Before, during and after the headlines

Transcription

1 Before, during and after the headlines

2 Before, during and after the Pakistan floods One year has passed since torrents of floodwater smothered one-fifth of Pakistan. Two thousand lives were lost in last year s monsoons and more than 20 million people were affected by widespread damage to community infrastructure, housing and the agricultural sector. These were the nation s worst floods in 40 years, but thanks to Australian generosity before, during and after the headlines, Pakistan s worst affected communities have the opportunity to build back better. In a moving display of solidarity, ordinary Australians gave in excess of 3.5 million towards Caritas Australia s South Asia Floods Pakistan Appeal in With the support of the Federal Government, the Australian community at large contributed more 6 million through Caritas Australia to ensure the protection of human life and dignity in Pakistan s flooded communities. Over the past 12 months Caritas Australia has worked with our international partners to deliver a holistic response to the diverse needs of Pakistan s worst affected communities. Across the breadth of our work, we have remained committed not only to the reconstruction of communities, but also to the rehabilitation of lives through psycho-social support and the protection of women and children left highly vulnerable in the wake of disaster. With a strong network of local and trusted partners in Pakistan, the Caritas confederation mobilised a rapid response that saw upwards of 300,000 people access food, shelter, blankets, cookware and medical assistance to see them through the worst. As the emergency continued to unfold, Caritas Australia contributed to the construction of more than 7000 homes; repair of 150 vital water schemes; and reconstruction of 250 roads, and bridges. All told, these projects have seen millions of people reconnected with clean water supplies, sanitation facilities, markets, and of course their families and friends. Caritas Australia is grateful for the Australian Government s commitment to our work in Pakistan. With funding from AusAID, Caritas Australia and our international partners have assisted more than 11,000 families whose crops and agricultural lands were ravaged by the floods. With the seeds, supplies, and support provided by our partners in Pakistan, the most vulnerable farming families have been able to double their normal crop yields and begin to recover the immense losses incurred in last year s deluge. One year on from the crisis, we take this opportunity to reflect on our efforts. We are humbled by the generosity bestowed by the Australian pubic. We take pride in having ensured your support reached those communities that needed it most. And we celebrate the success of each individual, each family and each community who has gallantly worked with us to rebuild in Pakistan. But we know there is a long way to go. Today, thousands of families are still without homes; many children still cannot attend school; and farming families still have considerable debt to re-pay. In the coming months and years, we will continue to direct your support to the long-term rehabilitation and holistic development of communities in Pakistan. Caritas Australia is committed to work in Pakistan before, during and after the headlines this report is just the beginning of that story. We are very poor but we are thankful Pakistan floods financials 20 July 2011 Total income 6,002,368 Emergency relief 946,296 Early recovery 750,000 Overhead expenses 462,832 Early recovery (agricultural) 2,392,695 AusAID 2,300,000 Interest 86,173 Public 3,616,194 Total expenses 4,551,823 Emergency relief phase: blankets/household necessities/ food/transitional shelter Early recovery efforts: shelter/non-food Items Early recovery efforts: agricultural recovery The balance of 1,450,544 has been carried over to the 2011/12 financial year to support long-term recovery in the worst affected communities. The village of Sattar Dino was completely destroyed during the floods of Of the 80 homes that stood prior to the floods, only two withstood the damage. Many of the animals perished and the farm land was ruined. For the 560 people who live here, the floods of summer 2010 devastated their lives. This was a prosperous community, recalls 55-year-old Ghulam Nabi. We had proper houses, animals and land, but we had to leave when the floods came and when we returned the village was destroyed. We had to move far away and live in tents for four months while we waited for the water to go down. We were very happy to get that shelter, but it was a very sad time. With the support of Australian communities, Caritas partners in Pakistan helped families return to their villages, rebuilding homes, water pumps and sanitation facilities. Today, the people of Sattar Dino have houses, fresh water and latrines. Throughout the Dadu region, your support for Caritas Australia has helped provide facilities for 40,000 people left homeless and destitute by the floods.

3 A place to call home Marhaba Ahmad a grandmother of eight had lived in the same house in the mountainous north of Pakistan for over 30 years. But last August, gushing white floodwaters engulfed her home and her village, leaving Marhaba and her family homeless and vulnerable. As the monsoonal rains poured, Marhaba Ahmad and two dozen family members had no choice but to scramble up the steep and rugged slopes of a 9000-foot-high mountain. When we were climbing, many stones were falling. The rocks hurt our hands. Our shoes got stuck in the mud and we lost them, she recalls. With their hands, knees and feet shredded by needle-thorned plants and rough boulders, the family scrabbled up while trees and rubble slid down. For three cold, shivering days, the family waited on higher ground for food and help. My daughter had just given birth, says Marhaba. It was really hard for her. When Marhaba s family found refuge with a relative there wasn t enough room for everyone to sleep inside and the family lived without the most basic necessities. We d all use a single dish and pass it around 27 people. One child would eat the food while the next child waited. When the floodwaters receded, the family had nowhere to go. The land on which their house stood - along with their corn and wheat fields had entirely washed away. I saw it and nearly collapsed, Marhaba says, her eyes wet. Another one of my grandsons, Bilal, was about two then. He was always crying: I want to go to our home. But our house was gone. Thanks to your solidarity and support for Caritas Australia, Bilal s calls for help were answered. Despite the collapse of roads and ongoing floods, Caritas Australia s partners in Pakistan mobilised quickly, hiking over the rubble to reach remote communities in the north, including Marhaba s town. Those [blankets, cookware and buckets] came quickly, just a few days after the flood, says Marhaba. When the dishes came, we were so glad to see them and the bucket was really useful for storing water. With basic necessities on hand, Caritas Australia s next priority was shelter. Marhaba s family was able to rent a plot farther uphill. Engineers working with the Caritas confederation designed a sturdy, insulated one-room home and built a typical compound of families homes together. It took five days to build one, recalls Marhaba s husband, Muhammad. We leveled the land, and also helped the builders as they built hoisting the metal sheets up as they made the roof, for example. The family moved into their new houses in October If not for this house, we d have had to go to the city and look for work, says Muhammad. It would have been very difficult to manage. We ve lived here all our lives. With their new home, bedding and cookware provided by your support for the Caritas network Marhaba s family is starting to rebuild. A new grandson was born in one of the shelters, and Marhaba s other grandchildren are recovering from the trauma of the flood. Bilal - now he s happy and doesn t think of our old house, she says. This shelter was a great blessing for us, and for everyone who lost their houses and had nothing, says Muhammad. We re very grateful to you. We re thankful to all people worldwide. Without them, we couldn t have survived.

4 Precious water On a day in September 2010, a group of white-bearded men left their mountaintop village in Pakistan and wound their way down 5000 feet of steep, rocky slopes. None of them were young; one used a cane. At the base of the mammoth mountain, a river had burst its banks and destroyed the only bridge leading where they needed to go. The men waited hours to make a precarious journey across the water on a hastily-constructed rope trolley a tiny open crate that swung and wobbled each of them over the river. Crossing makeshift bridges and skirting landslide boulders that blocked their way, taking vehicles in places where the flood hadn t damaged the roads too badly, the men finally reached their destination: the office of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Caritas Australia s partners in Pakistan. The men were desperate to repair their village s flood-destroyed water system. The water system had served not just their village, but a total of five thousand people. During torrential rains, the pipes were washed away. Landslides also damaged some pipes, says a village elder, Muhammad Jan. We re poor. We know how precious water is. With almost three kilometres of the pipe line washed away, poor people, especially women, had to go for water and carry it two or three miles, says villager Awal Khan. People collected rainwater from their roofs, and tried to store water in cisterns. Saving the hard-to-get water only for drinking and cooking, the villagers could not bathe or wash their clothes. With the support of Caritas Australia, CRS brought in pipes, cement and tools. The village men contributed their labor, agreeing to haul the pipes and machinery on terrain too rough for cars to navigate. We carried over 60 pounds of pipes for five hours, remembers Awal Khan. The tops of our shoulders would get red and swollen but we really needed the water system to work. Our women and children were suffering. Today, the lines are restored and water flows from tapstands within easy reach of villagers homes. Throughout northern Pakistan, your support for Caritas Australia has seen dozens of systems repaired, bringing clean water to over 200,000 people affected by the flood. Our children are clean now and our women were so happy to be able to get water in their own place, not putting a pot on their heads, says Awal Khan. Stooping over his cane, an elder named Haji Sawal Fakir looks on as village boys drink water from a tapstand. We had a lot of problems after the flood, he says. God had mercy on us that you came here and responded to our intense need.

5 After the deluge Pakistani farmer and shepherd, Kamal, knows all too well the value of emergency aid, but as he looks to his family s future he knows these floods leave a legacy of destruction. Caritas Australia thanks our partners Catholic Relief Services and Trocaire for their contributions to this report. Kamal was born and raised in a small village in the district of Jacobabad. It was here that he married his wife Feroza; raised six children; and last September, spent weeks without a home. Speaking to Caritas staff in his village, Kamal recalls how he and his family was forced to sleep under the open sky until floodwaters receded; how he lost all 20 goats and eight cows the family relied upon; how overnight, his crops were completely destroyed; and how amidst this chaos his youngest daughter was born. We didn t have any food. We had to survive through food donations provided by different organisations. For millions of families like Kamal s, donations can make the difference between life and death in aftermath of emergency. But when the food trucks leave town, communities require the skills, tools and markets to reinvigorate a local economy. With your generous support for Caritas Australia s South Asia Floods Appeal, Kamal and his family received a voucher for wheat and vegetable seeds, as well as a cash grant to rent a farm tractor and tube well to work and water his land. Now, months later, Kamal and his family are stewards of a thriving wheat and vegetable garden. These new crops not only yield enough food to nourish the family of eight, but will ensure the income needed to pay off loans accumulated from the harvest lost to the floods; to buy new livestock and farming equipment; and to cover the health expenses this young family will inevitably incur. From his experience this past year, Kamal knows that good humanitarian assistance stretches beyond the realms of short-term aid. If we had not received your help, we would have had to borrow more loans from our landlord and vendors, and add to an already unmanageable debt with 25% interest rates. Mr Kamal says he thanks God and the Caritas network for their assistance before, during and after the headlines. Today he has the opportunity to take care of what is most important, his family.