Latest news with #Seher
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Popular Pierce County footrace crossed now-closed Fairfax Bridge. What now?
A popular Pierce County footrace has had to adjust in the wake of the State Route 165 Carbon River Fairfax Bridge closure. The Washington State Department of Transportation permanently closed the 103-year-old bridge on April 24 due to safety concerns. The bridge led to key areas of Mount Rainier National Park – including the starting point for the annual, 50-mile Rainier to Ruston Relay. With only 44 days before the June 7 event, organizers had to scramble to re-route the entire event. 'Runners thought we knew something before they did, but we didn't, so we started getting some emails and it's like, 'What do you do? You have to pivot,'' said Sabrina Seher, the race director. 'It's not ideal to have to basically reroute an entire course for 1,600 runners.' Rainier to Ruston has been running for 22 years and supports the nonprofit Foothills Rails-to-Trails Coalition. It normally starts from the base of Mount Rainier and finishes at Marine Park on Ruston Way in Tacoma. Now there are 12 segments of the run, starting in Carbonado and running through Wilkeson, South Prairie, Orting, Puyallup, Fife and Tacoma. Seher said some of the biggest changes they implemented when rerouting the event included adding a segment, Lincoln Loop, in an industrial area of Fife. She also said they added a second segment in Tacoma, which normally only had one. The first Tacoma segment spans from Lincoln Avenue to War Memorial Park. Runners will then go from War Memorial Park to the finish line near the Lobster Shop on Ruston Way. 'The City of Tacoma, we had a Zoom meeting right away, and they said, 'We're very familiar with this race and this organization – we're happy to support you,'' Seher said. Seher also said they added an exchange in Orting, which will allow for new parking. Rerouting the race in 44 days involved a lot of mapping, exploring and calling officials, Seher said. 'There's basically two of us that went back and forth a lot, looking at maps,' Seher said. 'It has to make sense, so runners aren't confused, and then once we have the ideas, we go back and then we make the maps. Then we send them to whoever we need to talk to and stress the urgency of needing some kind of solution – and apologize for needing an urgent solution.' Here is a breakdown of all 12 legs. Leg 1: Carbonado to Wilkeson, 3.4 miles Leg 2: Wilkeson to South Prairie, 4.1 miles Leg 3: South Prairie to Crocker, 4.6 miles Leg 4: Crocker to Orting, 3.7 miles Leg 5: Orting to McMiliin, 3.4 miles Leg 6: McMiliin to Meeker, 4.2 miles Leg 7: Meeker to Puyallup, 4.3 miles Leg 8: Puyallup to Fife, 4.7 miles Leg 9: Fife to Lincoln Loop, 3.2 miles Leg 10: Lincoln Ave to Tacoma, 2.7 miles Leg 11: Tacoma to War Memorial, 6.5 miles Leg 12: War Memorial to Ruston, 6.5 miles Runners can look at an interactive map of the full route at They can also visit the event's website at 'We're just excited, whatever comes out of this,' Seher said. 'We are happy to pivot so that runners can still have a great experience.'
The Guardian
28-03-2025
- General
- The Guardian
How Karachi's women got into power: the female electricians lighting up homes in Pakistan
A cardboard sign reading 'Electrician available' hangs outside a house in the Karachi neighbourhood of Shah Latif Town. The name and phone number of a man, along with his expertise in repairing sewing machines and water pumps is listed underneath. In reality, the electrician is 30-year-old Nazia Seher. The phone number belongs to her husband, Mohammad Rehan. Seher is among 200 certified female electricians trained by a private electricity firm in Karachi under a programme called Roshni Baji (Light Sisters). Launched in 2021, the initiative provides opportunities in Pakistan's male-dominated energy sector, where women are just 4% of the workforce. 'Of the 40 in my class, 10 got job offers in K-Electric,' Seher says, referring to the city's utility company. Today, it has about 45 female meter-readers, alongside 426 men. 'Getting selected for the training was a blessing,' says Seher. 'My husband had lost his job during the pandemic and the paid internship saved us.' Seher, who wishes there were 'more than 24 hours in my day', reads about 200 electric meters a day with a handheld device that transmits data online. 'It's a lot of work, but I love it,' she says. At home, her husband, a textile worker, now does more of the domestic chores and helps look after their three children. 'A few years ago, brewing tea and sweeping floors felt impossible,' he says. 'Today, I chop the vegetables ready for her to make dinner.' 'Our relationship was strained with constant bickering,' adds Rehan. 'Money has brought peace.' In the evenings, Seher earns extra income repairing irons and stoves, installing backup batteries and helping neighbours. 'She doesn't charge us,' says Noor-un-Nisa Israr, mother to a six-month-old, who has separated from her drug-addicted husband. 'It's just me, my mother and sister. As the sole breadwinner working 7am to 7pm I can't have strange men in the house. It'd raise too many questions.' At home, Seher has installed lights and fans. Last week, she replaced the washing machine gasket, her husband says proudly. Razia Asghar, a homemaker, praises Seher for installing a solar panel on her rooftop in the Cattle Colony neighbourhood of the city, saying it has been a lifesaver in the extreme heat and reduced their electricity bill. Seher says: 'We only studied solar panel installation in theory, so that was my first time.' She has since received more requests from families in Cattle Colony. 'It's a purdah-observing area [where women are kept socially separate], so being a woman has worked to my advantage. Building trust and relying on word of mouth are crucial to establishing a reputation as an electrician.' Sign up to Her Stage Hear directly from incredible women from around the world on the issues that matter most to them – from the climate crisis to the arts to sport after newsletter promotion But there are irritations too. 'Just recently, a man commented loudly [asking] if there were no male electricians left in the country that women had to step in, while passing by me,' says Seher, 'I wanted to respond, but let it pass.' In nearly four years, the Roshni Bajis have reached 800,000 households, each visiting 35-40 homes a day. Mushrooming development and unplanned building in slums create high risks of electrical accidents, and cases of electrocution are far from rare. One of the major risks comes from people using metal hooks, known as kundas, to illegally tap into the main power lines in the absence of proper connections. Seven years ago, Durdana Shoaib's daughter touched a transformer on their rooftop, leaving her with burns and permanent nerve damage. 'We were negligent as parents,' says Shoaib, who went on to join the Roshni Baji programme. Living in a slum, she says the most common hazard is wires trailing in puddles, with women and children walking by barefoot. 'It's a perfect recipe for getting electrocuted, but people remain unaware,' she says. Shoaib has made it her mission to raise awareness about electrical hazards. Last year, K-Electric removed more than 250,000 kundas across the city, almost 350 tonnes of illegal wiring. The company works to connect communities to the network. In 2024, nearly 7,000 illegal connections were removed and meters installed in Bin Qasim Town, a hotspot for electricity accidents in Karachi.
