A man carries his family's food package of wheat, rice and cooking oil on his cart. Photo: CWS-P/A
Flood waters have yet to recede in parts of Sindh province, Pakistan, where PWS&D and CFGB are responding with food packages for affected families. Photo: CWS-P/A
A family floats their food package of wheat, rice and cooking oil in Pakistan. Flood waters have yet to recede in parts of Sindh province. Photo: CWS-P/A
Food packages containing cooking oil, salt, sugar, tea, wheat flour and rice for flood-affected families in Pakistan. Photo: CWS-P/A
Boys in Pakistan benefiting from a PWS&D-CFGB flood response. Photo: CWS-P/A
Food packages containing rations of wheat, rice, sugar, salt, tea and cooking oil await distribution to flood-affected families in Pakistan. Photo: CWS-P/A
Six Months after Floods Hit, Millions in Pakistan are Still in Need of Aid
Situation could worsen this spring
WINNIPEG, MB – Six months after floods devastated Pakistan, Canadian Foodgrains Bank member agencies are still responding to needs in that country.
The floods, which covered 50,000 kilometres, damaged over 2.2 million hectares of crops and killed over 450,000 livestock. Ten million people required immediate food aid.
Canadian Foodgrains Bank member agencies provided food kits to over 33,300 families, feeding over 266,000 people. This represents over 9,500 tonnes of food including wheat flour, rice, lentils, oil, sugar, and salt.
Kits are still being distributed to families in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, in Pakistan’s north, and Sindh Province in the south. Many families received food kits in January, which will provide food through to the end of February. In other areas, distributions are scheduled until the end of April.
Mehrrin’s Story
Mehrrin, who lives in the mountainous Swat Valley, is one of the recipients of aid. “This area was very beautiful before the flood,” says Mehrrin of the Valley, known as the Switzerland of Pakistan. But now, “all things are washed out.” After her house was washed away in the floods, Mehrrin received a food kit that was a welcome relief after they had lost everything and were struggling to meet their basic needs.
Eighty other houses in Mehrrin’s village were completely washed away in the floods. What’s left of the town is now dotted with tents, where people are still living, despite sub-zero temperatures. She is now living in her parent’s home, a 50 year old building that her family has lived in for generations, along with her husband and two children—something she’s grateful for, but which poses its own set of difficulties after months of living in close quarters. Getting enough food for the family has been difficult since the flood, she says, noting that many people are without work, including her husband, who worked as an electrician before the flood.
The additional strain on family finances, in combination with the destruction of infrastructure, has meant that a lot of industry has dried up. While there is much to rebuild, people don’t have the means to make it happen. The loss of topsoil in the Swat Valley has also meant that many families that grew small gardens for family consumption are now not able to do so.
Mehrrin’s father has a job working in a coal mine, but it is not enough to cover the additional costs that the flooding has brought. Mehrrin’s brother, Shabir Ahmed, is also living in the family home now. He was a student in the city, but returned home after the flood as there was no longer money to pay his university fees.
“As the water was approaching our home, we were very afraid,” says Mehrrin through a translator, “nothing is left now.”
Although much of the flood water has receded, needs still abound. Flood water is still standing in Sindh province, in the southern part of Pakistan. The situation will only be worse next year if many farmers don’t get a crop in the ground during the regular April planting.
Current Food Assistance Project
Canadian Foodgrains Bank and Presbyterian World Service & Development (PWS&D) are currently supporting 1,500 flood-affected families in Sindh province with food rations for one month. As of Feb 1, 2011, 800 packages were already distributed. In addition, 3,000 packages will be distributed in Swat Valley in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. PWS&D is working on plans to establish long-term food security programs in the region.
Since the flooding, Canadian Foodgrains Bank has supported six food relief projects in Pakistan, worth a total of $6,139,260. These projects have been led by Presbyterian World Service & Development, Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, and Development and Peace, with support from Canadian Baptist Ministries, Emergency Relief & Development Overseas, Mennonite Central Committee Canada, Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund, United Church of Canada, and World Relief Canada.
With files from Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
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Presbyterian World Service & Development is the development and relief agency of The Presbyterian Church in Canada. Visit the PWS&D Facebook page.
