Response to Pakistan Floods

Bethlehem has come alongside the Pakistani people with a gift to an international aid organization to provide emergency, life-saving assistance to flood-affected villages.

With a large team already formed and in place across Pakistan and with a long-time presence and relationships with communities close to some of the areas hardest hit, this aid organization has been in a strong position to quickly assess the needs caused by the recent mega-flood and to begin to mount a response. They have already distributed food, clean drinking water, mosquito nets, and household items to almost 1,000 households, and have continued to assess needs in areas heavily hit by the flood. Several of Bethlehem’s Global Partners have worked or are working with this aid organization.

In July/August 2010, unusually strong and sustained monsoon rains led to flooding which has, according to the UN, left at least 1/5 of Pakistan under water. At least 13.8 million people are directly affected by the disaster, and this number is growing daily. The scale and cost of responding to this disaster are larger than the most catastrophic disasters in recent memory, including the Haiti earthquake of January 2010, the Pakistan earthquake of 2005, and the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004.

The residents of both targeted districts are among the poorest and least reached peoples of Pakistan. Both targeted areas are known for their conservative values and resistance to outsiders, causing them to be among the more isolated communities of Pakistan.

Close to 100% of homes in the chosen areas for relief work were severely damaged, or completely destroyed by the floods of late July and early August. The vast majority of villagers are living under the open sky, and only a small percentage has received tents from either the government or various NGOs. Water systems in affected villages were almost completely destroyed by the flood. Furthermore, many household goods, including kitchen items and clothes, were either destroyed or swept away in the disaster.. Finally, livelihoods in both chosen districts were severely affected by the floods, leaving the majority of people dependant upon food rations from either the government or NGOs.

The goal for our Bethlehem gift is to help with the following:

Food

• distribution of monthly food ration during 3 months

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

• initial distribution of buckets and jerry cans for storage of drinking water
• ongoing distributions of clean water
• repair and restore existing hand pumps and tube wells
• repair and restore public sanitary facilities
• distribution of antiseptic soap and other critical hygiene items
• teach principles of good hygiene and how to avoid the spread of disease

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