Osama Bin Larden was assassinated by the Americans within the Pakistan army compound. This news brought a wave of uncertainty on how the locals will behave towards tourist as they have a misconception that ‘tourist’ are all Americans despite our accent and looks.
Goya is part of the ‘Swat View’ photography projected based in the heart of a troubled area in Swat Valley. This area has seen in recent years has seen fighting between the Taliban and the army and huge floods that have wiped out 70% of the villages.
This team of two Swiss guys, one Korean women and one Japanese man is giving out camera to locals who meet the criteria, teaching them how to take photographs. The team then buys the photos off the local, giving them the money to then go back into the community to help re-build their lives after the recent disasters.
It was going well until ‘Osama’ day, Goya was forced to wear a burka for the first time. Following her local friends out into the street, she had to run to keep up with them, struggling with the massive dress. They had to laugh and teach her that the local women, walk at their own pace at times several steps behind!
I had to laugh when I was told this story. All I could imagine was Goya who was at least a foot taller than the locals, most likely carrying a large backpack trying to dissolve into the crowd, when it was going to be completely obvious who she was.
It wasn’t too long after this incident, that they were evicted from Swat Valley due to potential issues with the Taliban’s. They are currently trying to keep the project going from a distance – for more information on their project, please visit their website – http://swatview.org/
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