Pakistan update from UNICEF’s Muhammad Rafiq
Dr. Muhammad Rafiq is Officer in Charge of the UNICEF Provincial Office in Khyber Pukhtoonkhawa, Pakistan. He send this report from the field. To support UNICEF’s relief efforts in Pakistan, please donate online at www.unicefusa.org/pakistan or text FLOODS to 864233 to donate $10 with your mobile phone.
The recent floods in Pakistan have been the worst I have ever seen in my 53 years. When I was young we heard from our elders that there were great floods in 1929, but we currently think that these are twice as bad. Nobody has any memory of a worse disaster.
For children this was truly terrifying. They were grabbed out of their beds by parents in the middle of the night and had to run to safe ground as water poured into their houses. The only warning they had was from local Mosques telling them to leave. They ran without their shoes and without their belongings.
I met a father and son who had to flee their home when the flood waters arrived. A few days later they returned to find their house completely destroyed. When I met them, they were desperately trying to find any of their belongings in the mud. This was devastating to see.
Children are the most vulnerable people affected by this flood. They also face a great threat from hunger and diseases like cholera and scabies.
There is no mobile phone reception anymore so I go on the local radio twice a day to tell people about how to protect themselves from disease. I tell them that if they have a water tank on the third floor or higher they should treat this as the most precious thing in the world and only drink it. If people do not have this then they can collect rainwater. If they have to drink floodwater they should use water purifying tablets if possible. As a last resort they can filter the water from a clean cloth two to three times and then put in sun light for a couple of hours. This is really for when all other options are exhausted.
Our biggest concern, though, is the places we have not been able to reach yet. Roads have been destroyed and bridges washed away, which makes our work even more difficult. We have not seen an epidemic of any disease yet, but God forbid that there is one somewhere we have not been able to reach yet.
Since the flood, food prices have already begun to rise and we know it is important to get food to people who need it. UNICEF already had high-nutrition biscuits in Pakistan and we have already distributed these to 4,000 children.
I worry about the future for the 1.4 million children affected by this flood. Once the waters subside and people find shelter, there will still be no schools and many, many children will face losing their education. We will feel the effects of this disaster for years to come.
