A year after the devastating floods and people are still trying to bring some normality back to their lives. The coverage of the floods was intense, but the slow and painstaking rehabilitation phase has gone unnoticed by the masses. A year later and people are still quietly picking up broken pieces of their lives.
While aid workers are still struggling to rehabilitate the affected people, the UN estimates that up to five million people are still at risk from floods this year partly due to poor infrastructure and inadequate rehabilitation of survivors from last year's deluge. The unprecedented magnitude of the floods left 2000 dead and affected more than 18 million. Pakistan Meteorological Department predicts rainfall this year to be about 10% less than last year's and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) predicts 2-6 million people could be affected during the current monsoon season.
Many of us today fail to understand the magnitude of the 2010 disaster. It was a slow evolving catastrophe, which went on for three months. This made it very difficult for relief efforts and also added to the misery of the affected people. The floods engulfed almost a quarter of the country in waters and the UN appealed to the world for almost $2 billion - the largest appeal for any humanitarian crisis in the agency's history. About 18 million people (that's one in 10 Pakistanis) were affected; more than 12,000 school facilities and almost 600 health facilities were also destroyed.
These floods washed away years of progress in terms of infrastructure development. Rebuilding will take time as we have to rebuild whole villages including houses, buildings, schools, hospitals, community centres, roads, bridges, and other infrastructure. Today, various NGOs are involved in the rehabilitation process in addition to the efforts of the government and the UN agencies. One such organisation is Human Development Foundation (HDF), which has been involved in relief efforts and is currently working for the rehabilitation of flood victims.
During the relief phase, this organisation distributed 3 million meals, thousands of non-food items and set up over 250 medical camps. It also provided safe drinking water by installing water filtration plants and distributed 30,000 wheat seed bags among farmers in collaboration with the Imran Khan Foundation (IKF).
Applying a holistic development model, HDF encompasses all facets of development and believes in empowering the communities and making them self-sufficient. HDF has adopted a village each in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh, and plans to rebuild them into model villages, providing facilities for schools, health centres, community centres, vocational training centres, roads, basic infrastructure and clean environment. Work has already started on the village of Samar Bagh in Mardan which is being reconstructed with the help of Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America (APPNA) and the village of Budhapur in Jamshoro, Sindh in collaboration with Metlife Alico and Rotary Club of Karachi Sunset Millennium. Work on the village Basti Makoro in Punjab has also started with the support of Rhode Island communities in USA and HDF Canada and the reconstruction process is expected to be completed in three years.
This organisation has partnered with individuals, aid agencies and the government to help the people affected by the floods. Sadly, 2010 will be remembered by many as the year when homes were destroyed and lives were changed. Such was the misery of the people that they felt reluctant to even recall their ordeal. However, HDF has taken upon itself to convert this disaster into an opportunity. With plans to rebuild villages, it expects to change their lives once again - this time for the better.
July 26 will mark the first anniversary of the devastating floods that caused widespread chaos and destruction in Pakistan. We should take some time and think of the plight of millions who still live in makeshift shelters and are still struggling to come to terms with what happened to them. With a co-ordinated effort and help from the people, we can help change their lives. We've done it before and there's no reason why we can't do it again.
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