Flood Relief 2011

January 10, 2012 No Comments

Not having recovered from the catastrophic floods of 2010, Pakistan was yet again faced with floods this year that affected over 5 million people in Sindh. Twenty-two out of the 24 districts in the province of Sindh were submerged. With over 400 human lives lost, more than 200,000 rendered homeless and 80% of the agricultural crop damaged the floods of 2011 were said to be far worse for Sindh than the floods of 2010.

Zimmedar Shehri launched its “Flood Relief Mission 2011” in order to mobilize people to provide immediate relief to the flood-affectees in Sindh. Our aim was to collect relief goods for 1000 families. In a span of 8 weeks we successfully managed to gather: one thousand 10kg flour bags, 2 tones of sugar, 5 tones of rice, cooking oil, salt, lentils (Channa and Moong), laundry soap, washing soap, cooking utensils, quilts, tea, biscuits, miswaak and matches. All these goods were packed systematically into cartons to be handed out to each household sustaining them for a period of about 2 months.

We initiated the fund raising for the mission by personally visiting several educational institutions in Lahore, through social media and through word of mouth. Our dedicated team of volunteers also carried out a door-to-door fund raising campaign spending hours requesting friends, family and the public to contribute whatever they could. Our representatives in various schools and colleges also sold custom made t-shirts, post cards and wristbands that went a long way in raising funds for our cause.

Once we had successfully raised funds and purchased relief goods, our motivated team and volunteers spent days sorting goods into packages ready to be handed out. It was then unanimously decided after consultation with local NGO’s and the Army that the area we would visit and distribute goods in would be Sanghar. The district Sanghar was declared as one of the worst affected and the most dangerous.

After a three-day journey our team of volunteers arrived at Sanghar. We travelled the length and breadth of interior Sindh to get to Sanghar. We saw the destruction caused by the floods first hand and got a chance to interact with the flood victims. We found their resilience to be truly inspiring and were moved by their hospitality and kindness – even in the face of such adversity they managed to smile and offered us what little food they had.

Since Sanghar is subdivided into “chaks”, the army had agreed to liaise with the local administration to help us distribute relief items. The Army also had contacts with influential chieftains in each “chak” and we were disappointed to realize that the local chieftain had only assembled people who were close to him, not giving the others a chance to benefit. It was then that we decided to conduct a survey of the local area ourselves to determine who were deserving. We visited houses collecting ID cards of members of the households whose homes had been destroyed, dividing them into their areas of residence and asked them to assemble in an orderly manner ensuring that no area or family was left out of the process or was treated different based on their relationship with the chieftain. By the end of it, we distributed ration and miscellaneous relief goods to more than 1500 families.

It was quite saddening to observe the socio-political dynamics in Sanghar. We discovered that help seemed to be available to the locals based on their relationship with the chieftains and that various political parties distributed aid only to the ‘pyaaras’ of the local chieftain. We learnt that the chieftain would also hoard relief items and then later sell them in the open market to make profits. The locals were pleasantly taken aback by our efforts of helping them without having a political agenda.

These causes have taught us that whatever differences we may have, the spirit of building a better Pakistan trumps everything else and cuts across all class and political barriers. This very spirit of collectiveness, ownership, and unity is what we hope to inculcate in fellow Pakistanis; to work together with sincerity and with a common goal to change Pakistan. We all are aware of what Pakistan is capable of. Now is the time to put into practice what we have dreamt of and through our joint efforts make our country what it was envisioned at its inception.

Zimmedar Shehri is launching its Flood Relief Mission 2011. We need you to volunteer to collect funds, buy relief goods, help pack relief cartons and if possible come with us to flood affected areas to distribute relief goods and provide moral support to the flood victims.

DMK Logistics has agreed to provide us free of cost with a 20-foot container that has the capacity to carry about 20 tonnes of relief goods. Initially our target is to collect enough funds and relief goods to fill this truck up and go to Badin, Thatta and Hyderabad.

Like last year we will be conducting door-to-door collection drives in Lahore and we need as many of you as possible to participate. We will let you know the details of the door-to-door collection drive soon. If you are not based in Lahore and would like to contribute feel free to deposit money in our bank account. The following are our bank account details:

Account Number: 01021544835

Bank Address: Soneri Bank Limited, Gulberg Branch, Lahore

Account Title: Zimmedar Shehri

We are also looking for ground contacts in Sindh to coordinate relief activity and to conduct our relief operations more efficiently. If you know anyone who could help us out please do let us know.

Zimmedar Shehri is selling post cards, ‎500 rupees for a pack of 12 to raise funds for flood relief work. These scenic postcards feature some of the most breathtaking images from Pakistan’s northern areas. We are also selling additional green ‘I AM PAKISTAN’ wristbands to raise funds.

 

If you have any ideas and suggestions, please share them with us. We would be more than happy to hear from you.

 

The damaged caused by these floods is immense and the true scale of the tragedy hasn’t really dawned upon us. Donor fatigue has set in and the media isn’t giving the floods the coverage it deserves. Given all this it is paramount on every one of us to do whatever is in our capacity to help our fellow Pakistani’s in their time of need.

 

Join the Zimmedar Shehri Flood Relief Mission 2011 and be the change you wish to see!

For more information please contact:

Murtaza Khwaja: 0333 4664373 (murtaza_khwaja@hotmail.com)

Jalal Hussain: 0300 8429013 (jalal.hussain@gmail.com)

Usama Mehmood: 0321 4558611 (carrot46@hotmail.com)

Shoaib Ahmed: 0321 9439787 (shoaib.ahmed.sa398@gmail.com)

Mubin Kumail: 0331 4503309

 

 

Tags: Account Number, Flood Relief Mission, Gulberg Branch, Zimmedar ShehriFlood Relief 2011