Pakistan: Sindh Floods

Kathryn Clarkson, the IFRC’s regional water and sanitation coordinator, visits flood ravaged southern Pakistan. The worst recorded flooding the area has ever seen is forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes and seek relative safety on higher ground by roadsides and in crowded camps.

Day One

Finally on the road to Hyderabad! It is two weeks after the flooding in Sindh province began and I am here to support the Pakistan Red Crescent Society with their water and sanitation response. I was in Pakistan following last year’s floods – which ended up as the worst disaster in the country’s history – but was in Islamabad coordinating the massive response. I never had the opportunity to go to the field and really see the extent of the damage and needs of the people. This time I will be on the front line.  

I am excited and find it hard to stop looking out the window of the car on the road from Karachi to Hyderabad, waiting to witness the scenes of endless flood waters that have been on the news. Unfortunately, roadblocks on the highway delay us and it starts to get dark. It seems we won’t be able to make it to our original destination of Mirpurkhas by sunset. I feel slightly deflated that we will need to wait another day and anxious that every delay could have an effect on people impacted by the floods.

We head to a hotel in Hyderabad and start to pass through foot deep water in our 4WD. Gradually the water gets deeper and deeper until the whole street is a swimming pool of water. This water was to last the entire three days that I was staying at the hotel. I am shocked to see the lack of drainage in the streets in Hyderabad. Later that night at the hotel, the sounds of drumming and loud music ring throughout the hotel lobby and I am surprised to see a full Pakistani wedding taking place with about 100 people. How did they get into the hotel through the flood waters? Life, it seems, goes on.

Day Two

I awake early after an interrupted sleep. I am anxious to make up for yesterday’s lost time by getting on the road early. Unfortunately a message from our security advisor of anticipated strikes in the city delays us from leaving until we are sure the roads are safe. A film crew of three has joined us for the day. They will be travelling to Mirpurkhas with us to capture footage of the disaster and Pakistan Red Crescent’s response. The video will be used to draw attention to the crisis and help raise money for the Red Crescent’s critical life saving activities. Fortunately it is no longer raining.

We head off along the road to Mirpurkhas – one of the worst affected districts – and gradually the scale of the flooding is unveiled. We start to pass families on the side of the road, first just one or two, and gradually long lines appear. The drive to Mirpurkhas takes about two hours and we may have passed thousands of displaced families during that time. Some families look like they have been there for a number of days, while others are just arriving with the few belonging that they have. I try to spot the tents or tarpaulins that have been distributed by the Pakistan Red Crescent Society – they are easily distinguishable with their black stripes.

 The hardship these families are facing is immediately evident. Flood waters are lapping at the edge of their shelters. Buffalos are lazily resting inside the flood water, while naked children are playing or helping to collect fodder to feed the animals. Most of the shelters are barely sticks and strips of material. I feel thankful that the rain has stopped as these shelters would not be able to keep the water out. I think of how much worse it will be when it rains. I see field after field of flooded crops that are destroyed – cotton, sugar cane and rice. They were just about ready to be harvested. I ask my Pakistan Red Crescent colleague what will happen to these people now that they have no crops. They will have no choice but to beg for food, probably for the next year as they have no savings, he says.

As a water and sanitation coordinator, I immediately look out for signs of water collection, excreta disposal and hygiene. It is evident straight away that hygiene products are not accessible. I see girls collecting dirty flood water  for cooking and drinking; in the whole drive to Mirpurkhas, with the thousands of people displaced, I see only two latrines; I see animal excreta surrounding the shelters; I know the shelters will be plagued by mosquitoes. I think particularly of the pregnant women. How difficult life is for them and how vulnerable both them and their babies are. It gives me motivation to increase the work that we are doing and try to make their lives easier.

We finally arrive in Mirpurhas at the Pakistan Red Crescent Society district branch office which has been tentatively set up in the civil hospital and almost cut off by flood waters itself. Our colleagues are happy to see us and eight new local female volunteers are waiting to have a briefing on hygiene promotion so they can start their activities. They are shy but enthusiastic to be helping out their community at this time of crisis. I am shocked that not only the surrounding fields, but also the central area of Mirpurkhas city is flooded.

Despite the flood waters, though, people are still trying to carry on their businesses. I am most impressed with the banana seller, whose cart is still able to go through flood water. The seller sits on top of the cart next to his bananas to sell them. Disaster breeds ingenuity; people are resilient.

We head directly to the site where the Red Crescent has established an emergency water treatment plant and distribution point. I am happy to see my old friend Nazir Khan, who I helped to train on emergency water treatment in 2009. He is now the team leader. After showing us around, I am happy with their choice of site and that they are treating the water to a high quality for people to drink.

Nazir introduces me to the team of local volunteers who are working around the clock to produce treated water. They are young, enthusiastic and proud to be working in such an important job. Their families’ houses have been affected by the flood, however they still come and help out as best they can. We head to the tap stand, where at least 10 boys at any time are crowded around collecting water. I talk to Javed, who has come from two kilometres away on a motorbike to collect water for his extended family of 12. He says they are thankful of the drinking water, although they are also finding it difficult to access food. I discuss with the team about what more we could be doing to distribute water to people in the camps and on the roadside, and improve the hygiene promotion; they promise to look into this immediately. The Pakistan Red Crescent Society is one of only a few organizations I see working and I encourage them to do more.

Day Three

Off to Badin today – another of the worst affected areas. The scenery is much the same as what we saw around Mirpurkhas with families still on the move. I see more devastated brick factories in the fields in this area. The scenes of devastation are now familiar to me; the flood water is going nowhere.

We head to where another Pakistan Red Crescent water team are producing and distributing safe drinking water to the surrounding flood affected people. As I get out of the car I am quickly surrounded by hundreds of women and girls that are collecting water from the tap stand. I help some, while I ask them about the flood and their families. I talk to one young pregnant girl who is worried about where to go when it is time to have her baby. It feels like 1000 eyes are on me and I am amused at the irony that I am the local entertainment for the day. I am fascinated by the scenes around me – and they are fascinated by me. One young man asks to take my photo with him. I feel embarrassed, but agree. Mustafa – the Red Crescent team leader from Larkana, another district in Sindh – has been here for almost a month and remarks that people are constantly watching what he is doing here. He is the local entertainment. He first got involved during the floods last year and although he is missing his home, he is proud of the work he is doing. I feel proud of how quickly the team responded to this flood and that I have been a part of the development of their capacity in this area.

We leave the area strategizing on how to improve the water and sanitation activities and get more attention on their work. I am exhausted. The endless driving on bad roads has taken its toll, but I think of how much worse it could be if I was living on the side of the road and hungry. I resolve to continue to do more.