2010 Pakistan flooding
Pakistan flood relief six months on
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© CHEF
Children affected by the flood can now return to school in Agra village again
More than six months after devastating floods ravaged Pakistan, CBM and our local partners are still working hard to restore lives, livelihoods and confidence in the future.
A new lease on life
More than six month have passed since the floods in Pakistan destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes, swept away valuable belongings, left layers of mud and debris on the agricultural land, blocked irrigation and drinking water channels and left the affected population with only the few belongings they could carry.
20 million people were affected by the disaster, and it is estimated that more than 6 million were left homeless.
CBM, in close cooperation with our key strategic partner Comprehensive Health and Education Forum International (CHEF), has been coordinating relief efforts in three provinces: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the North-East, Punjab in central Pakistan, and Sindh in the South.
The head of CHEF's Disaster Preparedness & Emergency Response Unit (DPERU) reports that after visiting one of the villages in Charsadda district, "We can see an immense change in the attitude and the faces of the people that were once almost doomed. These people have received medical treatment and medicines, food and shelter, winter clothing, goats, clean drinking water and much, much more. With each visit we see further development."
CBM's relief efforts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
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©CBM
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Truck loaded with food supplies on its way to distribution
This programme concentrates on six villages (Cheena, Shinkay, Mirzadair, Agra, Saeedabad and Muslimabad), which are in Charsadda District, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
This is a very badly hit area at the confluence of the Swat and Kabul rivers, about 30 km north of Peshawar.
Before beginning any intervention in the villages, CHEF encouraged those affected by the floods to form village committees to help with planning, identifying beneficiaries and vulnerable individuals, and verifying distributions.
Summary of activities
- Provision of clean drinking water (water filters and water filtration plants)
- Provision of food packages
- Provision of hygiene spray kits to prevent infections
- Organisation of rubble cleaning (distribution of wheel barrows, tools)
- Medical relief (through medical team providing services at a mobile container) / free medicines
- Renovation of basic health care unit
- Provision of assistive devices to persons with disabilities (awareness campaigns, identification, assessment and screening)
- Repair of schools including accessible ramps and lavatories
- Building shelters / repairing private homes through 'Cash for Work' programme
- Distribution of winter clothing.
- Distribution of goats as a means of subsistence
Clean drinking water
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©CHEF
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Drinking water purification system in Cheena village
Filtered clean water was the most urgent need of the villagers. Water filters were installed in Cheena and Mirzadair on 20th August, 2010. A water tank of 500 gallons was installed and clean drinking water was stored in the tanks.
CHEF has been installing hand pumps at the targeted locations since fall of 2010. The groundwater level has risen substantially. In the district eight new wells have been drilled to a depth of 100 feet to ensure supply of clean water for the handpumps installed.
Food distribution
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©CHEF
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The food packages contained flour, rice, oil, matchboxes, various pulses, juice, dates and tea
Food packages were designed according to the needs of the communities and were distributed on 15 excursions in the period from August 8 to Sept. 29, 2010.
1,170 families in the six villages could be supported, while persons with disabilities, women and children, as well as elderly people were given priority.
Medical relief
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©CHEF
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Receiving urgently needed medicine
The mobile container of the general health care unit in Takhtbai was placed in the village Cheena on August 5, 2010 to provide emergency medical relief to the large number of affected survivors from the floods.
After the basic health unit in Thakhtbai had been renovated, now including accessible features, the container was shifted to another village, Agra, in mid September.
From August to December 2010, a total of 40,150 patients could be treated (14,746 male, 25,404 female).
Water filtration plant
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©CBM
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Inspecting the water filtration tank
Two huge water filtration plants have been procured and installed in the two villages of Shinkay and Agra for continuous provision of clean drinking water.
A separate room was being built on the high school grounds for the filtration plant. Drinking water facilities have been installed on the outside walls, so that clean drinking water is available not only to students but to all of the villagers.
Cash for work
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©CHEF
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Proud homeowner showing the progress of renovation to evaluation team
50 households, identified by the village committees as most needy, were targeted for this programme. Families were supported in cash to either repair their damaged houses or when this was impossible to build a shelter for the winter months. The funds were divided up in four instalments and released only after making sure that the previously assigned work had been completed by the beneficiary family.
This activity was successfully implemented in the period from 22nd Oct., 2010 and finished at the end of January 2011.
Distribution of goats
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©CHEF
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A goat will help this man to feed his family
Ilyas Khan, one of the beneficiaries, tells us, “Later on we were given goats to fulfil our dairy needs. The goat was just like a member of our family. My children were very happy when it arrived and now they are really attached to it. It reminds me of the goats we had before the flood. This devastating flood has left us with nothing.“
262 goats were distributed to families in six villages in need of livelihood support, identified by the village committees and verified by the emergency response unit.
Distribution of winter clothing
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©CBM
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The students of Agra primary school really like their new winter jackets
Winters are harsh in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province as the mercury can drop to below freezing temperatures during the crest of the season.
In the present situation it has been difficult to maintain any heating system due to supply problems and high prices. Even in homes and offices of higher living standard the only reliable way to keep warm has been adequate clothing.
The flood affected villagers were at at an even higher health risk as they are living with makeshift shelters and no appropriate clothing for the upcoming winters. CHEF International performed a needs assessment during mid November 2010 for winter clothing in the worst flood affected villages of district Charsadda resulting in the six targeted villages. After defining basic needs the purchases were put out to tender and and a supplier chosen who offered the best value for money.
The emergency response unit distributed warm clothing (jackets, sweaters, warm socks, blankets, quilts) to families identified as most in need of warm clothing from January 5, to January 18, 2011. 20,000 people have been targeted.
