:00.000-04:00

The Frontline Club in London will screen "The New Apartheid" on Monday October 23rd at 7:30 p.m.

2006-10-13T08:50:00.000-04:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy will be speaking about the Highway of Tears story on co-op radio 102.7 fm in Vancouver on Oct 20 (Friday) between 8:20 and 8:28 am PDT.

2006-10-13T08:08:00.000-04:00

On 13th October 2006, "The Independent" Newspaper (UK) published a story about illegal immigrants in South Africa by Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy.

Immigrants are victims as 'apartheid' returns to South Africa
By Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy in Diepsloot, South Africa
Published: 13 October 2006

As dawn breaks over Zimbabwe, Douglas Foster and five other men crouch behind a fence, waiting for a South African border police patrol to pass. Shivering in the cold September wind they wriggle their way through three sets of fences to enter South Africa illegally. Desperate to escape the spiralling poverty in Zimbabwe, they risk everything to join millions of other African immigrants in one of the continent's most economically prosperous nations.

No one knows how many illegal immigrants there are in South Africa. A recent census suggested 1.1 million, but the real figure is almost certainly far higher. They come from all over the continent - Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo - but their growing numbers are causing a major backlash, leading to what some describe as a second apart-heid. Xenophobia is on the rise and in the past three months more than 32 Somalis have been killed.

Poor South Africans say that they are competing for resources with illegal immigrants. In Diepsloot, a sprawling, densely populated township of 120,000 people north of Johannesburg, Somali-owned businesses have been torched and looted several times this year. Two months ago, Johannes Seloane of the South African Business Forum of Diepsloot wrote a letter to the Somali shopkeepers asking them to leave immediately or face consequences. For now, most of them have chosen to stay.
"I cannot stop my people from resorting to violence," he said. "It's been two months now and they haven't left. My people are getting tired of them."

Hajir Omar, a Somali who came to Johannesburg in 1994 and now owns a grocery store in Diepsloot is scared of what may happen. He said: "I left the fighting in Somalia but now I'm facing the same thing here in South Africa. What do I do? I have nowhere to go."

Not far from his shop a crowd gathered to sing protest songs. Neda Jiyane, a 30-year-old mother of two children, said: "South Africa is for South Africans only. We fought for this South Africa, now it is for us, the freedom is for us and not for illegals." Another woman used a loudspeaker to urge the crowd to go from shack to shack. "Demand to see their passports and identification documents, if they don't have them, destroy their shacks," she said.

As Channel 4's Unreported World reveals in "South Africa: The New Apartheid", illegal immigrants are being increasingly blamed for everything, from the high crime rates to soaring unemployment. In Hillbrow in Johannesburg, one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods in South Africa, Senior Superintendent Koos Van Rhyn said: "Zimbabweans deal in stolen goods and they are very much involved in street robberies." Twice a week, his team rounds up suspected drug dealers and robbers, almost all of them illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe or Nigeria. "It's easy for them to hide," says Mr Van Rhyn. "We don't have their names, finger prints or photographs."

Five hours north of Johannesburg near the border with Zimbabwe, white farmers have taken things into their own hands. They believe the local police are corrupt and incapable of arresting the hundreds of Zimbabweans who cross into the country illegally every day, so they do it themselves. Annette Kennealy, an artist and farmer's wife, said Zimbabweans are responsible for a rise in crime. "Farm murders are probably the biggest thing and I think because they have nothing to lose they've become easy to co-opt into doing these things."

Unreported World - South Africa: The New Apartheid, Channel 4, 7.35pm tonight

2006-10-13T08:03:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday October 24th, 7 p.m. Amnesty International will screen Highway of Tears at the Pacific Cinematheque, (1131 Howe Street)in Vancouver.

2006-10-11T08:49:00.000-04:00

On Saturday October 28th 2006, Amnesty International Human Rights Film Festival will screen Highway of Tears at the NFB Cinema at 6 p.m in Toronto.

2006-10-11T08:38:00.000-04:00

The Prince George Citizen In British Columbia has published a review of Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's film Highway of Tears.

2006-10-02T11:15:00.000-04:00

Dear Friends,

My new documentary film "The New Apartheid" will be airing on Friday October 13th at 7:35 p.m. on Channel 4's Unreported World Series.

=============================================================
Unreported World: South Africa – The New Apartheid
Tx: Channel 4, 7.35pm, 13 October

Channel 4’s critically acclaimed foreign affairs strand returns for a new ten-part run. The series begins in South Africa where a huge rise in illegal immigration from Zimbabwe and other African states is behind an increase in racism and xenophobic violence.

Reporter Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Director Robin Barnwell begin their film on the Zimbabwean border with a group of Zimbabweans as they begin a long journey to Johannesburg. The South African police stop them but let them go in exchange it is claimed, for a bribe, which the people smugglers claim is routine.

The Zimbabweans say they are fleeing a collapsing state, where President Mugabe’s policies have driven the economy into crisis and where earning enough to feed their families is impossible. However, the South Africans blame them for a crime wave and accuse them of causing unemployment.

White farmers in the Limpopo border region tell Unreported World that the immigrants are perpetrating brutal farm murders and poaching their game. The team films several farmers taking the law into their own hands by rounding them up, tying them together and handing them over to the police.

It’s not just the farmers who believe these migrants are fuelling a crime wave. The team moves on to Johannesburg and films with police in one of the city’s most dangerous areas. They accompany officers who routinely use plastic bullets to round up suspected illegal immigrants.

Those they catch are sent to the Lindela detention centre. The team interview a group of Congolese men who accuse the guards of severely beating them. Another inmate laments that South Africans have forgotten the support that their “African brothers” gave them during the days of Apartheid and accuses black South Africans of being the “biggest racists in the world”.

The team then travel to the suburb of Diepsloot where the local South African business community has written an extraordinary letter to Somalian shopkeepers asking them to leave. The shopkeepers - who say they’re asylum seekers rather than illegal immigrants - fear they will suffer similar violent attacks to those suffered by other immigrant communities.

A group of protestors gathers, demanding that South Africa should be for South Africans only. One woman tells Unreported World that black South Africans fought long and hard to gain their freedom that these benefits are now being stolen by illegal immigrants.

The team are then allowed to film on board a train returning 400 Zimbabwean illegal immigrants back to the border. Some are so desperate to remain, that they throw themselves from the moving train during the night. Almost all say they will be back in the country within a few days. Given the ever-worsening economic environment in Zimbabwe they say they have no other choice.

Reporter: Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.
Director: Robin Barnwell
Series Editor: Ed Braman
A Quicksilver Media production

2006-09-15T12:15:00.000-04:00

Amnesty International Terrace Action Circle will screen Highway of Tears on October 4, 2006 at The Artful Cup in Terrace, B.C. at 7 p.m.

2006-08-19T04:09:00.000-04:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's article on Canada's Highway of Tears appears on PBS Frontline World's website.

2006-07-17T15:00:00.003-04:00

MacCleans Magazine ran a piece on the conservative female preacher Farhat Hashmi in Toronto. The article relied on Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's investigation for the Globe and Mail in 2005.

2006-07-01T11:30:00.000-04:00

On Friday July 7th Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy will speak with Dawn Paley on "Wake up with Coop"on 102.7 FM in Vancouver, BC about her latest film "Highway of Tears".
The interview will be aired at 7:30 a.m. PST.

2006-07-01T11:25:00.000-04:00

Women of the Holy Kingdom wins the 2006 SAJA (South Asian Journalists Association) Award in the catagory "Outstanding Story on any subject Radio/TV"

2006-06-28T18:19:00.000-04:00

CKNW News Talk 980 in Vancouver interviewed Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy about her latest documentary "Highway of Tears" on June 28th 2006. tearsdoc.mp3

2006-06-28T18:16:00.000-04:00

An article about Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's new film "Highway of Tears" appeared the "The Province" a daily newspaper in Vancouver on June 26th 2006:

Documentary tackles highway mystery
Journalist's 22-minute feature examines murders and disappearances

Raina Delisle
The Province

Monday, June 26, 2006

A disheartening documentary film about aboriginal women who have
vanished or been murdered along the Highway of Tears in northern B.C.
underlines the native community's frustrations with the RCMP probe.

Distraught relatives of the woman make accusations of racism and police
inaction in the 22-minute feature, which premieres on Al-Jazeera
International next month.

Filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, 27, spent two weeks in April visiting
the families of women who have been victimized along Highway 16 between
Prince George and Prince Rupert.

The acclaimed journalist drove the highway with its victims' families.

She saw several hitchhikers and was told by the families that many
physical and sexual assaults along the highway go unreported. "The
aboriginal community distrusts the RCMP," said Obaid.

"We wish the police would do something," Sally Gibson told her in the
film. "It seems to us that nobody is doing anything. Nobody."

Gibson's niece, Lana Derrick, vanished in 1995 when she was 19.

"She just disappeared like she was a nobody," Gibson said.

Obaid said one of the most emotional moments of her visit was going to
the grave of Ramona Wilson on Easter with the slain teen's mother,
Matilda Wilson.

A kitten appeared at the grave and Wilson took it as a sign that Ramona
was very happy that her story was being told, Obaid said.

"There were sometimes that I couldn't cope, I thought of suicide quite a
bit to end everything," said a tearful Wilson, who showed Obaid the
wooded area where Ramona's body was found.

In January, Obaid read a news story about the Highway of Tears, and an
Amnesty International report estimating more than 30 women have vanished
or been killed along the 724-kilometre highway.

The RCMP confirms four murders and five disappearances linked to the
Highway of Tears. Only one of those women is non-native.

A sweeping report released last week by a coalition of native groups
urges better communication between the RCMP and aboriginals and calls
for a full probe into the disappearances. "It struck me that in a
country like Canada something like this is happening and there isn't an
uproar about it," said Obaid, who is based in Toronto.

Obaid said many people outside of B.C. don't know about the Highway of
Tears and will be stunned by what she discovered.

She pitched the story to Al-Jazeera International, an English-language
news and current-affairs channel based in Qatar, and the network got on
board right away.

RCMP Staff-Sgt. John Ward answers questions about the investigation at
the end of the film. He dismissed allegations of racism and said the
families are satisfied with the police work.

Ward said cases along Highway 16 are hard to solve, "because it's a very
rugged, rural area. Witnesses are non-existent in most cases."

2006-06-13T20:24:00.000-04:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's article about sectarian violence in Pakistan appeared in the Arabic language daily Asharq Alawsat on June 14, 2006.
http://www.asharqalawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=5&id=5282

2006-05-07T13:25:00.000-04:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's documentary "City of Guilt" will premier on Channel 4's Unreported World Series(U.K.) on Friday May 12th 2006 @ 7:35 p.m.

2006-04-16T18:09:00.000-04:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy is currently working on a short documentary film about violence and aboriginal canadian women in British Columbia. The film will be broadcast on Al Jazeera International as part of the "Witness" strand.

2006-03-28T19:05:00.000-05:00

In the month of May, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's work with women in Pakistan's Earthquake Zone will be highlighted at the International Museum of Women in San Francisco.

2006-03-28T19:04:00.000-05:00

On April 29th 2006. Women of the Holy Kingdom will be screened at the UN
Millennium Campaign in Frankfurt, Germany.

2006-03-28T19:03:00.000-05:00

On April 16 2006, (7 p.m.) "Pakistan's Double Game" will be playing in New York
City at the Anthology Film Archives

2006-03-14T14:19:00.000-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy will be speaking at Brown University on April 11th 2006.

2006-03-14T14:17:00.000-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy recently returned from the Philippines where she filmed her latest documentary for Britain's Channel 4. The film is scheduled to air in early April.

2006-02-21T18:59:00.000-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's short documentary film about relief efforts in earthquake devestated Balakot is available online at PBS FRONTLINE WORLD

2006-02-02T19:01:00.000-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy is developing a photography project in Kashmir with The International Museum of Women. She will be documenting the struggles of widows and orphan girls in the post earthquake world. The photography show will be featured in the museum's May 2006 Imagining Ourselves exhibition.

2006-01-30T12:26:00.000-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy will be on CBC's THE HOUR on Monday January 30th 2006 to speak about the U.S. missile strike on Pakistan.

2006-01-30T12:16:00.000-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy will be discussing her recent travels with CNN International's Jonathan Mann on Insight on Monday January 30th at 23:00 GMT.

2006-01-26T16:06:00.000-05:00

Re-inventing the Taliban will be screened in Edinburgh on Sunday february 26,2006 as part of Heer Productions touring programme.

2006-01-25T16:28:00.000-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy returned to the earthquake zone (Jan 12th-17th 2006)
Below is her dispatches from the region:
Dispatch 1: From my travels between January 12th-17th 2006

Balakot/Mansehra:
It's been raining here for several days now...Rain, hail, lightening and thunder and the only thing separating nature from me is a big white tent laden with plastic sheets (to prevent water from seeping through).

Imagine surviving the October 8 earthquake and then having to live through these treacherous conditions every day in a roadside tent. This is real life trauma that the earthquake refugees have to face on a daily basis.

Nasreen Bibi, lost her young husband and her two children in the Oct 8th tragedy. She lost her home, her belongings and her job. Her new home is in a small tent community in Ghari Habibullah. "What will become of me," she questions? Her three young children scream out in pain when the sky thunders, when the rain comes pouring through their tent. "The rain and hail reminds them of the earthquake," she tells me. "It reminds them of their home, their dead father and sisters. We just want to get away from all of this, but where can we go?"

That is a question I grappled with throughout my visit to the region...Will the scars of the earthquake ever heal? Do these people have the strength to survive the next two months in these conditions? Nasreen has no money, she has no one to turn to, how will women like her feed their children when the aid dies down, when the world community moves to another natural tragedy somewhere else in the world...what hope does Nasreen have for the future?

As you drive from Islamabad to Balakot, every four wheel jeep and every truck on the road bears the banner of an international NGO. From the Japanese to the Swiss every NGO is in the region. In fact, I have never seen so many charities working in Pakistan. I met volunteers from the U.S. from France, Germany, Turkey, Malaysia, the U.K. and Indonesia...They have all come to the area to help out...They hand out food, kerosene, water...The world community is responding to the immediate needs of these people with impressive speed, but then what? A volunteer from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) wondered out loud to me at a kerosene distribution point, "This is a huge disaster, we are doing all we can, but we don’t see any rebuilding going on, and we wonder when that will start."

The same question lingers on the minds of the residents of Balakot as I found out when I spoke to them in the makeshift vegetable market.

Zaheer Khan's village is an hour's hike from Balakot. He was buying vegetables for his wife, when I walked up to him. After some pleasant banter he got right to the point. "We don’t have any building supplies, no wood, not enough tin sheets or tools to rebuild our house." As he spoke, a seventy year old man named Karimullah stopped by to say, "Nobody rebuilds for the poor, we will never have our homes back, we will live like refugees for years to come."

The desperate conditions in the refugee camps have angered many people in the area; Some of who feel trapped in their new tent communities. As I left the market, a young man named Sami Zahoor pulled me aside. He had come from Peshawar to help build tin houses in Balakot. "There is one institution that is working hard," he told me. "The Pakistan army, without them this area would be in complete chaos. They have kept everyone in check, they have bought law and order to the region. They clear away the roads when the mud slides happen, and when Pakistani citizens like myself offer our help to rebuild, they assist us. There is already some rebuilding taking place, but you cant suddenly find housing for 3 million people, it will take time..."

This was not the first time I heard this, throughout my trip, I heard young men crediting the army for the work they have done in the region...

But there was also another group that got very high marks from the residents of Balakot...The Islamic relief group, Jamaat ud-Dawa. The Jamaat has strong links to the banned Kashmiri jihadi organization Lashkar-e-Tayyiba. I made my way to Mansehra to visit a camp run by them.

From the outside the camp looks like any other refugee unit, except for the shining advertisement boards outside the entrance which reads "Complete Islamic Veiling for Women," Camp run along Islamic lines, separate schools for girls and boys."

Once you walk in you realize that these people mean business. They have a state of the art operation theater, medical facilities, they have set up computers in tent classes, they have massive electricity generators, a play area for children, a four storey storage facility filled to the brim with warm clothes, bedding and food stock. If nothing else, these people are extremely well funded and have dedicated volunteers who have spent months on end working in the camp.

The atmosphere in this camp is very different. Men with long hair and long beards walk around, making sure that men and women are not seated together and that women are properly veiled. They prohibit photography and anything "un-Islamic" such as television. “Photographs are not allowed in Islam,” they tell me.

Abu Zargam who runs one of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa camps was very forthright when I met him at the camp. He told me that the Jamaat had nothing to do with the armed Lashkar-e-Tayibba (militant outfit) yet he couldn’t explain to me why so many of the young men in the camp, hid their faces every time a camera was pointed at them and why one of them told my colleague that Jihad was an important pillar of Islam. (Totally false for those people unfamiliar with Islam) Abu Zargam spoke about the need to create a society run on the lines of Islam..."Our refugee camp is a microcosm of what Pakistani society should be like," he said. "Segregation, no entertainment like cinema, no billboards of half naked women. And this is how its going to be once the relief operation is over. We are teaching these people to pray, to seek forgiveness from God, to run their lives according to Islam."

It is no doubt that they are providing excellent services to the refugees, further down the road at another camp, children don’t even have access to a school, here they are learning Microsoft on Pentium 5 computers. Something to wonder about...

Kasim Sohail who came to the camp from Kaghan told me that he liked the environment. "Look we like segregation, so we are happy with the services here. They are teaching us about Islam, it is an opportunity for my young son to learn about the religion. I don’t want him to make the same mistakes I did, or my generation did..." The question here is what kind of an Islam are these people being taught? Is Islam only about complete segregation? Is it not also about forgiveness, about love and compassion? What kind of an Islam will Karim's son grow up with?

Just outside the Jamaat camp, a young woman approaches my car and begs me to listen to her. "These people are not interested in relief work. I am a widow with two young daughters. These people only help those who agree with their Islam. I don’t veil completely and neither do my daughters so they refused to help us. In fact one of the men in the camp told me to cover up or never show my face here again. My head is covered, I’m wearing the traditional clothes, what more do they want?"

These are the politics of their relief work...Everything in life comes at a cost, and the cost of allowing these kinds of groups to actively operate in the area will come to surface slowly....Their impact will be ever lasting...

As the rain continues to pelt down, cases of pneumonia are on the rise. In every camp I visited, I saw young children succumbing to the respiratory disease. Most people in the Balakot/Mansehra area are drinking contaminated water from the river, so kidney problems are on the rise. There is no sanitation, no waste disposal and everyone is exposed to these conditions on a daily basis. Children are playing in such conditions, women are cooking and washing clothes in these conditions and it’s taking a toll on their lives.

As you drive down from Balakot to Islamabad, it really hits you…Balakot looks like a war-torn, refugee zone, where life has come to a complete halt after the earthquake…Where people are still clinging to worn out photographs of loved ones lost in the rubble…

Islamabad is buzzing…school children piled up in vans head to school, cars whiz by, shops are crammed with buyers and one hopes that as the months go by Balakot, once the tourist destination of choice stands up tall, embraces the winter and fights back to rebuild…

2006-01-18T14:56:00.000-05:00

The Frontline Club in London will be screening Women of the Holy Kingdom on February 6th at 7:30 p.m. The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy.
Seats are limited, please RSVP to events@thefrontlineclub.com

2006-01-11T23:03:00.000-05:00

The Cuban doctors at the Khanpur Medical Relief camp attend to the wounded refugees

Amidst the debris in Balakot refugees cook their afternoon meal.

This young girl lost her sibling in the earthquake.

A makeshift tent school in Bissian. The earthquake destroyed over 8000 schools in Pakistan, most students now have to suffer through their lessons in the bitter cold.

2006-01-11T22:58:00.000-05:00

A makeshift tent school in Bissian. The earthquake destroyed over 8000 schools in Pakistan, most students now have to suffer through their lessons in the bitter cold.

2006-01-11T07:11:00.000-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy will be returning to Balakot on January 13th to document the lives of the earthquake refugees. To read her dispatches please subscribe to her mailing list.

2005-12-20T09:14:00.000-05:00

3rd I New York will be screening On a Razor's Edge on January 19th 2006 as part of the "Urban Hum of Pakistan": A Shorts Program.

2005-12-19T06:59:00.002-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's diary from Balakot in Pakistan:

Diary from Bissian (12 km from Balakot) Pakistan. Monday December 12th 2005: Snow has covered the mountains surrounding Balakot. At night, the temprature drops to -15 degrees as families huddle close together to keep warm. The tents provided by the relief organizations do little to keep the cold wind from blowing through. Balakot is a graveyard and everyone here has a story that breaks your heart.
I arrived at the Khanpur Medical relief Camp to volunteer as a translator for the Cuban doctors who have come on a 6 month stint to provide medical assistance in the earthquake affected zone. As the helicopter hovered above, i could see the destruction below. The city of Balakot and its surrounding areas are now refugee zones. Entire buildings have collapsed, roads have split open, houses crushed underneath the mountains. Amidst the debris rows of UNHCR tents line the side of the road. The stench of dead bodies still lingers in the air, and there is a sense of desperation amongst the refugees, for them their world has come crashing down and the relief organizations can never fill the void the earthquake has left in their lives.
Some 400 patients visit Khanpur Medical camp each day to get free medicines, consultations, x rays, ECG tests, Ultra sounds. The camp run by Cuban doctors provides much needed relief to the people in this area who are suffering from broken bones, pneumonia, severe respiratory diseases, severe kidney problems, diarrhea, scabies, urinary infections and post traumatic disorders. These are the lucky ones, they made it through the brutal earthquake and the aftershocks...But they know that they will not survive the winter in these conditions.
On my first afternoon as a translator for the Cuban doctors, i saw two babies who were about to succumb to severe pneumonia. The doctors watched helplessly, they couldnt find the words to comfort the parents. The babies died two days later. A woman arrived with crushed pelvic bones. A wall already weak from the tremors had come crashing down on her that morning. Her left leg had been crushed in the earthquake more than two months ago and she weighed less than 45 kg.
The tent i was sharing with two other volunteers was freezing cold that night. Gas heaters are not allowed inside tents because of the danger they pose. Already several fires in nearby camps have claimed the lives of young children. My fingers and toes were numb as i struggled to sleep. In the tent behind me a baby wailed the night through. These are the brutal living conditions that these people have to endure on a daily basis. No photograph, television news piece can do justice to what these people are going through.
At 2:47 a.m. an earthquake (not a tremor) on a 6.6 richter scale rocked the area. The refugees rushed out of their tents, the babies started howling and fear spread through the camp. The earth shook with intensity, a loud bang and then silence. Then, the wailing began again. The fear of not knowing which building will fall next, which family member will succumb next has shaken these people to the core. Everywhere i went, the same question was repeated, "why are we being punished, what have we done to deserve this?" For many in Balakot, the world has already come to an end, the lights have already dimmed...Some time later, most people returned to their tents. They had seen another earthquake through and when the call to prayers was announced at dawn, they headed to the mosque to thank god for saving them yet again.

Tuesday December 13th 2005:
At 7 a.m. the patients start to line up. Some walk down for miles from their tents in the mountains, others come from as far away as Muzzafrabad. The Cuban doctors have built quite a reputation for themselves here and the locals have taken to them immediately. Their quiet, unassuming ways have won them respect here. Their message is clear, they are here to stay and are going to help as many people as possibl. These doctors and nurses are taking urdu language lessons from Mr. Bhatti (the camp director) so that they can communicate more effectively with their patients. Their dedication is an inspiration to the other relief workers in the area.
Kiran Bibi a twenty five year old woman who lost 3 children in the earthquake and whose only surviving child is in danger of succumbing to a respiratory disease, cannot find the words to thank the doctors for helping her. Tears stream down her face when the doctors give her free medicines, kind words and reassurances that they are here 24 hours a day for her if she needs them.
That afternoon i took a walk through the refugee camp. Outside the tents, some women washed their clothes, others cooked lunch. The poor sanitary conditions have taken a toll on their lives. Their children play in the dirt amongst piles of feces and garbage and because of the cold, there is little opportunity for them to bathe. Saima Bibi who lost her husband and a grandson in the earthquake watches her five year old son with dismay. "He has stopped going to school, he doesnt listen to me anymore," she tells me. "He is so scared at night and continues to ask me where his father is. We have lost everything, i dont know why god spared me, he should have taken me away to. Death would have been better than this miserable life." I dont have any answers for her so i walk away.
That evening i sat with a few Cuban doctors to understand why they chose to come to Pakistan, since Cuba and Pakistan do not have any diplomatic relationship, since the people of the two countries do not share the same culture, language or religion, many of us are intrigued by the help that the Cuban government has given Pakistan. Over 1500 doctors have come on a 6 month stint and are working in 30 such camps accross the devestated zone.
Maily Betancourt is a gynocologist and a mother of a 10 year old. She volunteered to come to Pakistan because she was moved by the images she saw on television after the earthquake. "It is my duty to help anyone who is in pain anywhere in the world," she tells me. Even though she is unaccustomed to the harsh winter and life in a tent she strives ahead because "the people of Pakistan need medical help now." The Cuban help has not made headlines around the world, but the work they are doing every day is making a difference in the lives of thousands of people.

Wednesday December 14th 2005

Its been three days since i've had a bath! But ive become use to the conditions in the camp. I was woken up at 5 a.m. this morning by the call for prayers. The local cleric spoke at length about the earthquake on a loud speaker making sure that people could hear him for miles. His message was disturbing to say the least, he reinforced the fact that as long as the people of the area were involved in immoral activities, the earthquakes would continue. I had half a mind to walk over and ask him what immoral activities he was referring to, but given the circumstances, i refrained.
Down the road from the medical camp, several Islamic radical groups have set up their tents. They are also providing food, shelter and medicines to the people in the area. And since these people need all the help they can get, one cannot deny that the these groups are filling a void and doing important work. However, these people have a hidden agenda no doubt, as i discovered that afternoon.
Mini vans packed with islamic religious school students whiz through the streets. On a loud speaker they announce that their camps are willing to accept everyone. They boast about the medical help their doctors have provided to the people, and reassure them that when the foreign volunteers, the Pakistan army and the Pakistani NGO's leave, they will still be there.
Before the earthquake Balakot was a fertile recruiting ground for many Jihadi Kashmiri organizations and these people want to make sure that the people of this area continue to support them. So ever so often they take to the streets announcing their feats and encouraging people to support their noble cause. A troubling sign no doubt.
Before coming to the region, i had read reports that the Pakistan army was not doing enough to help the people affected by the earthquake. But once i got there, i understood the gravity of the situation. The Pakistan army has a mammoth task ahead of them and they are trying their best to cope with the situation. No third world country is equipped to handle a disaster of this magnitude. I see Pakistani army helicopters, trucks, personnel carrying supplies, setting up camps and rebuilding broken roads and bridges. They work around the clock, but there is always something left to do at the end of the day. More demands and more expectations...
Khan Sahib a seventy year old grandfather put the situation in context for me that evening. He has lost his entire family, including several grandchildren. "When god takes everything away, all at once. Lives, property, health, wealth, well then nobody can ever replace it all, as much as they try to. We are grateful to the army, the volunteers the non profits, they are doing what they can, but they can never bring back our loved ones, our homes, our lives. so nothing they can ever do, will be enough."
That night, the director of the camp informed us that with the tempratures dropping, and the illnesses multiplying, medicines were running in short supply. He would have to start reaching out to people in order to fill the void. As the world's attention drifts away from Pakistan, the international help seems to be drying up. A second wave of disastor is around the corner for Pakistan...As soon as the first snow falls in the valley, the death toll is bound to rise...
Last year at this time, the valleys were covered with snow, so everyone here knows its only a matter of time before the first flake drifts down, bringing with it more death and destruction. =============================================================
Part 2 of the diary and photographs from the region will follow in a few days....

2005-11-29T12:32:00.000-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy will be participating in the International Museum of Women's "Imagining Ourselves" Online Exhibit and Global Gatherings.
Through an interactive online exhibit, a series of global gatherings and a new book, Imagining Ourselves is a platform for young women to create positive change in their lives, communities and the world.

2005-11-28T17:52:00.000-05:00

Women of the Holy Kingdom will be screened at the Kara Film Festival in Karachi on December 8th 2005 12:45 p.m. at the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs.
The documentary will be re-screened on Friday December 9th at 12:00 p.m. at the Iqra University Auditorium.

2005-11-28T17:48:00.000-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy will be speaking at a panel in Vancouver about the effects of the earthquake on South Asia. The event "SHOCK ON THE LINE OF CONTROL: DOES THE EARTHQUAKE OPEN OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHANGE IN SOUTH ASIA?" is free and open to the public.
Date: 29th Novemner 2005/ 5:30-7:30 PST

2005-11-28T09:13:00.000-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy will be travelling to Balakot and parts of Kashmir to report on the aftermath of the earthquake. Her reports will be published in several newspapers in North America.
You can also access these reports by subscribing to her mailing list.

2005-11-14T12:52:00.000-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy will be speaking to interns about events in the Middle East at the New York Times headquarters on Friday November 18th.

2005-11-11T22:05:00.000-05:00

World Youth Peace Summit has named Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy as their youth ambassador from Pakistan. She joins youth leaders from Bosnia, India, Israel, Japan, Thailand and South Africa.

2005-11-02T09:15:00.000-05:00

SOUTH ASIAN QUAKE
CANDLE LIGHT VIGIL: TUESDAY NOVEMBER 8TH 2005
6 P.M. DUNDAS SQUARE (OPPOSITE EATON CENTER) TORONTO
THEY STILL NEED US -- WE MUST NOT ABANDON THEM
Don’t forget the 3 million homeless victims of the South Asian Earthquake Don’t forget the 74,000 injured people
Don’t forget the 8,000 destroyed schools
Don’t forget the 79,000 deaths
Don’t forget that more people will die from the cold than from the earthquake

•As the media’s attention drifts away from South Asia, remember that a 100,000 survivors are at risk of dying in the coming weeks and more will follow if help is not given to them.
To mark the one month anniversary of the South Asian Earthquake

Join us for a CANDLE LIGHT VIGIL to grieve for lives lost, provide hope to those still struggling to survive, draw the world’s attention to the work that still needs to be done.
Our individual voices can be one loud message of support, hope and action.
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 8TH 2005
6 P.M. DUNDAS SQUARE (OPPOSITE EATON CENTER) TORONTO
For more info: www.saquake.org www.yourdil.org/vigil
To volunteer contact: Earthquake_victims@yahoo.com
COME LIGHT A CANDLE

2005-10-31T08:15:00.000-05:00

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy will be speaking at the NewsXchange 2005 conference in Amsterdam on November 11th 2005. The panel will focus on "Reporting on Islam and Muslims".

2005-10-24T13:49:00.000-04:00

Re-inventing the Taliban and Women of the Holy Kingdom will be screened at the 5th women's film festival in Tuebingen, Germany "TERRE DES FEMMES" from November 17th till the 23rd.