One year after the monsoon flooding that devastated Pakistan in July 2010, Merlin is still working tirelessly to meet the many health challenges faced by the Pakistani people. Ismael Babar had to flee from his home when the floods struck last year.
When he returned the floods had washed away his crops, leaving him and his nine children with nothing to eat.
“I’m old now and I’ve seen a lot but I’ve never seen anything like the floods last year.
We lost everything, the flood washed away our crops and we are left with nothing.
We are afraid of what will happen if the flood waters come back.”
Sadly, Ismael’s story is a familiar one across Pakistan.
The flood waters travelled from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in the north of Pakistan, down to the province of Sindh, in southern Pakistan, where the waters’ destruction of crops left men, women and children weak with hunger in what is usually the bread basket of Pakistan.
Merlin’s Pakistan Country Director Marco Aviotti says:
“Malnutrition in Sindh is a humanitarian crisis on a par with some of the poorest parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
“The floods had a catastrophic impact on the health of an already vulnerable population, and as always with disasters it’s the weakest who suffer the most.
“The lack of food has left woman, children and the elderly even more susceptible to disease.”
The threat of disease
As Mr Aviotti points out, malnutrition is not the only threat faced by the people of Pakistan: diseases like malaria and acute watery diarrhoea pose real risks to the people of Pakistan as they attempt a recovery from the flooding.
Not only that, but, as Ismael mentions, there are growing fears amongst people that the next monsoon season, which is about to begin, could cause further flooding.
With these fears in mind, Merlin is working with the Pakistani health authorities to rebuild the country’s health system so that it is better placed to survive another natural disaster, if and when one happens.
Merlin has worked in Pakistan since 2005, and is committed to staying in the country until the many health challenges faced by the Pakistani people have been overcome.
Thank you so much for all your support this far, but please help us to continue our vital work rebuilding the country in the wake of last year’s flooding.
Thank you.
