#Maisara pass

[mahmoudshaqura]

My brother Maisara Shaqoura is in the

prime of his life. He was born in 2003. He's stuck in one of the tent locations in the south of Gaza.

He was displaced there after the horrific events that he and the entirety of the people living in Gaza underwent. They have been denied the basic necessities of life. Everyone has a right to safe living and humane conditions no matter what race, ethnicity, or religion they belong to.

Maisara was unfortunate to be born with a problem in his heart. He has a whole in his heart that's 8 mm wide. He underwent open heart surgery previously and escaped death by the skin of his teeth. For him to remain alive he has to take his scheduled medications on time. Due to the lack of availability of the medicine or anything else from hospitals to equipment, he has started deteriorating. Given the fact that money is also scarce, it has become extremely difficult for him to stay alive. The cost of moving him out of there is weighing heavily on my shoulders. My name is Mahmoud Shaqoura and I'm his eldest brother. I live in Belgium. I can no longer afford to keep up with his care in these dire circumstances. I can't let him face all that's going on. I can't let him struggle with displacement, the inhumane living conditions, the lack of medical care, the scarcity of food and water, his medication not being avaliable, the cold, and that's to name a few. Skipping over the most obvious which is eminent death. All that combined with the emotional and psychological toll it's taking on him is truly destroying me.

Maisara lived with our that has passed away shortly before the events of the 7th of October. She was a cancer patient with very advanced cancer in her skull. She was also paralysed because of the disease. Maysara suffered so much even before this genocide, so take into consideration how compounded his pain must have gotten with everything that's going on now. The house my brother used to live in with our mum, our house in the North of Gaza, was bombed. We lost so many family members, ones that used to help Maysara. He is now alone facing all of this trying to stay alive. We can't completely fathom how people in Gaza are still standing. Now Imagine my little brother all on his own trying to survive, not knowing even when this all would end.

Maisara was in nursing school. He was in that major cause his dream was to help himself, his mum, and his entire homeland.

Maysara is getting worse by the minute. We have to act fast to save his life. His condition is worsening and he's asking for our help.

The money required for him to leave Gaza and go into Egypt is very high. That with the cost of him travelling for treatment in a specialised hospital is 30,000 euros.

I, Mahmoud, his brother, pledge this a debt that I will repay for someone else in need. when I have that money I will do it to help save a life.

Attached are his medical files depicting and describing his condition for you to take a loot at.

[zedecksiew]

STONE'S COLD DISQUIET

A paper palace and an absent goddess and a darkened necropolis divided in three.

13/2 - 19/2 #dungeon23

Not a dungeon---but what is a dungeon, anyway? Here: have a tomb city, instead. People used to be buried here, as statues, in cold stone apartments. But then somebody woke them up.

Backstory I didn't have space to include (read: "forgot to include because I was too preoccupied fitting the text neatly into each day's box):

These statues are carved from stone into the likeness of the deceased, then daubed with their cremated ash, investing them with the spirits of the dead. After what happened here, Garika's temple now scatters ash into the sea.

Obvious rip-offs of Weeping Angels, these statues. But I thought that: "statues that are suddenly on the edge of your torch-light" was too appropriate an image to pass up ...

Also pleased with the image (sound?) of Green Maisara's earrings jingling in the dark.

This one connects to a whole lot of other stuff:

Thematically linked to the statues of the tomb of Queen Lessa;

Details the funerary rites of the non-Sea Peoples of the region;

References the God-In-Pieces, including his dong;

Garika's priestesshood has relocated across the bay;

Now the docks and shrines have been repurposed by the plantation detailed in January, serving the city described in December.

Trying to let the visuals carry more information. Ajun's face has so little detail compared to the other two, because Ajun used to be a bondsperson in life, and the poor are not afforded definition.

+

#dungeon23 thing I loved this week: Benj's Giant Tree Dungeon. Am loving the everyday details in the Temple.

[xtruss]

‘Instead Of A Scream’: The Palestinian Artist Who Does A Gaza Drawing Every Day

His Studio Was Flattened, He Has Had To Move His Family 10 Times, And They Now Share A House With 25 Others. But Still Maisara Baroud Finds A Way To Document The Fear And Destruction He Sees All Around

— Maisara Baroud | Tuesday 14 May 2024

‘My Reality Occupies The White Space On Paper’ … Images from Baroud’s/Am Still Alive, on show at Palazzo Mora, Venice. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

For years, I have been used to drawing daily and sharing my drawings on social media with friends. I have published thousands of series of drawings, each with its own title and description. I enjoyed doing that. I have made sure that I kept to this daily routine, despite the difficulty of my circumstances and despite losing my private office, my house, my drawing studio, and all my books and tools due to the machinery of war.

Drawing and posting online daily became the only way to reassure my friends, after all communication and social media were cut but later partly restored. My drawings, in which I document the war with all its cruel scenes, have become the message through which I inform friends: “I am still alive.”

“‘The Planes Of The Illegal Regime Of The War Criminal, Fascist, Apartheid, Liar, Conspirator, Terrorist and The Zionist 🐖 Of Isra-hell’ Wiped Out All The Future Plans I Had For My Children”

It was not easy to continue to draw in the shades of war and genocide, the atmosphere which my city is now being subject to; obtaining my tools was not an easy matter either. I started drawing after I obtained a pencil and some paper and, later on, obtained some black ink pens.

My lines got sharper and more rigorous with every scene I drew, the black areas consuming the surface of the white paper. The tragedy, in all its detail, was reflected on this paper. The drawings were in the place of a scream and were a call out from the middle of the war demanding a stop to the killing … and that the world notice what is happening in Gaza and its confined universe.

‘We Wait For The Start Of A New Day After A Long Night Filled With Aircraft, Rockets And Death’ … the sketches on show in Venice. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Daily scenes and events pass by us, such as killings, demolitions, uprooting, destruction, starvation, deportation, fear, worry and sadness; these are the scenes that I express without the need to call on my imagination. The scenes we are living moment to moment became the reality that occupies the white space on my paper.

I noted in my diary the stories of destruction, loss, death, weakness, displacement, fear, pain, patience, resilience and breaking. And I expressed the story through my work, separate from official propaganda. The story is of a war that has a massive ability to harm and that defeats distance and geography at the speed of sound, bringing death to more people in less time.

“‘The Steel Bird Of The Illegal Regime Of The War Criminal, Fascist, Apartheid, Liar, Conspirator, Terrorist and The Zionist 🐖 Of Isra-hell’ Killed My Cat Sarah, Chewing Her Soft Meat”

The reality that I lived prior to 7 October has changed. I no longer have a safe house that shelters me and my small family. The rockets have fallen on my drawing studio (my little world) and destroyed it, and the planes have wiped out all the future plans I had for my children. The steel bird killed my small cat Sarah, and chewed her soft meat, before the cat could pass on her seven souls to my children.

The university at which I work as a lecturer has disappeared and lies in ashes. The war machine has distorted the features of my small city and the occupation has destroyed all the beautiful things in it; so the things that are fixed in my memory now lie distorted under the rubble.

In the blink of an eye I became a displaced person in cities that do not know me. I have moved 10 times in search of safety for me and my children, far from the heart of Gaza. I now live in the south of Rafah, in a small house with 25 other people.

The space has become diminshed without clean water for drinking and showering, without electricity, fuel or gas for cooking. Like other people, I spend most of my day meeting daily household needs, in the shadow of soaring inflation and scarce goods. But this isn’t all, you have to go in search of survival and safety (which is lacking) for you and your family, and wait for the start of a new day after the end of a long night in Gaza filled with aircraft, rockets and death.

The war has swallowed whole my small dreams, and everything that surrounds us now is covered in blackness. The small heart is no longer able to bear it. For me, sadness is a decision postponed until after the war; I decided to carry on drawing despite the difficulty of the circumstances and kept for myself some time at night after a long day. Drawing has become the special way to help me overcome death for a bit. Drawing, for me, is the way to break the blockade and in this way cancel and challenge the borders and the barriers placed by the occupation.

It is also the only way to announce: “I Am Still Alive.”

— Images By Maisara Baroud form part of Foreigners in Their Homeland, an exhibition of work by Palestinian artists, organised by Palestine Museum US, at the European Cultural Centre, Palazzo Mora, Venice, until 24 November.

— Translation By Suhair Hindiyeh

[noxaeternaetc]

Maisara Baroud (1976 - ) I'm still alive (Sarah and Simba Quartet), 2024. Ink on Canson paper, 21 x 30 cm.

"The reality that I lived prior to 7 October has changed. I no longer have a safe house that shelters me and my small family. The rockets have fallen on my drawing studio (my little world) and destroyed it, and the planes have wiped out all the future plans I had for my children. The steel bird killed my small cat Sarah, and chewed her soft meat, before the cat could pass on her seven souls to my children."

[jorge5000]

Pamir highway via Wakhan valley in 7 days

This is my account of a trip I’ve done over Pamir highway via Wakhan valley in early August 2017. As always, I’ll focus on things relevant for planning your own trip, not my impressions. Please read About this blog.

Pamir highway via Wakhan valley route:

Khorugh - Bibi Fatima (public transport)

Bibi Fatima (next to Yamchun) - Zong (~30 km on foot)

Zong - Langar (~5 km on foot)

Langar - Rachiv (?) (private car ride, ~35 km) - Mats pass (~35 km on foot)

Mats pass - Maisara pass - M41 (~35 km on foot with a short hitched ride) - Alichur (hitched a ride, ~60 km)

Alichur - Murghab (hitched a ride)

Murghab - Osh (public transport - a shared taxi)

Somewhat informative map with my checkpoints. Download the image for higher resolution.

Check out this detailed map scan of the area and its legend. You can buy it in the tourist info center in Khorugh park in the center (somewhere near here). I do not own copyright to it, it costs 150 SOM and it’s here just to help you plan. Buy the map in Khorugh and support the people who created it. People working there speak English and know everything you’ll want to know.

In short:

Equipment. Walking sticks, filtering bottle, hat (bought one for 15 SOM in Khorugh market - the sun is very strong), 2kg tent, some food, warm clothes for the night, raincoat, self inflatable mat, sleeping bag, 2 pairs of shoes, mom's Christmas cookies, basic medicine.Walking sticks were very useful for walking and especially for crossing the river and slippery terrain. Two pairs of worn hiking shoes failed me. Blisters were hell.

Water purification. The water filtering bottle is heavy, but it is the most useful and reliable item I had.

Reverse? Doing the reversed route (M41->Maisara pass->Mats pass->Langar) is better for views, altitude and walk/rest period distribution.

Duration. This worked out in 7 days because I found a ride immediately all the way to Murghab right after reaching M41.

Details day by day:

Day 0 (Sunday): Dushanbe - Khorog, 7:30-21:30, shared taxi, 280 SOM, sleep in a hostel. Shared taxi booked by the hostel from the main parking where all taxis stand. Arrive early to pick a good seat. Day spent in the car. Stopped along the way to eat, greet driver’s friends, repair car when needed, inflate tires along the way, fill car with gas, and use the toilet. Took some fresh dairy product given by the locals along the way for free and regretted it for the next two days.

On the way to Bibi Fatma.

Day 1: Khorugh - Bibi Fatima, 13:00 (really 14:30) - 21:00, shared taxi, 140 SOM. Stopped along the way to eat, take some more passengers from a broken car. Slept with a local family from a person met in the jeep. I speak few words of Russian and she spoke even less, but that didn’t prevent her from helping me out. Ate dinner, stayed for one night, her family didn't want to take money, so I left each of the 3 kids a $5 bill hoping they’ll treat the next stranger equally kind.

View from Yamchun fortress.

Day 2: Bibi Fatima - Zong, 9:00-17:00, on foot. Enjoyed hot springs, after that the Yamchun fort, took a path from there back to the main road, and then walked along it towards Langar. No issues following the road, river water available along the way, very few cars, exclusively in the opposite direction, almost none in my direction. Took tea breaks in villages along the way. Hitched a ride for the last 6 km with a truck carrying potatoes and onions. Driver didn’t want to take any money for the ride. Hotsprings in Zong again. An overly friendly and trustable Pakistani runs them, doing his best for you to feel safe there. Homestay at the very beginning of the village, marked by a street sign, mentioned in LonelyPlanet. 100 SOM with meals.

Day 3: Zong - Langar; ~1h, on foot. Woke up with 10 mosquito bites on my left hand which I apparently hadn't put enough of my 40% DEET spray on. Very unnecessary health risk. Morning hike to fortress ~1h to get there from the homestay taking the steep way up the hill. Bought a Tcell sim in the three floor store on the main road below the hot springs (Megafon doesn't work there), got charged more (~120 SOM) but no issues with stay permit/passport copy - the owner has a stash of passport copies he uses for registrations. If the owner’s not there, ask someone where he is and they’ll call him. In Langar stayed with a local who invited me to camp by his house and we arranged him to take me to where Mats pass path starts next morning. Went petroglyph searching (after the cemetery after the church, as LonelyPlanet says). Other petroglyphs are available on marked locations close to eastern exit from the village. Ask for Panshanbe homestay for 50 SOM food + accommodation, advertised by a local met on the road. Big mistake in camping - landowner had dogs, who were not really happy with me staying during the night (not giving a fuck about me during the day though), and barking the shit out at me with my every move in the tent for the whole night.

Langar mall. Last chance to stock up before the trek.

Day 4: Langar - where Mats pass path starts (420 SOM, 5:00 - 6:00), and trek to a bit after Mats pass - locals pronounce it Mitts pass (6:00 - 17:30). The path starts steep up, after which I had to cross waste-deep river twice. The path is difficult and very steep at the beginning, but gets easier later.

It starts from here...

... and you just follow the path on the right.

Or you just get used to it. Not difficult to find, though. GPS signal all the way, the road is what can be seen on google terrain maps if you zoom in and know where to look (see the map scan above and add Gmaps GPS checkpoints). Water available when you need it all the way. Don't carry unnecessary load. Two shepherd (chobanie) houses, one on the way, one on the other side of the river. They speak basic Russian and will offer you tea and a place to stay. Pitched the tent a few minutes after Mats pass when the road starts to descend again. A nice green valley with a river on the left side. Few drops of rain several times during the night. Raindrops turned to frost by morning - have a warm sleeping bag.

Day 5: Mats passs - Maisara pass - M41 (7:00-17:30 walk including ~6km hitched ride) - Alichur (18:00-00:30 hitched a ride on M41. Several shepherd’s houses are along the way. One right after Matts pass, one again before the iron bridge (follow visible road or you'll have to jump stones across the river), several more houses a few hours later. Road/path is always recognizable, but be careful about road splits. But there’s also a path on the other side of the river, where some road splits will take you. Water mostly available every 60 minutes - the river digs a canyon often. Hitched a ride (the only car passing that day), a shared jeep by locals from Jawshangoz to Maisara pass. A few shepherd houses around Maisara pass. Otherwise beautiful silence, a lake and cold wind there - the nature really wouldn’t care if you died there. Descended from the mountain, found a bridge to the M41, After reaching M41 hitched a ride to Alichur. There’s a great spot for camping right next to the bridge and a shepherd house visible from there. The truck was terribly slow, but no one passed us by. Lots of trucks going in the opposite direction. Water close to the road only occasionally - trekking here would be a bad idea. In Alichur everything is closed at 00:30, as you can imagine. Homestays were already full. My three new friends from the truck went knocking on house doors until someone agreed to put us up for the night. 30 SOM. Slept in the room with the whole family. Got blankets and warm tea in the morning. More than enough, compared to camping outside.

So please, MTV, pimp my ride!

Day 6: Alichur - Murghab (5:00-11:00). In the same truck which brought me to Alichur. Homeowner said it wouldn’t be easy to hitch another ride on Sunday. During the ride I really didn’t see much traffic in either direction. Not much water along the road either. The road is now flat so the truck goes even above 20 km/h. A short break for bare-hand marmot hunting. I watched from the truck. Enough for me. After reaching Murghab had something to eat with my new friends. Afterwards we parted our ways and I gave them $60 ($20 each). They didn't ask for money and said what they did for me doesn't cost them anything. That’s certainly true, but I still gave it to them in hopes they would treat any other traveler with equal kindness. Took a three hour break in Murghab, walking around bazar and town, and then continued to Osh. 2:30pm-3:30am. Difficult ride, sharing the front seat of the jeep with another guy.

Day 7: Murghab - Osh (14:30 previous day - 03:30 on day 7). Overcrowded jeep, long ride, mountain border crossing, driver and passengers exchanging a bunch of banknotes right before the border. The border control police officer was happy to say he knows a sportsman from my country. I was too, as I was too exhausted to have any other conversation. Terrible roads and bumps keeping me awake. Driver suddenly turns back as if he lost something on the road. Then turns the car back around and continues. We make a stop to eat something in a local restaurant around midnight after Saray-Tash. We arrived in Osh and the drivers helped me find a place to stay for the night.

Other helpful resources:

Caravanistan forum

Same route but in the opposite direction and on bikes (blog trip report in German)

[phgq]

BTA starts panel consultation for Bangsamoro Civil Service Code

#PHinfo: BTA starts panel consultation for Bangsamoro Civil Service Code

MARAWI CITY, Nov. 10 – Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) has started Monday the series of panel consultations for the proposed Bangsamoro Civil Service Code (BCSC) or the BTA-Cabinet Bill No. 59.

The panel, constituted by the BTA’s Committee on Rules (COR), will conduct the consultation until November 11 at the BTA’s extension office in De Mazenod Avenue, Cotabato City.

The panel is chaired by Member of Parliament (MP) Atty. Raissa Jajurie, with MP Engr. Aida Silongan as vice-chair. Members include MPs Ziaur-Rahman Adiong, Eddie Alih, Suharto Ambolodto, Baintan Ampatuan, Susana Anayatin, Anna Tarhata Basman, Musa Diamla, Maisara Latiph, Jose Lorena, Jamel Macaraya, Khadafeh Mangudadatu, Amilbahar Mawallil, Rasul Mitmug, Ubaida Pacasem, Diamila Ramos, Romeo Saliga, Omar Yasser Sema, Romeo Sema, Paisalin Tago, Nabil Tan, and Adzfar Usman, with ex officio members such as Parliament Speaker Ali Balindong, Deputy Speaker Hatimil Hassan, Majority Floor Leader Lanang Ali, Jr., and Minority Leader Laisa Alamia.

“The panel is here to gather comments, position papers, and issues on the code that will come from our resource persons, and we will present it to the Committee on Rules for deliberation,” Jajurie said.

Resource persons include representatives from the Civil Service Commission national and BARMM offices, Department of Budget and Management, People Management Association of the Philippines, and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines; members of the leagues of mayors, vice-mayors, and councilors; regional and provincial human resource management officers; and sectoral representatives (regional and provincial heads).

The BCSC is one of the priority legislations the parliament needs to pass within the transition period. It was filed in the plenary on July 21 this year, and was referred to the COR July 23.

MP Silongan, who is also the chair of the cabinet committee tasked to craft the BCSC, said the code is a product of dialogues with experts, and consultations and public hearings with various stakeholders in the BARMM’s five provinces, including North Cotabato areas.

“BCSC hopes to provide an effective instrument for good governance and responsive policies on human resource administration of the Bangsamoro Government while addressing the legitimate needs and peculiarities of our people,” Silongan said.

The code also seeks to “provide a favorable policy environment that would give opportunities to qualified mujahideen to be considered for employment by the Bangsamoro Government during the transition period.”

“It is hoped that the BCSC will pave the way for the professionalization and institutionalization of the whole bureaucracy of the Bangsamoro Government,” Silongan said. (BPI)

***

References:

* Philippine Information Agency. "BTA starts panel consultation for Bangsamoro Civil Service Code." Philippine Information Agency. https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1058534 (accessed November 10, 2020 at 10:14AM UTC+08).

* Philippine Infornation Agency. "BTA starts panel consultation for Bangsamoro Civil Service Code." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1058534 (archived).