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Yearly Archives: 2023

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When the deluge of 2022 hit village Kumbhar Bhada bringing down so many of those mud-plastered chaunras all around, Saleh Mangrio and his wife Shabana had a fall back. They salvaged what they could from their collapsing hut, particularly Shabana’s sewing machine and the large tin trunk out of which Saleh ran his small provisions and snacks store and escaped from their damaged home to another they owned that had stayed intact on a dune in the village.

With plastic sheeting protecting the snacks in his tin trunk, Saleh continued his little business. However, Shabana’s work as a seamstress suffered because in that time of uncertainty with nonstop rain teeming down and no work to be found for a community of unskilled workers, women did not want new dresses done up.

Meanwhile, in the summer of 2022, with seed provided under the Humanitarian, Early Recovery and Development (HERD), Saleh had sowed his three-acre holding with millets, mung and guar beans that he watched over with increasing anxiety as he knew the nonstop rain was likely to damage the yield. With food taken care of by the aid programme, Saleh’s primary worry as the deluge let off was for housing for the family and a place where his wife could again set up her own tailoring shop in their new location. He borrowed PKR 45,000 (Approx. USD 156) to strengthen the main chaunra, add another one, erect a thatched otaq to entertain his male visitors and even build a covered latrine.

Harvest rolled around in late October and Saleh recalled, “The harvest was not what should have been had the rain stopped after irrigating the sand. Nevertheless, it was enough for me to sell some for cash and repay my debt. And this was possible because the last two instalments of food aid took away our major worry and expense.”

His harvest was not the only commodity Saleh sold. He also had two male goats that fetched a reasonable price. Some of these proceeds serviced his debt, one part paid for a female goat and the rest was invested in the store. He reported that the store he started with stocks worth PKR 3500 (Approx. USD 12) just three years ago, was now worth PKR 16,000 (Approx. USD 56) at the end of 2022, fetching a net profit of about PKR 500 daily. He said that this investment in building his home and expanding his little store was possible only because of the food aid programme.

Asked what he thought was the greatest advantage of the food aid, agricultural training and input Saleh unequivocally said that it had kept him free of loan for the first time in some years.

“Normally, when crops fail and even though we recover the cost of the seed, it is loss because the reduced harvest cannot feed us. Most times we end up selling our livestock only to pay for food items. When I sold my goats late last year, I was not consuming the money but investing it in housing for the family. That was the win for us.”

The Mangrio family knows adversity as well as so many other natives of Umerkot. In 2021, he had fifteen goats, recalled Saleh. The drought was so bad that water ponds and even underground storage tanks dried up. All around the village livestock began to perish and Saleh acted swiftly to sell off five goats. The price was well below the going rate, but it could not be helped. At least he got something out of his livestock even as three of his animals perished.

But as 2023 dawned, Saleh Mangrio was happy that he still had four goats that were bound to multiply. Also, his store was fetching a little profit to pay for the daily kitchen expenses and, best of all, he was not under debt.

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Village Soheb Khan lies some 25 kilometres south of Umerkot, in the nook formed by the Cheelh-Kantio road and the one coming south from Umerkot. It is now a sprawling village, but when the primary school was established here back in 1992, it was just a sprinkling of houses. What began as a two-room primary school with two dozen students then, now has six rooms and a strength of two hundred and fifty students going up to the middle level.

Schoolmaster Farooq Ahmed recalled the time when he was the only teacher at the primary school. But there were so few students it was easy to manage them. Slowly the rolls began to grow and the school was upgraded to middle level in 2012 and more rooms were added to the original two. With that expansion the number of teachers was also added to and it began to look like a real school. In March 2023, there were five teachers and as these lines are being read, another has been added to the primary level.

Farooq said he underwent the teachers’ training, under the education project of Community World Service Asia (CWSA) and Act for Peace (AfP), from which he benefited greatly. By his own account, until this training, he assiduously kept to the schoolbooks and did no ‘events’ with his students. He said the Early Childhood Care Education (ECCE) training organised by CWSA opened up a whole new world for him: education could be innovative rather than drab and run of the mill. Activities now include science experiments, skits and discussions between students and teachers. According to him, his top of the class students are still top of the class, but with a higher average of marks than before. He admitted that earlier there were occasions when he lost his temper, but the positive learning training changed that altogether.

It was good to note that Farooq’s students, even of the primary level, spoke very clear and unaccented Urdu. Kashif, twelve years old and in Grade 6, loved to read English books and wanted to be a doctor. His father worked for a petrol filling station the income from which was augmented by the income from his small holding of agricultural land. Kashif topped in his class in the last exam for promotion to Grade 6. Although two years earlier, he was again first, but he ceded the first position to another student in the exams for Grade 5. That was when he vowed that he would regain his position at the top of the class and hold it all the way through school.

The child is clearly very ambitious and had already charted his course: after he finished middle school in the village, he would enrol in the high school in Kunri1 and then college in the same town. Thereafter it will be Hyderabad and medical college. Kashif said he liked to play cricket in his spare time after he had done his homework. Why he wanted to be a doctor, the child was very clear: “There is no doctor in the village and sick people have to go to the city. I will be the doctor always at hand to be of help.”

Eleven year-old Afshan of Grade 6 was schoolmaster Farooq’s daughter. Though she played football in her spare time, she was clearly inspired by her father and wanted to be a teacher. Her reason for choosing this profession was because she wanted to help others get ahead in life just as her father was doing. Throughout her six years in school, Afshan topped in her class even though she rarely got help in her homework from her elder brother who is studying to be a lawyer or from her father. When she was not playing football or doing her homework, Afshan read English books.

Azeeza joined school late: at age fifteen, she was still in Grade 5 where her favourite subject was English. But that did not take away ambition and dedication from her for she was always at the top first or second position in class. Though both her parents were illiterate and ordinary farm labourers, she being greatly inspired by her teachers, wanted to be one herself. However, it went entirely to the credit of her parents who despite their own illiteracy saw that all five of their children were educated. Her elder brother having completed his graduation from Sindh University, Hyderabad was now on the lookout for a job.

Little Iqra, small for her nine years of age, was in Grade 3 and again among the two top pupils in her class. Unlike the others spoken with, her favourite subject was Urdu. Her father who managed a petrol filling station was full of encouragement for his daughter who wanted to be doctor when she grew up.

  1. Kunri is a tehsil and town located in the Umarkot District, Sindh province in southern Pakistan.

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When: Aug 03-05, 2023
Where: O’Spring Murree
Language: Urdu / English
Interested: Click here to register
Last Date to Apply: July 10, 2023

Background and Rationale

Cash Transfer Programming (CTP) refers to programmes where cash or vouchers for goods or services are provided to affected populations. It’s an approach that consists of linkages, capacities, incentives and relationships to encourage effective market recovery. CTP can be done for emergency response, early recovery and long-term development.

Community World Service Asia is inviting applicants to a 3 day workshop on “Cash Transfer Programming”. Those who are interested to learn more about cash and voucher assistance in humanitarian settings must join. The goal of this workshop is to build and strengthen the capacity of aid workers in Cash Transfer Programming so that they can be more efficient and effective in addressing most pressing needs in the humanitarian context by utilising best practices, relevant tools & standards.

Aims & Objectives:

This three day workshop aims to introduce & enhance the capacity of participants to consider Cash Transfer Programming (CTP) in assessments and responses to emergencies. At the end of the workshop participants will be able to:

  • Define key CTP terms and concepts,
  • Describe the stages in the CTP process,
  • Describe additional information needed to assess the feasibility of using CTP,
  • Link the need for market analysis as a critical factor in planning interventions,
  • List issues related to designing and implementing cash transfer interventions,
  • Describe key issues when monitoring prices and social issues,
  • Consider what to include in the contingency planning process and preparedness activities in order to be ready for a timely CTP emergency response.

Methodology:

The “Blended Learning” approach developed by CWSA over decades of experience will be applied in this training. The approach is participatory and needs based in nature. It includes the selection of participants from various organisations at various levels. Content development and methodology will be based on the needs of the training participants and experienced and skilled trainers will lead the sessions. Action plans will be developed and follow-up refreshers, coaching and mentoring support will be assured.

Number of Participants:

18 – 20 participants will be selected for the training. Women staff and those with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Preference will be given to participants from organisations based in underserved areas. Applicants will be informed by 15th July, 2023 about their confirmation status.

Selection Criteria:

  • Mid or senior level manager from civil society organisations, preferably field staff of large CSOs or CSOs with main offices in small towns and cities.
  • Primary responsibility for project/programme assessments, design, monitoring and impact assessment at the project and/ or organisational level.
  • No previous experience/ participation in training on Cash Transfer Programming
  • Willingness to pay a training fees of PKR 10000/. Exemptions may be applied for by CSOs with limited funding and those from marginalised groups. Discount of 10% on early registration by 30th June, 2023 and 20% discount will be awarded to women participants.
  • Commitment to apply learning in your work, including dissemination of learning within organisations.

Community World Service Asia (CWSA) is a humanitarian and development organisation, registered in Pakistan, headquartered in Karachi and implementing initiatives throughout Asia. CWSA is a member of the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) Alliance, a member of Sphere and their regional partner in Asia and also manages the ADRRN Quality & Accountability Hub in Asia. For more details please visit our website: www.communityworldservice.asia

If you wish to participate, kindly register here

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When: July 31 – Aug 02, 2023 (arrival at venue on 30th July 2023)
Where: O’Spring, Murree
Language: Urdu / English
Interested: Click here to apply
Last Date to Apply: July 10, 2023

Rationale:

The Sphere movement started in 1997 by a group of humanitarian professionals aiming to improve the quality of humanitarian work during disaster response. With this goal in mind, they framed a Humanitarian Charter and identified a set of humanitarian standards to be applied in humanitarian response. Sphere minimum standards emphasize a rights-based approach and a focus on the affected population. As a result, a more compassionate and empathetic response to humanitarian crises is promoted, with a primary focus on the needs and rights of affected individuals and communities. Overall, using Sphere minimum standards ensures a high level of quality, accountability, and effectiveness in humanitarian response. Adopting these standards can help to create a skilled and knowledgeable workforce capable of providing timely and appropriate assistance to those in need, thereby improving the outcomes and impact of humanitarian interventions.

Community World Service Asia is inviting applications for a 3 day workshop on “Sphere Minimum Standards” in Murree. The goal of this training is to strengthen the capacity of aid workers around Sphere Standards so that they can efficiently and effectively address most pressing needs in a humanitarian context by applying the Sphere Minimum Standards, which is a well-known Quality and accountability tool at the global-level.

Aims & Objectives:

This 3 day workshop aims to strengthen participants’ knowledge on the Sphere standards and to support them learn how to best apply these standards in their programmes.

By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

  • Explain the philosophy and approach of Sphere
  • Understand and describe the relationship between Sphere, Humanitarian Charter and Rights Based Approach
  • Learn to describe the use of Sphere Handbook
  • Learn to apply Sphere in humanitarian projects/programme cycle Share experiences of applying Sphere Standards in Pakistan

Methodology:

The “Blended Learning” approach developed by CWSA over decades of experience will be used in this workshop. The approach will be participatory and needs based in nature. It shall include the selection of participants from various organisations at various levels, and the development of content and methodology will be based on the needs of the participants. Experienced and knowledgeable trainers/practitioners will be engaged and will help participants develop action plans, conduct follow-up refreshers and will provide coaching and mentoring support.

Number of Participants:

18 – 20 participants will be selected for the workshop. Women staff and those with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Preference will be given to participants from organisations based in underserved areas. Applicants will be informed by-July 15th, 2023 about their confirmation status.

Selection Criteria:

  • Mid or senior level managers in a civil society organisation, field staff of large CSOs or CSOs with main offices in small towns and cities.
  • Those having primary responsibility to design, assess, implement & monitor projects/programmes
  • Staff with Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) responsibilities at the project and/ or organizational levels.
  • No previous experience/ participation in training on Sphere Minimum Standards
  • Commitment to apply learning in their work, including dissemination of learning within their organization.
  • Willingness to pay a Training Fees of PKR 10,000/-. Exemptions may be applied for CSOs with limited funding and those from marginalised groups. Discount of 10% on early registration by June 28th, 2023 and 20% discount will be awarded to women participants.

Community World Service Asia (CWSA) is a humanitarian and development organisation, registered in Pakistan, headquartered in Karachi and implementing initiatives throughout Asia. CWSA is a member of the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) Alliance, a member of Sphere and their regional partner in Asia and also manages the ADRRN Quality & Accountability Hub in Asia. For more details visit our website: www.communityworldservice.asia

If you wish to participate, kindly register here

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In December 2022, thirty-five compassionate humanitarian professionals convened for a transformative Quality, Accountability, and Safeguarding (QAS) workshop. Their mission? To share and learn innovative, locally-driven approaches in implementing QAS standards and to explore the art and influence of the mentorship approach to promoting and mainstreaming QAS standards.

This gathering, titled, a Pool of Humanitarian Mentors Workshop, brought together an experienced array of global leaders and practitioners in the promotion and implementation of QAS, including Protection against Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (PSEAH). As the workshop unfolded, attendees shared their diverse experiences, were introduced to new tools and approaches, while crafting a realistic and practical mentorship framework to be shared far and wide.

Six months later, on June 5, 2023, a regroup meeting of these mentors took centre stage. With eager hearts and minds, they reconvened to exchange experiences of how the mentorship approach garnered from the workshop had been applied and unfolded in their respective domains. Enthusiastic discussions ignited, seeking pathways for future collaboration and engagement, fuelled by the collective goal of putting people first and ensuring dignified response in every way possible.

As the mentors skilfully incorporated QAS learnings into their programming and organisational practices and policies, the workshop’s influence could be felt across the corridors of humanitarian action. Within the mentors’ own organisations, capacity-enhancing activities were launched, while relevant policies also underwent revisions, aligning with newfound QAS learnings. Yet, amid these noble endeavours, challenges emerged. Time management emerged as a common hurdle, as did the need to define broad concepts like Safeguarding and contextualising them for every region, locality and community participant.

To overcome these obstacles and amplify their impact, the mentors together mapped a path forward. Subgroups on key QAS themes will be formed, enabling a specialised focus and opportunities to engage in joint activities such as webinars and trainings. Additionally, a common resource library will be created, serving as a repository where mentors can share case stories, toolkits, approaches, and training materials.

Community World Service Asia (CWSA) remains steadfast in its commitment to act as a catalyst and connector on QAS within the humanitarian landscape. By linking like-minded individuals, fostering interaction, and facilitating mutual learning, CWSA aims to enhance accountability to affected populations. With the mentors serving as beacons of knowledge and change, the journey towards a more accountable and safeguarded humanitarian sector gains momentum.

As the regroup meeting concluded, a sense of renewed purpose filled the room. Armed with shared experiences and an unwavering commitment to accountability and people-centered aid and development, these mentors are motivated to transform communities, uplift lives, and uphold the principles of quality, accountability, and safeguarding. Through their collective efforts, they embody the true spirit of collaboration, steering the course towards a more inclusive and responsible future.

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Vadhri is very proud of the little kiosk she has paid for and which her father in law manages. In early 2022, this store selling household items as well as children’s snacks was just a dream.

At that time, things looked bleak with the drought of 2021 having destroyed what she and her brother in law had sowed on their eight-acre holding. With no harvest, Vadhri had purchased food on loan for herself and her three boys and over the months accumulated a debt of PKR 30,000 (Approx. USD 104). She thought herself fortunate that the loan was interest-free. Else, it would have multiplied and gone well beyond her means to repay.

The food aid provided, under the Humanitarian, Early Recovery and Development (HERD) project, in those bleak months of 2022 were a great boon. It saved her the monthly food bill and enabled her to put together a respectable sum. With that coupled with her saving from sewing the traditional heavily embroidered Sindhi hats, she spent PKR 15,000 (Approx. USD 52) for the timber kiosk to serve as the store. To her father in law, Vadhri gave PKR 2000 (Approx. USD 7) to stock up, and they were in business. It speaks well for her and her father in law that in February 2023, the store had stocks of some PKR 10,000 (Approx. USD 35), five times up from the time it started out, and was making a daily net profit of PKR 400 (Approx. USD 1).

Investing all her saving in the store was some smart thinking. She reasons that had she used it to service her debt with the provisions store, she would have had to sell some of her ten goats to start her store. And goats being ready cash for the people of Thar to be brought into play only in the direst of situations that would have been a bad move.

Had the rains of 2022 let off after the initial shower or two, she would have collected a reasonable harvest of millets, guar beans and lentils from her four acres. But two months without any sun whatsoever and a deluge that just would not cease much of the sprouting crop died and the harvest yielded barely two months’ worth of millets. At the time of tilling, she had borrowed money on interest to pay for the tractor. With reduced yield, she was obliged to sell all of her guar beans and lentils as well as two of her goats to raise the cash.

“I had ten goats in the beginning of last year. Now I have eight. The debt I owe to the village provisions store will be paid off after the millet and guar harvest in November 2023.” This cycle of recurring loans is par for the course for Vadhri.

For the time being the profit from her store pays for the daily kitchen for herself, her three boys and her father in law with who she lives since the death of her husband. The monthly profit from her hat embroidery work amounting to PKR 4800 (Approx. USD 17) is kept aside to invest in her store.

“If we had not received food aid last year, I would have been under a debt of PKR 60,000 (Approx. USD 208). I don’t know how I could have repaid that,” observed Vadhri.

Her two older boys are in primary school and in another year the youngest will be ready to join them. Vadhri has every intention of maintaining them all in school so that they can be somebody playing a role in life that she and her late husband could not.

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As a child Falak Sher dreamt of completing high school and joining the army. That was only natural for a child physically fit who from age ten was a kabaddi player. Though a contact sport, kabaddi is non-violent involving tagging and tackling and serious injuries are rare. However, that rarity struck Falak Sher when he was about twelve and in grade 4 of primary school.

During a match, he was tackled and brought down as had happened several times before. But this time the pang of shooting pain told him something had gone terribly wrong. Though his village Mehr Veesar lay some 50 kilometres southwest of Khairpur town, there were nearby hospitals as well. But Falak Sher was carried home rather than being taken to a proper medical centre.

His family called in the local bone-setter, an untrained potter who boasted knowledge passed down to him through several generations of bone-setters. Using splints and bandages, the man claimed to have set the bone right, but when two months later the dressing was removed, the leg was deformed. For the next five years, Falak Sher was bed-ridden because of persistent pain and inability to walk without support.

For the youngster the dream of being in military uniform faded away and even education seemed to have come to an end at grade 4. Time heals all, however, even badly set bones. After a break of five years, Falak Sher was able to walk back to school with the help of a staff. Though the military career was out of the question, yet the young man continued his schooling to complete matriculation. In a society where able-bodied men with degrees sometimes spend years seeking suitable jobs, there was no opening for a matriculate with a disability.

Already in his twenty-fourth year, Falak Sher apprenticed himself to a master weaver of the charpoy, the wooden bedstead. Within a year, he was sufficiently trained to independently turn an empty frame into a proper bed in under five hours. In 2023, at age thirty-eight, he was a highly proficient charpoy weaver who got calls on his cell phone when there was work.

“Life was getting along all right and I would get three to four charpoys every day,” said Falak Sher. That was enough work to keep him busy through the day and at Rs 400 per frame, he was a satisfied man.

Then came the floods of the summer of 2022. Whole communities lost everything they had and if Falak Sher’s house collapsed, he could hardly say Nature had singled him out for punishment. Flood-affected or not, people needed furniture to sleep on and if he thought that the broken charpoy frames would be repaired and he would be called to do the weaving, he was mistaken. No one had the money even to procure food for their families, and getting their bedsteads repaired was a very distant priority.

“For four months, it was a very difficult time because there was no work. In this village and a couple of other nearby ones, there are four other weavers like me, and we were all without anything to do,” reported Falak Sher.

Like many others, Falak Sher and his family lived by the generosity of a kind landlord who provided flood-affected families with one meal a day. Those were three months when he, the sole bread winner for his family, forewent meals so that his two year-old son was fed. His wife too needed to be fed as she was nursing an infant daughter. It was a very hard time.

Slowly work began to trickle in. However, because of his disability, Falak Sher had to hire a motorbike taxi to take him to the work site. That cost money. For short trips the fare was PKR 30, but longer ones set him back by PKR 100 (Approx. USD 0.3). Unlike the old days when he would get three to five pieces to work on in a day, now there was never more than one and subtracting the fare from his wage of PKR 400 (Approx., USD 1.4) hurt. But the man never gave up and assiduously kept at it.

In January 2023, Falak Sher received the first instalment of Cash for Food from Community World Service Asia (CWSA) with the support of Presbyterian World Service & Development(PWS&) and Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB). Falak Sher spent the entire sum of PKR 12,000 on the purchase of food rations. For the first time in four months, he had a square meal, said the man. The following three months were the same pattern.

Being a talented craftsman, Falak Sher had not lost hope. And that paid off for in February he worked on twelve charpoys netting PKR 4800 (Approx. USD 15). The Cash for Food aid bolstered his hope and his ability to provide for his family. With work slowly picking up pace, the man was thinking of beginning to rebuild his collapsed home.

Asked how he would have fared without the cash grant, he remained silent. He had no idea how he and his family would have survived the hard months when there was so little work to be had.

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Legend has it that it was a Rajput chieftain, Amar by name, who established the fort of Umerkot at a very remote time in the past and for a long time it was known as Amarkot – Eternal Fort. History does not have much on that. It only tells us that one Parmar Sodha of Ujjain, moved into this part of the desert and having displaced the Soomra ruler of Umerkot, established himself in the castle.

It was his descendant Rana Vairsal who played host to Humayun in 1542 when the Mughal fled before Sher Shah Suri. Time passed, and in the eighteenth century the Kalhoras replaced the Sodha Rajputs in Umerkot. Thereafter, Umerkot suffered a plundering raid at the hands of the Madad Khan of Kandahar before it passed into the relative but short-lived peace of Talpur reign.

In 1843, the British had replaced the Talpurs in Sindh. Strangely, even though Umerkot lay on the trade highroad from Shikarpur in the north to Kutch by the sea, it was neglected while other parts of Thar received significant British attention. In the last two centuries, Umerkot was just another town of the district of ‘Thurr and Parkar’ as British officials knew it. The western part of the district gained some little from British-built irrigation off the Nara Canal, while on the east the desert sprawled virtually untouched by the march of time.

In 1993, Umerkot was established as a district. However, in 2000, this new district was abolished and re-merged with Mirpur Khas only to be established all over again in 2004. With four talukas (sub-divisions), the district of Umerkot is among the poorest in Sindh. While the western sub-divisions are somewhat better off being in the irrigated part, the eastern parts are as disadvantaged as any in the Thar Desert.

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