As Pakistan faces another monsoon season and the likelihood of more disasters, the country is not prepared. Many factors which have hampered the relief and reconstruction effort are still present, such as an inadequate disaster management system and a lack of emergency relief co-ordination and leadership. These institutional challenges must be resolved as soon as possible. The government and donors need to invest heavily in measures to reduce disaster risks such as better early warning systems, flood control, and more resilient housing. They should also tackle the underlying social inequalities which leave people vulnerable to disasters through a pro-poor national development plan. Spending on risk reduction and preparedness not only saves lives and livelihoods but hugely reduces the economic impact of disasters.
]]>In the midst of disasters where so many people have lost so much, why does Oxfam make providing soap such a high priority?
First and foremost, it’s because washing hands with soap is such an effective way to prevent the spread of diarrheal disease–which, under the difficult conditions of camp life, can be debilitating and even fatal.
But in emergencies, people have the right not only to health and safety but also to dignity. Soap enables a family to bathe and to wear clean clothes–simple acts with the power to restore a measure of well-being.
In the Pakistan flood emergency, Oxfam has distributed hygiene materials to more than half a million people. They include towels, water-purification tablets, sanitary pads, water buckets, and–no surprise–soap.
]]>Ibrahim and her family of six are from Mardan, in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Four weeks after they were forced from their home by rising waters, they are living in a tent in an overcrowded camp with four thousand other flood survivors.
She knows they are among the lucky ones. Since the Ibrahims arrived at the camp in the town of Nowshera on 4 August, they have had a tent for shelter and access to clean water and food. But she’s worried about what the future holds for her family
“Before the floods came, life was hard but good,” says Ibrahim. “We had our own home. My husband worked as a watchman for a local company, and we had some livestock that brought us some extra money.
“Then the rains started and the river began rising. We had never seen anything like it. We got up for prayers at 5AM, and the water level was higher than we’d ever seen it before. Then it started coming into the house. By 12PM, we knew we had to leave.
“Now, even the office where my husband worked was washed away, so he has lost his job. There is nothing we can do but stay in the camp and wait. We are thankful for help, but it is very hot here all the time. We have tea and bread in the morning and curry in the evening. But at home, we all ate three times a day and we had tea 24 hours a day. At night, we only have two camp beds and some plastic mats for the eight of us.”
The Ibrahims’ story is typical of many of those affected by the floods. Some are living in government-run camps; others are making do by the side of the road.
“We can rebuild our home but it will take time,” says Ibrahim. “There’s no water or electricity, and all the rooms are filled with mud. Every day, we go to clean and to make sure no one has taken whatever has been left.
“I am scared about the winter. We think it will take two or three months at least to make our house so we can live in it again. We need to go home before winter comes. We have no winter clothing or bedding. What will we do if we have to live in a tent? We need to be back in our home.”
“These people don’t want handouts,” says Neva Khan, Oxfam’s country director in Pakistan. They want to return to their villages, rebuild their homes, and recreate their lives. Oxfam is among the agencies working to provide them not just with emergency short-term help but with the resources they will need over the long term.
In order to do this, she adds, we need much more help from supporters.
For those living in the camps, uncertainty is a constant companion. “I don’t know when we will be able to go home,” says Ibrahim.
Today, she is speaking for millions.
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On August 16, Oxfam's Qasim Berech set out from the city of Mangora in Lower Swat with a team of five people and 100,000 packets of water-purification powder. Their destination—the city of Bahrain—had been cut off from aid for two and a half weeks, so there was no time to lose.
The water-purification powder he and the team are distributing in Upper Swat is a high-tech substance that in less than half an hour can remove dirt, pollutants, bacteria, and viruses from a big bucket of water. But the method of delivering it is distinctly low-tech: walking, with a few short rides along the way.
At 9:00 AM, they headed off in a van, but after an hour and a half came to the end of the road—literally. Faced with washed-out bridges and roads, they had to unload their cargo, hire local men to help them carry it, and set out on foot—in the rain.
When the roads improved, they hired a car again; when they hit another collapsed bridge, they shouldered the cartons and began walking—over and over throughout the day.
"We're not alone in our travels," wrote Berech. "We stop and ask some men that we pass where they're from. Most have come from remote parts of the Upper Swat and have walked for at least a day. They're heading for Fatehpur to collect food being handed out by the aid agencies. For most of these people, this will be the only food they will have had for days. They're hunched over and carrying sacks of wheat flour, oil, rice, pulses, sugar, salt, and biscuits on their backs—enough to keep their families going for a week or more. There are women, too, collecting water from the river for their families. They know they shouldn't drink it. It will make their children ill, but they have no choice."
It rained throughout the day, and the steep climbs became slick with mud.
"It's difficult to keep your footing in this kind of mud. Everyone is struggling, but no one complains," he wrote. "There are frightening moments, too. Because many bridges have been completely swept away, locals have done the best they can with whatever is to hand. We cross several bridges that are just pieces of wood held together with rope. They’re pretty dangerous. I cross holding on tightly as the bridge shakes from side to side."
The team finally reached Bahrain at 4:00 PM.
"We're all tired and soaked but we know it was worth it. We manage to distribute powder sachets to nearly 3,000 households. At 30 sachets per family, that will give them clean water for 15 days." He added, " We will go back again as many times as we need to."
]]>The Layyah district is among the worst hit in Punjab. Some 364 villages are completely destroyed, displacing 300,000 individuals, according to an assessment by the Doaba Foundation, an Oxfam partner providing relief to the affected communities in the district. The district government here has established 22 relief camps for displaced people.
With an Oxfam team, I visited a camp that houses 2,600 people in the Karor sub-district. It's a well-managed camp: there are water pumps and 16 latrines, eight each for men and women. A local philanthropist provides cooked food. Two police officials keep watch at the entrance.
In and outside the camp premises, we saw all kinds of animals: buffalos, cows, goats, sheep, and camels with their little ones. People were arranging fodder for their animals and were sitting close to them. "They are very poor people to whom a loss of a hen is unbearable, and they have lost everything, including their homes," said a relief worker from the same district. Most people living in the camp do not own any land, and animals are all they have.
The Doaba Foundation is doing wonderful work in coordination with the district government and rescue agencies. They have also helped to register 937 individuals in 20 camps and have distributed 445 hygiene kits. Each kit contains:
Zubair Iqbal, the camp manager, said that the heavy rains during the last three days have created difficult health and hygiene conditions.
According to locals, faulty building practices have contributed to the damage. Nazeer Ahmed, a volunteer working in the camp, said: "Traditionally, there were 10 tributaries to the Indus River that now stand blocked, thanks to building on that land. And since there had been no floods in years, people had moved into the river bed. The damage was inevitable."
Donate to Oxfam's flood relief and recovery efforts in Pakistan.
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