User talk:Thattakedona

Driving Force Behind Thatta Kedona -- Dr. Senta Siller

Three German women have had passionate association with the people of Pakistan and became famous in very different areas of their interests: Dr. Annemarie Schimmel, who died in2004, in the fields of science and culture; Dr. Ruth Pfau in medicine and health and Dr. Senta Siller in arts, crafts, cultural preservation and poverty alleviation. All these women of greatsubstance have been conferred highest civil merits in Germany whereasAnnemarie Schimmel and Dr. Ruth Pfau have been awarded by Pakistan government as well.

Dr. Senta Siller is an artist and designer by profession and volunteer by choice. The results of her life long research and experience were put into practice in Thatta Ghulamka Dheroka -- a clay village of 200 house holds in the backwaters of Punjab. She established a Women's Art Centre and started a self help project in the remote village. Dr. Senta Siller mobilized the local women and led them to make hand crafted dolls dressed in traditional dresses from different provinces and regions of Pakistan; also other items and toys for the gift market. At first only women of Thatta Ghulamka Dheroka benefited from economic improvements but soon the project expanded and girls and women from other villages were integrated. Presently, the village project is working in collaboration with NGOs from other countries.

The hand crafted products from the Women Art Centre are sold in Islamabad, Lahore and in Austria, New Zeeland, Canada, as well as European countries and in UN gift shops around the globe. Presently they are at display at Expo 2005 in Japan. Dr. Senta Siller has helped spread the rich culture of Pakistan through hand crafted gift items in over 40 different countries. The unique self help production in the village not only helps rural women to generate additional income for themselves and their families but also spreads cultural wealth of Pakistan and shows how culture goes beyond geographical boundaries. The dolls and toys are collectors delight with marketable potentials. The products of the village voluntary project were displayed in EXPO 2000 in Hannover in Germany as a sole worldwide project from Pakistan. It was recognised as an "exemplary" for the twenty first century.

Women Arts Centre that started in the courtyard of a mud hose has its own spanking new building and one of the largest solar energy facilities in Punjab. The project also includes a functional health centre, educational services and tourism facilities as a part of the holistic project. The like minded NGOs in Cameroon, Columbia, and Iceland learnt of this project and started working in collaboration. The governments of different countries (Germany, Canada, and Japan) are supporting Dr Senta Siller in her work. She has been awarded the title Queen Mother in the highlands of Cameroon. In Columbia she has been made an honorary member of the Yaguas -- an Amazonian Indio tribe. With the help of an Icelandic development company of which she is an honorary life member, an international doll museum was established in Iceland. Dolls from Pakistani village are on permanent display in the museum.

Who is this woman? Is she a hard working career woman or a caring housewife or a loving mother? All! She has managed to raise four children (one son and three daughters) whilst being extremely successful in her many sided and demanding professional life as entrepreneur, artist, scientist and director of an art school. Dr. Senta Siller, now 70 years of age, was born in Vienna. One side of her family descends from the line of 'Archduke Leopold Salvator von Bourbon Habsburg Toscana' – famous Austrian nobility. After World War II, her family lived in the Bavarian countryside. Dr. Senta Siller studied design in Berlin and came to Pakistan for the first time in the sixties. Pakistani people soon recognised her talents and adopted her. She has fond memories of Gujranwala where she spent her early time in Pakistan. Later she started the village project in 1993 and now she calls Pakistan her second home.

On return to Germany after the first visit, Dr. Senta Siller joined a textile firm where she worked on designs for children's wear for the European market. She received an international award for her work there. In her spare time she administered the art nouveau estate of a fellow countryman, a graphic designer and professional colleague. She completed her doctorate in philosophy at the Berlin University. She also directed an international art school for photography, graphic design and designs.

Her son, a doctor of engineering, works as a research engineer in Berlin. One of her daughters is a doctor of medicine and practices paediatrics in New Zealand. Another, an MBA, lives in Uganda and the third one is an artist living in Ireland.

Now her time is distributed in Germany and Pakistan. In Berlin, Dr. Senta Siller is an honorary member of many cultural and professional entities. In Potsdam, she has founded Pakistan House for the information of German citizens. The Pakistan House was inaugurated by the ambassador of Pakistan in 2001.

What is the motive of her work? "I am returning back some of what I achieved in my earlier life," she says.