ActionAid's Pakistan Flood Relief

Many thanks to our donors and supporters, who had helped ActionAid to reach more than 220,952 people in Pakistan since August 2010.

A story to share  

82 years old Amir Bibi lives in Basti Chah Pahroi Wala, in South Punjab. She lives with three children two of whom are mentally challenged. None of her children has been to school due to poverty. Her 30 years old son Bilal is a daily wage earner whose meager income is hardly enough for the family to make both ends meet. He is the sole earner for a family of four and manages to earn less than a dollar a day.

The floods hit her village hard, washing away everything. “We could hardly save our lives. My son carried me through the water. Community people helped my ill children to get through the water.” She tells in a weak voice.

The family lived with their relatives for two weeks and when the water receded they returned to their village. “My son thought people would be returning and he might get some laboring job here. He was right in a way, people were returning, but they did not have any money to pay for laboring job. We had lost our house; there was no roof to sleep under.”

ActionAid reached the poor flood affected people with immediate support including food, plastic sheets for temporary shelter and household items. In Kot Adu tehsil of district Muzaffargarh, where floods had caused massive devastation, we provided cooked food and essential medical acre to 5500 families, and food and non food relief items to over 2000 households. However as people started to return to their homes, their main need was that of permanent shelter. With the financial support of I-CAP, ActionAid, through its local partner Hirrak Development Center provided cash and material support to 350 poorest households so that they could rebuild their homes.

Amir Bibi’s family was also selected for this much needed support. With the support of ActionAid, ICAP and Hirrak, Amir Bibi’s son and other community members constructed a one room house for the family.

Amir Bibi was happy that she had a place to live in and protect herself and her family from the harsh winters. “Look, this room is made of bricks and cement. Earlier my house was made of mud that is why floods washed it away. This one is really strong and good enough to keep us warm in this weather.” She shares happily.

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As the response progressed, ActionAid moved to support people in rebuilding their lives. In Swat and Shangla, we supported 1,000 families with cash for work activities on agriculture and land rehabilitation. In Punjab, the focus of cash for work activities was on shelter. 750 households were supported to reconstruct houses, cash and material support was provided.  In Sibi and Kashmore, 900 and 600 families respectively were supported to rebuild shelter/house. In Shahdadkot, we supported 500 families with cash for work for shelter reconstruction.

ActionAid Pakistan also established 9 women and child friendly canters in Sibi (Balochistan) and Kashmore (Sindh) where communities were engaged in informal sharing, education and awareness on protection and women’s rights issues. Street theatres were used, informal education for children was provided and recreational activities were organised such as drawing competitions, sports etc.  In addition, capacity building sessions on protection issues were organised for staff and partners so that they could raise awareness of these issues amongst communities. Almost 450 women and 550 children directly benefitted from these centers.