Cricketers to raise funds for flood victims

Cricinfo staff
July 28, 2007
Pakistan's top cricketers have pledged to raise funds for victims of the recent cyclone and subsequent floods that devastated the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan.
Salman Butt, Pakistan's vice-captain, said some cricketers had visited the flood-affected areas and were deeply moved by the plight of those living in the region.
"We have decided to help raise funds for the Islamic Relief Pakistan (IRP) which is providing assistance to the victims in both provinces," Butt said.
Nearly 300 people died during the floods - many more are missing - and close to two million people are said to be affected. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes.
Current cricketers, including Shahid Afridi, Imran Nazir and Misbah-ul-Haq will also work for the cause. Afridi, who toured the devastated areas said, "We were moved by the scenes that we witnessed. I believe it's our responsibility to come to the rescue of those people who have lost their dear ones, homes and livelihood."
A group of former cricketers, including Rashid Latif, Moin Khan and Jalaluddin, are also actively involved with the organisation's fund-raising activities. Islamic Relief is an NGO which conducts relief operations all over the world. It was established in 1984 in USA and in 1992 established its subsidiary in Pakistan. It plans to hold a series of fund-raising auctions in the US and UK in the near future.

PAKISTAN: Aid agencies to assess flood-hit areas on 24 July

ISLAMABAD, 23 July 2007 (IRIN) - A joint team from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank, with support from the UN and wider humanitarian community, is to begin a needs assessment in Pakistan’s flood-hit provinces of Balochistan and Sindh on 24 July.



The area was devastated in late June by cyclone Yemyin, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless and almost 300 dead.








Hundreds of thousands of people were left homeless or displaced by cylone Yemyin in late June





“We are looking at long-term reconstruction and rehabilitation needs,” Peter Fedon, ADB mission country director, told IRIN in the capital, Islamabad, on 23 July.



“The devastation caused by the floods and cyclone Yemyin illuminate the fact that disaster preparedness has become a very important issue for Pakistan,” he said, adding that they were committed to working closely with the government to strengthen disaster preparedness. “We realise that reconstruction should take into account the possibility of similar natural disasters in future,” he said.



As part of the effort, 14 sectors would be examined, including the economy, governance, infrastructure, housing, livelihoods, water and sanitation, transport and telecommunications, energy, agriculture and irrigation, health, education, and social protection; as well as the environment. “This information will prove very useful in better assisting those affected by this disaster,” a World Bank official in Islamabad said. “This is an opportunity to provide a more comprehensive assessment of the reconstruction needs on the ground,” Ted Pearn, team leader of the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team (UNDAC), referring to the assessment’s launch, said in Islamabad.“The government has a fair handle on the situation now,” Pearn said, adding, however, that the priorities were still shelter, health, as well as water and sanitation.



Although initial assessments of the flood-hit areas were carried out jointly by the government and humanitarian community during the second week of July, the UNDAC official conceded that a more detailed assessment was needed.



Flash appeal
The government-commissioned assessment comes on the heels of a US$38 million flash appeal launched by the UN on 18 July, aimed at supporting the Pakistani government’s efforts to address the key humanitarian needs of the affected population, with the priority on shelter, water and sanitation, health and early recovery activities.



Launched in Geneva, the appeal - the result of collaboration between the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of Pakistan, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the UN - covers humanitarian needs in the affected areas and proposes 83 projects in 12 clusters.

An estimated 2.5 million people were affected by flooding following four days of heavy rains after the cyclone struck southern Pakistan on 23 June, leaving 280 people dead, 186 missing and some 377,000 displaced or homeless – many of whom are currently living in schools, improvised roadside shelters, or with family and friends.

Oxfam and local partners helping 35,000 Pakistani flood victims

Oxfam and local counterparts are providing 35,000 people who are affected by the floods in the south of Pakistan with drinking water, emergency shelter and items to improve hygiene and reduce public health risks.

Teams of public health officers, water and sanitation specialists and humanitarian programme officers recently visited settlements in the affected provinces of Balochistan and Sindh. People told them how the floods swept away all their belongings. In some areas the flood water level rose to eight metres and stayed for some days. Cattle drowned and crops were devastated. The floods took with them the thin layer of fertile soil, leaving behind rocky fields where virtually nothing will grow over the next few years.

377,400 reported displaced

Cyclone Yemyin struck the coastal areas of Balochistan province on the 26th of June, bringing rain, flash flooding and winds up to 80 mph. This was followed by torrential rain in Balochistan and isolated light rain in Sindh, causing flash floods and breaches in river embankments and canal walls.
Official sources have reported 280 deaths to date, and 170 missing. Some 377,400 people were left displaced while the total number of people affected by the cyclone is 2 million.

Surviving in 50°C, no water to drink

Even before disaster struck, Balochistan was already Pakistan's least developed province. Many people lack essential services and live in dire conditions in a mostly arid region. With temperatures reaching 50°C, ground water levels decrease rapidly and wells dry out before the rainy season arrives, making availability of drinking water an acute problem. Only the more affluent families can afford to drill water wells deep enough to have a stable supply of safe drinking water.

With the flood water staying several days, virtually all water sources have been contaminated and are no longer suitable for human consumption. Still this doesn't stop people from drinking water out of puddles, irrigation pipes and the freshly filled wells – the same sources they use for washing and bathing. People use 'the bush' as their toilet. Only, with no vegetation left, one can hardly speak of a bush. These open toilets only worsen public hygiene. People, especially children who play near the puddles, suffer from painful lesions, boils and eye infections. Moreover, with no privacy women compromise their health by enforcing personal restrictions on not using the 'bush'.

Oxfam providing shade, water and soap

Oxfam and local partners provide people with water purifiers and are cleaning wells and installing water storage tanks. They construct bathing facilities with separate sections for women and advocate the use of soap and good personal hygiene via public health promoters, local radio and special activities aimed at children and women. Mobile and naval medical facilities are in place to treat people close to their new temporary settlements.

The emergency shelter kits Oxfam and counterparts distribute protect people and the surviving cattle from the blazing heat. Families received essential cooking utensils to replace those that were lost in the floods. Current assessments demonstrate the need to provide assistance to families in the medium term to start rebuilding their livelihoods through provision of seeds, agricultural tools, fishing boats and nets, restocking and cash to restore petty trade.

Red Crescent offers hope and healing to Pakistan flood victims

By Mubashir Fida, International Federation Information Officer in Turbat, Baluchistan
A month has gone by since cyclone Yemyin struck southwest Pakistan, leaving a trail of misery and destruction in its wake. The storm was followed by heavy rains and floods, which have affected more than 2.5 million people and continue to threaten new villages. Amid the intense heat and humidity, the threat of disease is growing and many people are struggling to survive.
"The situation out there is worsening, as people are in living poor hygienic conditions and are falling sick," says Dr. Zulekha, who is working with one of the Pakistan Red Crescent's mobile health teams in Baluchistan.

"A lot of people with skin infections visit us daily, and it's because of the dirty water they are using," she adds. Dehydration, sun stroke and snake bites are also being reported.
Walking along the streets of Koshkalat, it's easy to spot mosquitoes hovering over ponds of stagnant water. As the standing flood waters linger, the risk of a malaria outbreak grows each day.

In response to these threats, staff and volunteers from the Pakistan Red Crescent and the International Federation are working around the clock to provide urgently-needed help.

Dire straits
In the village of Nokalat, 32-year-old Salma Aslam, lives with her family of eight. Her husband works as a wage laborer and earns a meager 150 rupees ($2.50 USD) per day, depending on the circumstances.

Salma says the floods are forcing her family into dire straits. "The weather is hot and it's hard to live in a tent… I hope that my family can bear it."

Like hundreds of thousands of other people, Salma watched as everything she owned was washed away by the merciless floods.

Remembering her home she says, "It took me and my husband eight years to build our two room house. It was small, but I had decorated it and had many memories there. We were living happily in it and now it is no more."

Women living in rural areas of Pakistan are hit particularly hard when disasters strike because of the cultural conservatism here.

Being able to bathe, go to the toilet or get medical help become major challenges for women and girls because of local rules and customs, which limit contact between the sexes. Often, it's the women and children who also wind up walking long distances to fetch water when wells and pumps are contaminated or destroyed.

"We had private latrines and bathing facilities in my home, but now everything is gone. I have to wait for hours to go to the toilet in the open because I fear that a man might see me," explains Salma.

This type of situation can also lead to a higher incidence of disease and illness.

Lessons learned
The International Federation and the Pakistan Red Crescent have a significant amount of experience in providing gender-specific relief and care in rural areas of the country. Many similar hygiene, health, water and sanitation issues arose in the aftermath of the October 2005 earthquake in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.

Lessons learned while responding to that terrible tragedy have enabled the Red Cross Red Crescent to factor these challenges into their floods relief operation, ensuring, for example, that female health professionals are available to see the women and girls.

As a result, Salma was able to take her seven-year-old daughter to a health team run by the Pakistan Red Crescent and the International Federation, where she received treatment for a respiratory tract infection and skin allergies, caused by living near stagnant water.

So far, the Pakistan Red Crescent has provided medical assistance to more than 10,500 men, women and children in both Baluchistan and Sindh. Over the next six months, almost 15 times that number are expected to receive health care as part of the Red Cross and Red Crescent's relief and recovery operation.

Meanwhile, five Emergency Response Units, specialized in logistics, health, water and sanitation are being set up in the affected areas of Baluchistan and Sindh. The Pakistan Red Crescent and the International Federation are also providing separate communal latrines for men and women, as well as kits with hygiene items, such as soap, for around 5,000 families.

The health and water and sanitation teams plan to fix wells in six villages of the Koshkalat and Gokdan areas in order to restore clean drinking water, while the cleaning of wells has already started in the villages of Aliabad and Zargept.

Abdus Salam, a 26-year-old resident of Aliabad village in Koshkalat says he can't wait for the water supply scheme in his village to be up and running again.

"It has been terrible living without water for weeks," he says. "But the Red Crescent is here and they are rehabilitating a well to provide us with clean drinking water, so now we have hope."

Red Crescent offers hope and healing to Pakistan flood victims

By Mubashir Fida, International Federation Information Officer in Turbat, Baluchistan
A month has gone by since cyclone Yemyin struck southwest Pakistan, leaving a trail of misery and destruction in its wake. The storm was followed by heavy rains and floods, which have affected more than 2.5 million people and continue to threaten new villages. Amid the intense heat and humidity, the threat of disease is growing and many people are struggling to survive.
"The situation out there is worsening, as people are in living poor hygienic conditions and are falling sick," says Dr. Zulekha, who is working with one of the Pakistan Red Crescent's mobile health teams in Baluchistan.

"A lot of people with skin infections visit us daily, and it's because of the dirty water they are using," she adds. Dehydration, sun stroke and snake bites are also being reported.
Walking along the streets of Koshkalat, it's easy to spot mosquitoes hovering over ponds of stagnant water. As the standing flood waters linger, the risk of a malaria outbreak grows each day.

In response to these threats, staff and volunteers from the Pakistan Red Crescent and the International Federation are working around the clock to provide urgently-needed help.

Dire straits

In the village of Nokalat, 32-year-old Salma Aslam, lives with her family of eight. Her husband works as a wage laborer and earns a meager 150 rupees ($2.50 USD) per day, depending on the circumstances.

Salma says the floods are forcing her family into dire straits. "The weather is hot and it's hard to live in a tent… I hope that my family can bear it."

Like hundreds of thousands of other people, Salma watched as everything she owned was washed away by the merciless floods.

Remembering her home she says, "It took me and my husband eight years to build our two room house. It was small, but I had decorated it and had many memories there. We were living happily in it and now it is no more."

Women living in rural areas of Pakistan are hit particularly hard when disasters strike because of the cultural conservatism here.

Being able to bathe, go to the toilet or get medical help become major challenges for women and girls because of local rules and customs, which limit contact between the sexes. Often, it's the women and children who also wind up walking long distances to fetch water when wells and pumps are contaminated or destroyed.

"We had private latrines and bathing facilities in my home, but now everything is gone. I have to wait for hours to go to the toilet in the open because I fear that a man might see me," explains Salma.

This type of situation can also lead to a higher incidence of disease and illness.

Lessons learned
The International Federation and the Pakistan Red Crescent have a significant amount of experience in providing gender-specific relief and care in rural areas of the country. Many similar hygiene, health, water and sanitation issues arose in the aftermath of the October 2005 earthquake in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.

Lessons learned while responding to that terrible tragedy have enabled the Red Cross Red Crescent to factor these challenges into their floods relief operation, ensuring, for example, that female health professionals are available to see the women and girls.

As a result, Salma was able to take her seven-year-old daughter to a health team run by the Pakistan Red Crescent and the International Federation, where she received treatment for a respiratory tract infection and skin allergies, caused by living near stagnant water.

So far, the Pakistan Red Crescent has provided medical assistance to more than 10,500 men, women and children in both Baluchistan and Sindh. Over the next six months, almost 15 times that number are expected to receive health care as part of the Red Cross and Red Crescent's relief and recovery operation.

Meanwhile, five Emergency Response Units, specialized in logistics, health, water and sanitation are being set up in the affected areas of Baluchistan and Sindh. The Pakistan Red Crescent and the International Federation are also providing separate communal latrines for men and women, as well as kits with hygiene items, such as soap, for around 5,000 families.

The health and water and sanitation teams plan to fix wells in six villages of the Koshkalat and Gokdan areas in order to restore clean drinking water, while the cleaning of wells has already started in the villages of Aliabad and Zargept.

Abdus Salam, a 26-year-old resident of Aliabad village in Koshkalat says he can't wait for the water supply scheme in his village to be up and running again.

"It has been terrible living without water for weeks," he says. "But the Red Crescent is here and they are rehabilitating a well to provide us with clean drinking water, so now we have hope."