SERVE TO LEAD, LEAD TO SERVE

Consequent to the relief activity conducted by the Future Leaders of Pakistan (FLP) Lahore team in Southern Punjab, the second phase drove the team all the way to Nowshehra - Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa. Nowshehra is one of the worst-hit of the entire catastrophe.

FLP Lahore once again in collaboration with University of Management and Technology, Tricastmedia Pvt Ltd, Tareen Group, Students of Beaconhouse School Defence Branch, apprentice scholar of Beaconhouse National University, Staff of The Resource Group (TRG) and Alumni of Lawrence College continued the effort and raised PKR 1 Million for Nowshehra.

It was brought to our knowledge that the the focus now should shift from food items to non-food items like kitchen sets, stove and gas cylinder, soap, towel, bucket, plastic mats and mattresses. We purchased the aforementioned material and loaded two trucks with home/kitchen accessories for 200 Families, ration packets for 150 families, tents for 86 families, and arranged aid in cash for restoration of small enterprises.

18 Members of FLP Lahore team left for Nowshehra on Friday, August 27, 2010, after Sehri, and arrived in Risalpur at 11 am. Accompanied by local partners, we installed our camp in Government High School Mohib Banda, some 30 Kilometers from Nowshehra Cantt. A roster of duties was issued, and finally team 1 was in action in developing sets for each family, Team 2 started the process of registration and Team 3 was set up for inspection. Through analysis of registration we estimate that some 466 families accrued benefit from the activity.

The efforts of the following team must be acknowledged:

1. Mr. Arslan Khan Khakwani, CEO Tricastmedia Pvt Ltd
2. Zubair Khan, Manager Administration Tricastmedia Pvt Ltd
3. Muneeb Ahmed (Beaconhouse)
4. Hassaan Ibrahim (Beaconhouse)
5. Talha Faisal (KIMS)
6. Ahsan Rasheed (TRG)
7. Ibrahim Anwar (Beaconhouse)
8. Zain Adil Khurshid (BNU)
9. Hussain Durrani (UMT)
10. Shahid Niaz (UMT)
11. Ibrahim Hasan Murad (University of Western Ontario, Canada)
12. Ahmed Khan Tareen (Tareen Group)
13. Momin Khan (Tareen Group)
14. Muhammad Kaleem (UMT)
15. Shahzad (UMT)
16. Farid Gul (UMT)
17. Zaid Jawaid (Peshawar Medical College)
18. Mohammed Ibrahim Qazi (UMT)

Our special gratitude to Asif Luqman Qazi, President Al-Khidmat Foundation Nowshehra and Zahid Nabi, Principal Govt. High School, Mohib Banda.

The Future Leaders of Pakistan (FLP) team went to Tangi on the 29th of August and met with Farooq Azam Khan (PSP). 

We then saw two villages Mianulay & Tulandai on the banks of the Khyali River which had been devastated by the floods. In Mianulay there were approx 140 households with an average size of 17 people per household (Village population 2400 people).

There was a Primary School which has been damaged by silt. The boundary wall of the school was washed away. The classrooms are covered in many feet of silt. Otherwise the main building appears relatively undamaged. This primary school is also used by the children of Tulandai. (The nearest Middle School is in Lanadakai and the High School is in Tangi).   

The village has a mosque and a madrassah. The inner prayer area of the mosque has been cleaned of silt. However the courtyard wazu area is still covered in silt. the mosque is otherwise undamaged. The madrassah was built a year ago and was not funded by any outside person or any political party or religious organization. It was run by the Primary school headmaster for the benefit of the village children. Sadly the structure of the madrassah has been destroyed in the floods. Almost all the houses in the village had been completely destroyed. Even the partially damaged houses were covered in silt and mud.

Before the floods, each house had its own well and latrines with septic tanks. These wells were dug to a depth of 21 feet. After the floods, the wells silted up and are being de-silted by the villagers themselves.

However even after the removal of the mud, the water has been contaminated by the floodwaters. Usage of this water has led to the development of stomach illnesses amongst the villagers.

The men in this village are agricultural workers, either farming their own very small landholdings or renting land from landowners on a seasonal basis. The damage to the crops means that they are currently without work and without any future prospects either. Most of the people are aged 20 - 30 with many graduates (BA level) and a large number with an FA/FSc Intermediate level education.

Only a limited number of households kept livestock, most of which survived the flood. 

The village was built on the bank of the river as well as on the dry river bed. The part on the river bed is completely under water. The submerged area includes the place where after working in the fields the people of the village used to play football and cricket.  

We would like to focus our effort on the economic revival of this Mianulay, and when successful then work on other similar villages. 

For starters, we thought of the following:

1. Use the funds we have to install water filters for their wells. Many wells had been cleaned of silt. However the water still appears to be contaminated. By filtering the well water, health issues can be addressed. Bio sand filters eg Hydraid Biosand (http://www.hydraid.org/) and (http://www.biosandfilter.org/biosandfilter/) may be very cost effective or we can look at the LifeStraw Family by Vestergaard, (http://www.vestergaard-frandsen.com/lifestraw) whichever is appropriate for this area. Clean water availability will mean that the people here can focus on rebuilding their lives instead of queuing for water or dealing with stomach illnesses.

2. Instead of providing bedding or quilts, we provide them with the cloth, stuffing and other materials including sewing machines so that they can make their own quilts. We can also ask for cloth to be donated instead of clothes - they can take in stitching and generate additional income. Plus whatever clothes have already been donated can be altered by them for their own use.

3. Hiring a tractor with a blade (desi bulldozer approx Rs. 500 - 700 per hour. Long term hiring eg a week, means lower rates) to remove the silt and using the villagers for (paid) labor. This way they have some income coming in and also get the village cleaned up. Clean up the lanes and the primary school. Plus rebuild the latrines so that sanitation problems can be overcome.     

4. Since some of the sugar cane crop is still standing (though severely damaged) we wanted to look at rebuilding their garhay (gwara making facility). The rollers/crushers, karhay/teer and generator would cost approx Rs. 160,000. The structure costs between Rs. 35,000 - 50,000 depending on the gilkaar's rates. 

(The old garhay was owned by someone in the village guy has a pucca house which survived major damage. We would need to work something out with him ie permission etc).

The basic idea was that whatever processing needs to be done should be done locally so that the money stays in the area.

Future Leaders of Pakistan Lahore Chapter in collaboration with University of Management and Technology Lahore, Tricastmedia Pvt Ltd, Tareen Group and Alumni of Lawrence College Ghora Gali responded the call of duty in a rigorous effort to provide relief to the flood survivors of Chanchra Sharif, Southern Punjab (250 KM from Bahawalpur / 100 KM from Rahim Yar Khan) on the banks of river Indus.

In a 4-day effort, the FLP Lahore team collected a handsome amount of PKR 150,000/- along with a large amount of raw food packages including wheat, pulses and cooking oil. Moreover, plenty of medicine packages, mineral water, generators, fans and clothing were also received. Muttahida Mahaz Bahawalpur (MMB) provided 100 tents, while 200 supplementary packages of raw food were donated by FLP Lahore associate Nasir Sherazi.

The FLP team left Lahore on 19 August 2010 for a 120 Hours relief operation. The relief plan was classified for 3 days. Day 1 was survey, registration and inception of tents on the bank of river Indus. Day 2 was provision of electricity, raw food (2 weeks) and a medical camp. Day 3 was to assess the impact of relief operation conducted along with distribution of animal feed.

Despite extreme weather conditions, the FLP team continued their effort while fasting and keeping up the spirit of Ramadan. The results were quite fruitful; all the people of the village came out to greet us.  Media teams of Express News, Rohi TV, Waqt TV and Waseb TV covered us.

During the installation of tents, a mother who was just given a shelter gave birth to a child, who was named Sailaab Khan Baloch. People kept asking for more tent villages as our efforts were not enough. According to our registrations, we estimate that a 1000 flood survivors were relieved during the 120 hours of relief activity. The latest update is that our partners have installed another hundred tents as well.

FLP Lahore, besides immediate next relief trip to Nowshehra KPK, strives to continue the effort by scheduling more relief trips to Muzaffar Garh, Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajan Pur.

 

To volunteer or donate in Lahore, please conatc:

Hussain Ali Durrani 0331.411.0280

FLP Lahore Team:

1. Hussain Ali Durrani, Team Leader (UMT)

2. Umer Adnan Liaqat, Funds Coordinator (SKANS)

3. Zubair Khan, Incharge Field Operation (Tricastmedia Pvt Ltd)

4. Khizar Khalil Abbasi, Incharge Distribution (University of Bedforshire, UK)

5. Shahid Niaz, Inspection and Media (UMT)

6. Rana Umer Farooq, Distribution (University of Nottingham)

7. Ali Asad, Field Operations (SKANS)

8. Ahmad Khan Tareen, Logistics (Tareen Group)

9. Mohammed Ibrahim Qazi (UMT)

10. Ibrahim Hasan Murad, Funds Coordinator (University of Western Ontario, Canada)

11. Talal Wali Amjad, Aid Raiser, (UMT)

12. Momin Khan, Field Operations (Tareen Group)

 

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The Future Leaders of Pakistan (FLP) distributed relief packages amongst 200 families in villages Landakay, Karhma, Mohmand Kalay, Shagaye Koruna, Daang Kalan, and Taang Koruna in Tangi Tehsil, Charsadda District, on August 22^nd, 2010.

These settlements in Tangi are mostly in remote areas that are not easily accessible by road, and not much aid had reached these areas. The Swat river and the Jinday river, as well as the Lower Swat Canal flow in this area, hence the roads and houses have been damaged badly.

The FLP relief truck went around to six different settlements where relief packages were distributed to family heads as per the lists prepared by the local FLP contact. The relief packages included cooking oil, pulses, tea, dry milk, sugar, salt, dates, soap, and matchboxes, as well as separate flour bags.

The people of these areas were exceptionally honest, with some refusing the flour bags saying they have enough at home! They were all very determined to rebuild their villages, and some opined that they needed helping hands for rebuilding apart from food aid. Hence, the Future Leaders of Pakistan have decided to take a team of volunteers to this area specifically for the purpose of providing help in rebuilding and rehabilitation.

“Impressive, it’s a representation of the entire Pakistan united to help flood survivors!” commented one of the villagers after asking the Future Leaders of Pakistan (FLP) volunteer team what area each belonged to and the answers ranged from Nowshera, Kashmir, Lahore, etc. it is this unity amongst Pakistanis from all areas that FLP cherishes, and hopes for a greater magnitude of it!

Thank you for your voluntarism and donations that made reaching out to these 1600 people possible! Keep donating! Pakistan Zindabad!

 

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The Future Leaders of Pakistan (FLP) took a truck loaded with relief for 400 families to Sreekh and Marozai villages in Shabqadar Tehsil, Charsadda District located on the banks of the Khyali (Swat) river on Saturday, August 21, 2010.

There is an unprecedented level of destruction at the Doava area of Charsadda District, as this is an area where three different rivers meet, and as the flood tide approached this area from the north, it caused houses to collapse, bridges to break, crops to destroy, and thick levels of mud to accumulate everywhere.

The FLP team, through a local contact in Srikh village who had prepared a list of affected people in the area, distributed relief packages to 400 families, benefitting around 3,200 people. National Identity Cards of the survivors were checked and kept in an alphabetical order of the family number to ensure that relief was evenly distributed, and to avoid giving aid to more than one member of a family.

Relief packages included cooking oil, pulses, tea, dry milk, sugar, salt, dates, soap, and matchboxes, as well as separate flour bags.

“It gives me pleasure and satisfaction to know that there are people ready to travel all the way from Islamabad to help us in such hard times, especially during the month of Ramzan!” said a village elder.

Thanks to your donations and voluntarism, 3200 more flood survivors are able to secure their Sehr and Iftar in the Holy month of Ramzan! Pakistan Zindabad!

 

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