Trocaire - 2010 Pakistan Floods

From the SITE:

Trócaire is getting aid to survivors and we have launched an appeal to the Irish public for help.

Trócaire has been working in Pakistan for almost 40 years which means we are well placed to respond quickly to this disaster and get help to where it's needed most.

Funding from the Irish government through Irish Aid helped us to respond fast but more help is needed. We are calling on our supporters to give what they can to help some of the fifteen million people affected by the flood. The numbers affected are even greater than the Haiti earthquake and Asian tsunami combined.

On the ground

Cecil Dunne, Trócaire’s emergency officer in Pakistan says the situation is really desperate for survivors: “Floodwaters have washed away people, homes, bridges, water systems and medical facilities. Survivors have been left with nothing: no homes, no food and no livestock. Yet more rain continues to fall.”

We are getting food, water, water purification tablets, cooking utensils, high energy biscuits for children and sanitary supplies to survivors.
Survivors in northwest Pakistan appeal for help

What some of the survivors of the floods have to say:

"Right now everything is out of our hands, there is not even rubbish to search through because all is washed away. We sit here and wonder if it will be the rain or the heat from the sun that will kill us off"

"We only want you to rescue our children"

"These roads and bridges are not our losses, these are the governments’ and will be replaced. Our losses are our homes and our belongings, who will replace these?"

"Do not come to watch us die, please do something........"

Our response

Trócaire is getting food, water, water purification tablets, cooking utensils, high-energy biscuits for children and sanitary supplies to survivors.

In one area called Nowshera, in the northwest, our partners began providing pre-cooked meals to over 300 families the weekend the flooding began. In another area near the city of Peshawar, Trócaire’s partners are providing food, water and sanitary supplies to over 1,500 families in four villages.

Families in Peshawar have lost everything and will need support in the coming weeks and months to rebuild their lives. As the floods swept through the northern districts, Trócaire began looking south to Sindh, where the waters would inevitably flow and where we worked with communities to prepare for the worst. We and our partners helped families prepare to move quickly to higher ground if the waters came, which they sadly did. Families were also stockpiling food, water and other essentials. This last few days, as the rains continued to pour, these evacuation plans became a reality.

Our work so far has included the evacuation of 8,000 such people trapped in at-risk areas from the area surrounding Manchar Lake in the southern province of Sindh.
In the northwest of Pakistan, Trocaire’s already supporting another 10,000 survivors with food, water, water purification tablets, cooking utensils, high energy biscuits for children and sanitary supplies to vulnerable families.

Specifically, 5,700 families have received food packages; 4,500 families received packages containing blankets, plastic sheets for shelter and kitchen utensils; and 5,000 families have received hygiene kits. The threat of disease is huge.
Disease

As the flood waters begin to recede from the northern Provinces, water-borne diseases are becoming a threat. Already cases of cholera have been confirmed. “All the water systems are contaminated so getting people clean water to affected people is crucial,” according to Cecil Dunne. “Without clean water supplies, disease will spread like wildfire.”

“People are extremely vulnerable and desperately need our support - not only in the coming weeks but in the coming months and years that it will take to rebuild communities.”

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From RELIEF WEB:

Evacuations underway in southwest Pakistan
Source: Trócaire
Date: 06 Aug 2010

Trócaire's partners have begun evacuating 8,000 people from over 30 villages in western Sindh, as the floodwater from the northwest has moved down into the province.

Earlier this week in Sindh, Trocaire was helping communities to prepare for the worst and get contingency plans in place so that families would be ready to move quickly to higher ground if the waters came. Families were also stockpiling food, water and other essentials. Yesterday, as the rain began to pour these evacuation plans became a reality.

In the northwest Trocaire's is already supporting 10,000 survivors with food, water, water purification tablets, cooking utensils, high energy biscuits for children and sanitary supplies to vulnerable families.

"All the water systems are contaminated so getting people clean water is crucial" according to Cecil Dunne, Trócaire's emergency officer in Pakistan. "Without clean water disease will spread like wildfire."

"People are extremely vulnerable and desperately need our support not only in the coming weeks but in the coming months and years that it will take to rebuild communities."