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| Hundreds gathered to receive food distributed by Friendship International. Pakistan |
In July 2010, Pakistan experienced the worst floods in its history. The floods left a long trail of death and devastation, claiming over 1600 human lives, damaging infrastructure, and destroying standing crops. The economic losses caused by the calamity have pulled the country back in time.
A staggering 20 million people have been affected by the floods – and the crisis is far from over. The flood waters have mostly receded, but Pakistan is still recovering from the disastrous floods.
Friendship International Pakistan {FI} embarked upon the ‘Flood Project’ during this trying time for Pakistan. Out of the four provinces in Pakistan, the province of Khyber Puktunkhwa and Sindh have been the ones most affected. Friendship International Pakistan was assigned these two provinces to start their humanitarian work. FI set up Medical Camps in the Charsadda and Nowhsera region in the Khyber Puktunkwha province and embarked upon a Food Distribution project in various parts of Sindh.
Medical Camps: The Friendship International Muzaffarabad mobile clinic, ambulance and staff relocated to the Nowshera region to set up a Satellite Clinic on the 14th of September 2010. The medical team included two doctors, two paramedics and two helpers. Every morning the FI team set up clinics in the four to five camps chosen in Nowshera. Averages of 250 patients per day were attended to by the FI team. The doctors diagnosed their problems and provided them with medicines free of cost. A total of 1515 families were attended to by the FI staff in Nowshera till the end of the project in November 2010.
A second Medical Camp was set up in the Charsadda region and the areas leading to Swat during the same time. A different team consisting of one doctor, one paramedic and two helpers was hired for the medical camp in Charsadda. Daily Medical Camps were held in the chosen locations and averages of 250 patients were attended to in these areas. A total of 1115 families were treated and provided with medicines by the FI team in Charsadda till the end of the project in November 2010.
Food Distribution: FI, Pakistan was allotted with the food distribution project for the Hindu community of Sindh as they were the most deprived community and faced a real shortage of food supplies. FI rose to the occasion and helped the flood victims by distributing food bags to over 900 families in Sindh. The food bags contained basic food essentials like rice, flour, milk, sugar, cooking oil, lentils etc as well as basic household items such as toilet soaps, washing powder, cooking utensils, floor mats and matches. The locations were food was distributed in Sindh were:
1. Makli Graveyard in District Thatta
2. Tehsil Gharo in District Thatta:
3. Village Behla, Saeedpur, Sujawal, Camp in Thatta
4. Tehsil Jati in the Thatta district and in the
5. Maheshwary Community Centre, Saddar, Karachi One of our volunteers for the Food Distribution Project, Ravi Kumar Kanner, lost his life while performing ablution in a nearby stream in Thatta where he had travelled to with the Friendship International team. To commemorate his services to Friendship International Pakistan, four commercial water coolers each equipped with four taps and a capacity of 45 litres of water were installed in areas that were frequently visited by Ravi Kumar and people from his community.
Temporary Latrines Project: In the wake of the devastation,
the victims have been deprived of
basic amenities such as toilets.
Friendship International,
Pakistan once again rose to the occasion to provide basic sanitation solutions to the displaced people living in camps in Sindh by constructing and installing 100 toilets in Sindh in different locations. FI put 25 toilets in the Hawksbay area and another 75 in the interior of Sindh in Makli.
Friendship International Flood Relief Project with OAKDF:
Future Plans:
Friendship International Pakistan plans to provide warm clothes to the flood affectees
Friendship International Pakistan plans to install Water Tanks in the villages and plans to train the local people on administering water purification tablets to the tanks
Friendship International Pakistan will provide material to the flood affectees to rebuild wooden shacks that they are accustomed to living in. If need be, temporary latrines like the ones already installed in the interior of Sindh will be built along with their wooden shacks
