Her pensive face was entirely at odds with the bright sunny day. Noticing the four-year-old, a passing volunteer got down on her knees and asked, “Eman, I am going to the library. Would you like to come along?”
It was obvious the child did not know what a library was, but it seemed to offer a diversion and her small round face nodded three times in rapid succession. Her fingers were wrapped loosely around the volunteer’s index finger, ready to break free at a moment’s notice in case this stranger or the strange place to which she was taking Eman ceased to interest her.
“Would you like to open the door?” asked the volunteer, standing in front of the locked library and extending the keys to Eman. The upturned face looked from the stranger to the bolted door. After a few seconds of deliberation, Eman replied, “I am too small. How can I open the door? You open it. When I grow up, then I will open this door.”
Eman with Hamza Abbasi
The volunteer fumbled with the keys, the sense of those guileless words sinking in: was there a message there? Once inside the library, the volunteer whispered, “Eman, why don’t you pick up a storybook and I will read it to you.”
Not quite reassured, Eman walked reluctantly to the bookshelf. But searching through the books and seeing their bright covers, she overcame her misgivings. Finally, with a book in hand, she returned.
“Will you please read me this story?”
“Of course, Eman,” was the prompt reply.
The cheerful smile with which the volunteer opened the book soon dissipated. Her fingers had fumbled with the keys; now, her tongue stumbled on the words. It was a harmless enough story about baby animals – lost and scared, braving the elements to look for their mothers, finding them overleaf, and nuzzling up to them happily. A discomfiting story to read to the four-year-old who had been abandoned at birth, adopted at three, and then given up once again to the SOS Village in Rawalpindi before being sent to Lahore.
“I love books too – this much.”
Eman was looking at the pictures with a strange expression and the volunteer was relieved that she could not read the words herself. Pointing to a baby elephant, the child asked, “Why is he so sad?” The volunteer decided it was time to improvise and replied, “Because this little baby elephant has lost his ‘Big Buddy’ and is looking for her.”
The story continued with all the baby animals transforming into ‘Little Buddies’ and the mothers into ‘Big Buddies’. After another four stories, it was difficult for the volunteer to cut into Eman’s animated chatter as she danced around. And then, the magic words: “I love the library!”
“And what about books? Don’t you love them too?” asked the volunteer.
“I love books too – this much,” she said, her arms stretched out as far as she could manage. But most telling was the increased pressure of the little hand now clinging firmly to the volunteer’s.
Bilal Lashari reads to a rapt audience
Today, Eman’s fingers are curled around the index fingers of her own ‘Big Buddies’, Hamza Abbasi and Bilal Lashari. She leads them to the library, followed by her SOS Village siblings and family. While the younger children pour inside, the older ones wait in the grounds. There are two other ‘Big Buddies’ as well: Mr Syed Atta-ur-Rehman all the way from Kingston, Canada, and Dr Shahid Soroya from ARFA. Hamza and Bilal take centre-stage. Storytelling, not acting and directing, seems to be their true calling. Cats and dogs, toads and princesses… the stories flow forth and captivate a critical audience.
As they leave the library, Pied Piper fashion, the children follow. Thronged at every turn, Bilal and Hamza assiduously sign autograph after autograph. Bilal wants to make sure he spells everyone’s names correctly and Hamza draws a small moustache and beard to match his on Eman, who is now perched on his knee.
Bilal got the spellings right, and even after several attempts to wash it off, Eman still bears the traces of a very becoming moustache. But most of all, the SOS children will always have strong traces of a memory ‘spelled right’.
Dr Shahid Soroya
“Will they come again?” asked Eman.
“Yes, they will,” the volunteer reassures her, “and many more ‘Big Buddies’. Till then, I’ll read you a story. Pick out a book.”
We have promised Eman the library of a child’s dreams. We have no funds, but we do have Eman, we do have faith.
To contribute to the SOS Village library, please contact the SOS Children’s Village National Office on +92 42 3591 8035–6, 3591 7846–7 or email national@sos.org.pk
