Hello world

Welcome to the Citizens Archive of Pakistan blog. This is the first post and I'm really happy to be writing it.

I run the Oral History Project in Karachi, Pakistan.

Oral history is the recording of people's memories. It is the living history of everyones unique life experiences. Oral history enables people who have been hidden from history to be heard, and for those interested in their past to record personal experiences and those of their families and communities. The Oral History Project has been recording oral history since June 2008.

Through the interviews, unbelievable stories have emerged of implausible acts of political strategy, as well as heart-warming accounts of courage and personal strength.

We aim to capture the stories of personalities from Pakistan's partition generation for our permanent archives. However, just as importantly, we value our collection of interviews with the many 'behind the scenes' pioneers and characters such as artists, musicians, radio and TV personalities as well as Pakistanis from all walks of life who lived and experienced life in pre-partition India and the 1947 partition of the Indian Sub-Continent.

By conducting and collecting oral histories and photographs these stories are recorded, preserved and made accessible for generations of Pakistanis to come. As with all historical records, oral histories provide important information on incidents from the past. Being able to hear the story from the participants themselves adds yet another, richer dimension to our collective national memory. This is an ongoing project and its scope includes stories spanning six decades of the country's history.

So what can you expect from this blog? Stay tuned... You'll get to meet the people who make the CAP office work, who come up with the most brilliant ideas, the interns and volunteers that give us their time - the people I'm lucky to work with.

You'll find out about our up-coming projects and events and hear from some fabulous guest-bloggers who have given CAP a helping hand along the way.

Who are the amazing people we meet while working on the Oral History Project?

What are some of the (weird) and unbelievable stories emerging from the CAP office?

What is the School Outreach Tour?

And what does S.O.C have planned next?

Thank you all for your support and kind words.

OHP shameless plugging: If you wish to nominate someone for the Oral History Project, please do contact us at citizensarchive@gmail.com

Check out www.citizensarchive.org - All interviews are used to create an audio-visual film clip.

Each clip is a record that encompasses the personal stories of Pakistanis involved in events that shaped our nation, the reminiscences of high achievers in their field or the everyday lives of those who witnessed the early years of our country and the memories of the nation at work and play.

The Citizens Archive of Pakistan’s Oral History Project is all-inclusive: Pakistanis from all walks of life are eligible to be interviewed. The audio-visual nature of the Project ensures that even if you are unable to read or write English or Urdu, you are still able to interact with the history of your nation.You can watch one of our film clips on the website!

Photo by Kohi Marri - 1600 schoolchildren visited the Shanaakht festival on 8th April. This is one of many images from the day. You can visit our Facebook group (The Citizens Archive of Pakistan) to check out all the other photos. This is my personal favourite.

S.M.