Coronavirus: The camels bringing books to children in rural Pakistan

A camel is being used to bring books to some of the poorest children in Pakistan, South Asia.

Roshan the camel visits kids in remote villages who can no longer go to school because of coronavirus lockdowns.

The children run out of their homes when it arrives shouting: "The camel is here!"

Pakistan's schools first closed because of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, with around 50 million school-age children and university students still home-schooling now.

Children react as a camel carries books in Mand, Pakistan

Roshan carries the books to four different villages in the Kech district, visiting each village three times a week and staying for about two hours each time.

The camel is the perfect way to transport the books because many of the roads in the rural villages are too narrow for vehicles.

"I like picture books, because when I look at the pictures and the photographs, I can understand the story better," said nine-year-old Ambareen Imran.

Raheema Jalal, a high school principal, founded the Camel Library project with her sister.

Children listen as a woman reads a book brought by a camel in Mand, Pakistan

She started the library in August 2020 because she wanted children to continue learning despite schools being closed.

It's been especially difficult in places like Balochistan, one of Pakistan's poorest regions, where in many villages getting access to the internet is hard.

Jalal hopes to continue and expand the project to cover more villages, but needs more funding to pay for more camels.

The project is a collaboration with the Female Education Trust and Alif Laila Book Bus Society.