Private Project

Medical Camp - Doctors on a short visit.

In the remote valleys of the Hindukush there are a few health stations. Health workers do their very best distributing medicine (if available) and going to the homes for giving drip (if available in the shop) for diarrhea.
Traditional healers exist. However, in case of disease, nowadays people go to the hospital in Chitral - if people can afford the cost for a jeep and if it is available and the road not blocked by flood, landslides or snow and if people can afford the cost for prescribed medicine.
In worst cases people go to hospitals in Peshawar – if they can afford it. If that does not help, it is God’s willing.

The film shows Chitrali doctors coming for a flying visit to offer their services among the Kalash and the Muslims in Rumbour Valley, NW Pakistan. They come on a Sunday in summer. They don’t come in winter when most people are sick and all people are at home in the valley.
The doctors are joined by pharmacists from the big medical companies teaching people to use the modern medicine. Illiterate people can’t read what the medicines are for and how to use them. The chief doctor tells that most diseases come from poverty. The woman doctor can’t check women properly without the equipment only available in the hospital they never reach.
After a big meal hosted by the people of the valley, the doctors leave again – most happy with themselves.

  • Birgitte Glavind Sperber
    Director
  • Birgitte Glavind Sperber
    Writer
  • Birgitte Glavind Sperber
    Producer
  • Chief Surgeon Dr. Nazir Ahmed
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Mecicine, Poverty, Religion, Economic interests, Drug Industry, illiteracy
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    March 25, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    1,500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Denmark
  • Country of Filming:
    Pakistan
  • Language:
    Danish, English
  • Shooting Format:
    MiniDV
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Distribution Information
  • Birgitte Glavind Sperber
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Birgitte Glavind Sperber

Birgitte Glavind Sperber: Born 1942, M.Sc. in Biology and Geography from University of Copenhagen. Retired senior lecturer in Geography and Biology from University College South in Denmark.
Every year 1983-2008 and in 2018, 2019 and 2022 long stays, in total over 2½ years, among the Kalasha, a non-Muslim minority living in the Hindukush Mountains in NW Pakistan .
Education in social anthropology from Aarhus Open University. Author of books and ethnographic papers on the Kalasha.
Since 2000 shooting with a camcorder.
First film made at Danish Film Institute’s Video-workshop in Haderslev in 2001.
Since then working alone at my computer at home.
12 of my Kalasha documentaries have been selected for screening at 24 international film festivals. Two have been awarded ("The Last Honours" and "Kalasha Medicine").

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