A Pakistani Aid Worker Responds to Her Country’s Dire Needs

Once I visited Sindh Province, some folks have been residing on rooftops with out water or electrical energy. You can see useless animals close by. In lots of different villages, folks have been residing on the roadside in makeshift preparations or in camps arrange by the federal government.

Our groups responded by offering emergency support in over 20 districts. We delivered waterproof tents, well being providers, cooked meals, drinkable water, emergency money, heat garments and dignity kits for the ladies and women.

We additionally labored with native NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] to arrange protected areas for the ladies and women as a result of they’re at explicit threat for violence and exploitation throughout occasions of disaster.

“Dignity kits”? What are these?

Cleaning soap, hygiene merchandise and reusable menstrual napkins.

Offering these sorts of providers for ladies, is that this one thing new?

I wouldn’t say so. Among the many humanitarian organizations, we’ve all the time had an inclusive response.

Nonetheless, on this emergency, we wanted to reply to the unique wants of girls and women as a result of the ladies in rural Pakistan, they usually don’t go exterior the house a lot. When the catastrophe hit, they have been pressured to go away their properties and dwell in makeshift conditions. They usually didn’t know what to do. The social safety mechanism of the villages, the ladies had misplaced it.

A lot of our purchasers wanted to be protected against assault. Wherever they have been residing, both on the street or in camps, they have been at risk each time they engaged of their non-public actions. The ladies usually needed to journey lengthy distances for his or her sanitation necessities or to fetch water, which is, in Pakistan, a lady’s job. That made them weak to assault.

We have been capable of assist by offering 172 protected areas for ladies and kids in 20 of probably the most flood-impacted areas. Amongst issues, we arrange solar-powered lighting so they might do their private enterprise with better security at night time.