by Umerkot, Pakistan (AP) – Villagers remain silent when Pakistani popular musician Sham Bhai starts to sing about climate change, her clear voice rises above the simple squat homes.
“We are the people in the south. The winds seem to blow from the north. The winds seem cold and warm. My heart is burned by seeing the collapsed houses in the rain. Oh, loved, come home quickly.”
Sham, the Pakistani province, is the most affected three years ago by climate-fed Deluges that influenced tens of millions of people throughout the country and washed away houses, agricultural land and infrastructure.
For the past two years she has visited a dozen villages in Sindh and learned people about climate adjustment and resilience through song, a useful medium for sharing information in places where literacy is low and the internet is scarce.
“When we give a message through song, it is easy to communicate to people because they understand,” the 18-year-old singer told The Associated Press. She performed in the District Umerkot and sang in its native language and official provincial language, Sindhi, who is spoken earlier and understood in places as Umerkot than the official and national language of Pakistan, Urdu.
Sindh registered more than 1,000 rain -related deaths in a few months in 2022. The damage remains visible. Broken roads and flattened houses that residents have never rebuilt. Floods immersed by Sham’s District, Tando Allahyar. News images showed people who wade water through waist-deep water.
“The meaning of the song is that the houses of poor people who are built on mud are not strong,” Sham explains. “Women and children are confronted with hardships during the rain because they are vulnerable in the absence of men who leave for work. The women of the house call on their men to return because the weather is so bad.”
Poverty and illiteracy deepen the vulnerability of people
Alternating pieces of dried out and lush agricultural land flanks the road to Umerkot. Dry and wet spells buffet the province, and local farmers have to adapt. They now focus on winter crops instead of summers, because the rain is more predictable in the colder months.
“The monsoon season used to be on time, but now it starts late,” said farmer Ghulam Mustafa Mahar. “Sometimes there is no rain. All patterns are off-course due to climate change over the past five years.”
He and others have switched from crops to cattle to survive.
Little infrastructure is removed from the center of the district. Children are excited to see sedans grinding through the dust. The area is usually bad and very hot.
The literacy rate of Sindh drops to 38% in rural areas. Sham said that singing informs those who cannot learn about climate change because they cannot read.
Mindful of their audience, the three singers heat people with popular tunes to attract their attention before they launch sad tunes over the wind and rain, their texts inspired by writers and poets from Sindh.
“People act on our advice; they plant trees and make their houses strong to be confronted with climate change,” Sham said. “Women and children suffer a lot during poor conditions that damage their houses.”
Women and girls of all ages can work outside in Sindh, tend to have crops or cattle. They collect food and water, together with wood for fuel. They are predominantly limited to this kind of work and other domestic chores due to gender standards and inequalities. When extremely strikes again, they are often the first to suffer. A villager then said heavy rain houses in 2022, it crushed and killed who was inside, including children.
A woman raps for climate justice
People in the countryside have no idea what climate change is, said Urooej Fatima, an activist of the city of Jhuddo. Her stage name is Sindhi Chhokri, and she is known locally for campaigns on issues such as women’s rights.
But she has drawn her attention to increasing awareness about climate change since flooding her village destroyed in 2022 and again in 2024.
“We can involve a large audience through Rap. If we go to a village and collect a community, there are a maximum of 50. But everyone listens to songs. We can reach hundreds of thousands of people through our voice and our message through RAP.”
She said that hip hop is not common in Pakistan, but the genre resonates because of his tradition as an expression of life, hardships and struggle.
She still has to finish her latest rap in climate change, but wrote one in response to the floods of 2022 in the neighboring Balochistan, the poorest and least developed province of the country, because she thought it was not enough attention. She played it at festivals in Pakistan and promoted it on her social media accounts. At the time, officials said that more help was needed from the central government for people to rebuild their lives.
“There are gaps on the road; the roads are ruined,” Utoej Raps. “I tell the truth. Will your anger rain on me? Where was Balochistan’s government when the floods came? My pen thirst for justice. Now they have passed, these triple rulers. This is not a rap song, this is a revolution.”
She and her sister Khanzadi campaign on the ground and social media, protest, visit villages and plant thousands of trees. She wants the Sindh government to take the awareness of climate change seriously by providing information and training to those who need it most, people who live in the countryside.
“This happens every year,” said Urooj, referring to the floods. “Climate change influences the entire life of a person. Their life becomes a disaster.”
She quotes the disproportionate and specific impact of climate change on women and girls, the problems they experience with relocation, education, hygiene and nutrition, so that it adds to deep -rooted gender discrimination.
“There are no opportunities or facilities for women. And then, if a flood comes from above, they have more problems.”
She calls for controversy in rural areas. Half of the feedback she receives is negative. She is not deterred to speak out on social taboos and injustice.
“Rap is a powerful platform. If our rap only reaches a few people, this is a very good performance. We will not let our voices suppressed. We will always raise our voices.”
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