Zakaria Nutkani, Communications Officer, ActionAid Pakistan

Hamida Bibi, 9, is a sponsored child. Her father is a farm labourer and her mother is a house wife. Hamida's family were displaced from their house when the Pakistan floods hit. 

She said: “It was in the morning that water made its way to our village. We had little time to save our households. Even I did not get a chance to pack my books.

“I was afraid of water. I could not sleep for the first two nights. My mother asked me not to worry because soon we would go back to our home. I could not understand why water was so cruel to us.”

The floods destroyed the whole of their village including houses, school, road, livestock and crop.

Hamida is worried about getting back home and to her life. She said: “How will we get back our home, luggage, books and livestock? I remain worried of my studies. I love reading books and I want to be a doctor. Many people in our camps are suffering from diseases and if I would have been a doctor, I could have treated them free of cost. 

“At our home, we used to have plenty of food but here we find very little to eat. Initially we were only provided with cooked rice. Now my mother cooks food for us. It is too hot here and mosquitoes do not let sleep well in the nights. During the day, flies disturb us too much. All the children here remain sad and gloomy; hence I cannot ask them to play with me.

“Now it is being said that water may come to our camp as well. I don’t want to be displaced anymore. I wish it ends soon and we go back to our home. Flood water has killed our animals including my lovely goat. I miss her too much. I am also feeling sorry for our hen as well that were drowned in the water.

“Who will bring us back all that we have lost in the flood?”

Zakaria Nutkani, Communications Officer, ActionAid Pakistan

Jan Muhammad, 54, is a father of three sons and two daughters. He lives with his parents and three brothers.

There are 23 members of his family. They were small farm land owners and all of them worked in fields.

Floods destroyed his house in Rohjan Jamali. He has lost belongings, grains, livestock and crops. He is constantly migrating and wishes to go back to his hometown as early as possible.

“Initially we cooked food with the material we managed to bring with us while we ran for our lives,” said Jan.

“I was scared of the flood because it was almost seven feet deep. It came like a flash and washed away everything coming in its way.

“Our first priority was to take care of our children. Meanwhile, our women packed some belongings and we took two sacks of grain along with us.

“I strongly wished to save my livestock, but it was too late to risk that.

“Those were the most painful moments of my life when I had to leave behind my most invaluable households, farm machinery and the livestock. Now we are in real trouble as we have nothing left to feed our children.

“I pray that God gives us strength to survive the innumerable hardships of this life. We don’t cherish false hope of getting appropriate return from the government. We will have to trust ourselves to save our souls.”

Claudine André, ActionAid Haiti

Haiti held the headlines internationally for almost a month with the tragic disaster that killed more than 300,000 people on 12 January. Seven months on, political parties are doing their best to put Haiti in the spotlight once more by turning the election process into a 'who wants to participate?' game. This year 34 candidates applied to run for the presidency. 19 of them were accepted by the provisory electoral council.

Phrases such as 'cash for work' or 'displaced people' have disappeared from the media’s vocabulary even though awareness still needs to be raised on those important issues. The focus is now on the candidates. For the first time in Haiti’s history a superstar like Wyclef Jean is involved in the country’s politics – although he was one of the ones rejected by the council.

The election campaign is supposed to kick off on 27 October. Meanwhile the 15 candidates rejected by the council – including Wyclef Jean - are doing the best they can to get back on the ballot.

It is important that the election process is done in a transparent and accountable manner so that Haiti can move forward with a new start – particularly important after the devastating earthquake.

Javeria Malik, ActionAid Pakistan Comms Officer

Jalawan is one of the many villages that got cut off as the floods washed away many bridges and roads. Floods have damaged or destroyed 452 schools in the province of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa. 69 educational institutions have been destroyed in Swat alone.

Education has come to a halt. The summer vacation has been extended to accommodate those who have had to flee their homes to escape the waters, or who have lost their homes altogether.

Nighat Bibi, 35, like many mothers, is worried for the future of her 13 year old son Bilal. After losing her husband a year ago, she has pinned all her hopes on her teenage son. “I want him to get good education and become a doctor” she says.

But looking at the disrupted educational facilities, Nighat Bibi is worried. She does not know when the schools will reopen and how her son will be able to catch up with his interrupted studies.

“My son is very intelligent and takes an interest in his studies. But sometimes he asks difficult questions to which I have no answer. When his father died he asked me – ‘Why did God take away my father?  Is He angry with me?’ - What can you tell a child when they ask such questions?”

Bilal echoes his mother’s concerns.  He says he misses his school and hopes that it is still standing.  He worries for the well-being of his friends and teachers also but most of all he is worried for the trees he planted last summer as part of 'tree plantation campaign' in his school. 

“My friends and I watered the plants in recess and sometimes put manure on them to help them grow healthy and strong. I hope the waters have not destroyed them.”

It will take months for schools in the flood affected Swat to be repaired and reconstructed, while complete rehabilitation of educational infrastructure will likely take years. Until then, the future of schoolchildren is uncertain. In a country where the adult literacy rate is 62% and only about 60% of children finish primary school, it is important that schools are repaired and reconstructed as quickly as possible. For a nation hit by calamity after calamity, education may be the only hope for a better future.

Javeria Malik, ActionAid Pakistan Comms Officer

When I visited Swat two weeks ago to assist ActionAid’s relief distribution, the entire valley presented a very sad and solemn picture. There was no electricity in the entire district, telephone lines and mobile networks were suspended, and people looked  tense and traumatised.  The destruction, miseries and suffering that I witnessed then were very disturbing.

Yesterday, I visited the valley again, twenty five days after the devastating floods.

I was amazed to see that the place had started to return to life. There were cars and public vans moving on the roads, markets were busy, road side tuck shops were partially open. At a few places, people had started to remove debris on self help basis and get on with repairs. However the bridge connecting the two sides of river Swat is still broken, and while the river waters seem to have receded a little, its pace is just as wild and fierce.

We got on a makeshift boat, which the local people call ‘Jala’ to reach the other side of the river. It was made of tyre tubes and wood frames, Not very sturdy, and requiring frequent repairs, Jala is the only means of transportation available to the Swatis to commute between the two banks of the river.

People were carrying notebooks, pens, juice boxes, wheat bags and other essential items from Fiza Ghat to Bara Bandai, Pir Kalai and Matta, all on the other side and still cut off from main Swat. Over 2000 families are still dependent on the supplies reaching them from Fiza Ghat. Our partner on ground tells us that it took 7 boats, all making over 20 round trips to transport ActionAid’s relief packages to 200 families in Bara Bandai.

I met families that have received immediate relief from ActionAid in last few weeks.

Izzat Khan, a 30-year old father of two children had lost all his possessions in the floods, but his one-room house remained intact. He is a chronic liver patient and has no job. His wife Khapay Rai worked as a seamstress to make a living before the floods swept away her sewing machine, scissors and threads.

He told me how the household goods and food package had helped his family to survive. He said “when we returned to our house, there was nothing left here.  Thank God we had received Atta (wheat), oil and cooking pans, so at least we were able to eat something. “

I tried to talk to his 2 year old daughter Summaya, but she was shy and ran away. Izzat Khan took out a half-finished pack of biscuits from under the pillow and waved at her. It took a minute for Summaya to return, and while she still wouldn’t talk to me, I loved watching her enjoy her biscuit.  Izzat Khan and his wife were smiling and it warmed my heart to see at least some happiness return to their lives.

While immediate relief work is on going, and the worst affected and vulnerable people are receiving food, water, and essential household items, it will take years before life in this catastrophe-hit place can be normalised. Lost livelihoods, damaged agricultural land, and destroyed schools, health facilities and bridges must be restored.  It seems like there are miles to go but we must carry on, one step at a time.