Emergency Assistance to Flood Victims in Pakistan

SKARDU, Sept 11, 2010

Grace Association Pakistan on Saturday distributed relief and Eid gift packages to flood-affected people in Qumra, Talis and Kharko villages in Giglit-Baltistan.

GRACE Team distributed Eid-ul-Fitr Gifts among 39 flood affected families, celebrating their Eid in tents. The Eid gift package includes cloths for women and men, children’s toys, biscuits, and food items. Speaking on the occasion, GRACE Program and Flood Relief Coordinator Mr. Shamshad Hussain stated that the scale of disaster was so huge that the government, nor any other organization, alone would be able to cope with the situation and there was a dire need for everybody to play their part and help the affected people.

Talking to people on the occasion in the Shot village affectees’ camp, Mr. Muhammad Qasim Coordinator of the Grace Association said they felt the pain and sufferings of the flood victims and they are striving to help them and contribute in various ways.

A 9 year old girl, Nahida Batool, who lost all her family members during the flooding. GRACE offered her and other affected children free education at GRACE Public School.

The victim community elders appreciated and thanked Grace Association. The affected communities were very pleased with GRACE Association for the Eid Gifts, especially the children and women, whose faces changed from expressions of despair towards gratitude and hope.

Reports from field by: Mr. Shamshad Hussain Grace Association Pakistan

Although flooding and rainstorms have started ebbing in the northern parts of Pakistan, flooding continues to devastate Sindh province and the southern regions of the country. GRACE Association Pakistan is helping the flood victims in the northern regions of Skardu and Gilgit Baltistan. Thus far, we have reached out to affected people in 5 mountainous villages in Baltistan. Among other relief activities, the GRACE Team is giving psychosocial care to many families and particularly to pregnant women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities. These victims have lost their homes, possessions, neighborhoods, and loved ones during the disaster.

GRACE is playing a major role in resource mobilization for the victims by developing linkages and making appeals to the government, civil society and other supporting organizations. These appeals have been effective in helping meet the immediate needs of the flood victims. Medical camps have been set up by the government in Shot, Oro and Talis as well as in the hardest hit and most inaccessible villages like Qumra, Talis, Bondu and Kharko, to provide life-saving medicines and support from local doctors. GRACE Volunteers were the first team to reach the victims in the most affected villages of Qumra and Talis with rescue and relief support. So far, 4 relief camps have been set up and 7000 people have been provided with food and medical care. We hope to reach many more people across Pakistan in the near future, however; we must provide relief items to the victims in our target villages before winter. It is imperative that these items be received and distributed before the lengthy and freezing winter falls upon the region of Gilgit- Baltistan. . The water will begin to freeze in mid-October, and as of right now the victims do not have enough provisions to ensure their survival through the winter. Local relief organizations and less affected communities have provided food and the government has provided tents, but the villagers remain apprehensive and uncertain about the coming months. One victim told our team "Thank you for providing foods and washing soaps but we cannot survive in these tents in the winter.” They must receive warmer clothes and proper accommodation, in addition to food provisions, if they are to survive the winter.

Haji Muhammad Ali, another victim told our field team, "People are desperately waiting for futuristic help, The announced packaged might be reached to us in next few years, so far what we will do, how can we survive with our women and children in the tents”

Another obstacle making the situation even more difficult is the blockade of the Karakuram Highway, which has made it nearly impossible for the victims to receive necessary aid. This highway is the only road from Islamabad to Gilgit-Baltistan. No transportation is available to go to the market and sometimes the only communication means is mobile phone. There are severe shortages of food commodities, fuel, and gas. In the market, an atmosphere of fear, apprehension, and even depression has developed. GRACE is working tirelessly to provide relief and support for the flood victims who face severe hardship in both the immediate and long term; however we cannot do this without your help. Please donate to GRACE today so the victims in Gilgit Baltistan can receive the necessary provisions to survive the quickly approaching winter. They need your help. PLEASE DONATE TODAY.

GRACE is conducting a detailed survey to assess the rehabilitation and recovery needs of the affectees in villages of Baltistan. The initial survey report reveals that restoration of traditional drinking water system and irrigation water channels are the top priorities to the victim communities. Though the flood water brought devastations for them, but ‘WATER IS LIFE’ and without water they cannot move towards recovery.

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