Zahid
Akbar is three-months-old, his mother and three-year-old sister
are dead and his home is now a pile of rubble and mud. Zahid’s
family is one of the thousands that have suffered as a result
of the severe monsoon flooding, which has hit Pakistan in recent
weeks.
Ten people died in the extremely remote village of Rashang,
where Zahid’s family lives high in the hills of the Allai
Valley in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). In total,
at least 200 people have died due to the flooding in Pakistan
since monsoon season began.
Zahid’s father, Shamsul, almost beyond speech with grief,
recounts how his family was sound asleep when disaster struck
in the middle of the night on 3 August.
“I didn’t even know there was a storm happening
I was so fast asleep,” he says. “All of a sudden,
water rushed in, completely sweeping the house away... The pressure
was so great we were thrown a great distance.
“I rushed to safety but did not know where my wife and
daughter were,” he adds.
Shamsul’s 22-year-wife, Farikhoon, and daughter, Sonia,
were killed. Just a week later, he sits distraught, gazing vacantly
into space, while Zahid’s uncle, Waliullah Undu, cradles
the baby.
The Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and the International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are working
hard to respond to the immediate needs of families such as Shamsul’s.
Tents, blankets, medicine and hygiene kits are being distributed
in various locations in NWFP, while the PRCS is coordinating
its response in Pakistan-administered Kashmir with the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
A relief distribution has already been made in baby Zahid’s
village of Rashang. But his future is an uncertain one with
no mother, no home and winter around the corner. Much of the
village is still piles of rubble, remnants of last October’s
earthquake. Villages such as this one are desperately in need
of ongoing assistance, with the floods acting as yet another
blow to an already vulnerable community.
Following the deathly landslides and torrential floods, disease
is now a major threat. Areas of Batagram and Allai have had
outbreaks of virulent diarrhea, overwhelming local authorities.
The local district hospital in Batagram only has a 37-bed capacity
and has been unable to deal with the hundreds of patients pouring
into since early August. People have been arriving suffering
from vomiting, severe diarrhea and subsequent dehydration.
The PRCS, International Federation and the French Red Cross,
already working in Batagram, have responded with personnel,
drugs and tents.
The International Federation’s health coordinator, Jos
Miesen, says stocks for just this type of outbreak were already
on hand because of the earthquake operation, so the Red Cross
and Red Crescent has been able to respond very quickly.
“The local hospital was struggling to cope,” says
Miesen. “They were putting three people in a bed when
patients suffering from this kind of outbreak need to be isolated.”
It is difficult to ascertain exactly how widespread the outbreak
is, but the International Federation alone has dealt with 989
cases so far and the patients keep coming.
The combined resources of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
partners have supplied eight doctors, five nurses, three pharmacy
dispensers and two community health promoters to help ease the
hospital’s burden. Around 5,000 kilograms of medical equipment
have also been provided, including antibiotics, oral rehydration
solution, IV drips, soap, disinfectants and chloride tablets,
along with four tents.
Supplies have been provided to Batagram, Allai and Mardan, where
outbreaks have been recorded. These are designed to provide
water purification capacity for up to 30,000 people and to deal
with 1,875 acute cases.
Miesen says the heavy flooding has created numerous problems,
leaving communities particularly vulnerable.
“The flood conditions make the water supply unsafe and
people get sick,” he explains. “Then the landslides
and flood waters means it is difficult to get access to them.”
Miesen says the long-term solution to combating such outbreaks
is prevention. Access to clean water and sanitation, good hygiene
and awareness are the key. These are all areas the PRCS and
the International Federation are addressing as part of a three-year
operation in response to the 2005 earthquake.
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Rashang
blanket distribution: the PRCS and the International Federation
are making relief distributions such as this one in Rashang
Village, helping flood-affected people with shelter, medicine
and various other relief items. (p14471)
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Baby
Zahid, Uncle Waliullah Unda, Father Shamsul Akbar: three-month-old
Zahid is cradled by his uncle, Waliullah, while his father,
Shamsul, sits consumed with grief at the loss of his wife
and daughter. (p14474)
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Site
of house of Shamsul Akbar: All that remains of the home
of Shamsul Akbar. (p14473)
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