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In 2021, the drought killed their three-acre crop and with it their hopes for food on their plates. But Kasturi and her husband Khamiso, who is diagnosed with acute asthma, considered the family fortunate to be project participants of  Community World Service Asia (CWSA), PWS&D & CBGB’s[1] food aid programme starting in April and spread over six months. In  September with her fractured arm still not fully healed she had not returned to her work as a midwife.  Though at the rate of PKR 500 (Approx. USD 2.23) at most for a delivery and two to three cases per month, she was making very little, but even that was not to be sniffed at and she was keen to return to her work. Her orthopedic surgeon, however, told her she would not be able to resume work before February 2023. 

With their son grazing a livestock owner’s twelve cows for PKR 400 per cow per month, the family at least had a steady income of PKR 4800. Living with the hope that the summer monsoon will not fail, the couple worked their three-acre spread and sowed it with guar, mung and millets in June 2022. After a long time,  heaven was benevolent and they saw the seed sprout and grow as it had not been seen in years. 

But when the rain did not stop for four straight days, their chaunras (Hut) began to collapse. So great was the rain and so excessive its weight on the thatch that half a dozen rafters simply cracked under the strain. As the downfall began, the August installment of ration aid came in the way and the family lost the entire supply of wheat flour. Kasturi, forever looking at the brighter side, said all was not lost for she fed the flour to her goats. As for the rice and lentils, that can easily be cleaned and used. 

The last food aid was due a few weeks after this interaction and Kasturi was of the view that it would see  them through to the time that the first of their millet will be in the grain silo. When their entire lot is harvested and their larder and silos filled, they will dispose of the rest against cash. As all desert dwellers know that the rafters are the major rebuilding expense and some of that income will go to providing the PKR  30,000 (Approx. USD 13.35) to make their homes habitable again. That is a good deal better than the drought.  If the rains destroyed their shelters, at least they were enough to give them a harvest as they had not seen in many years.

[1] Presbyterian World Service & Development & Canadian Foodgrains Bank

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Shehdev of village Veri Sal Sarety lying 6 kilometres southwest of Umerkot, the second youngest of seven brothers is a bachelor while all the others are wedded. One of them passed away some years ago leaving behind three little children. Then the widowed mother walked out of the home leaving her children in the care of their uncle. Shehdev thus cares for four souls that includes these three children and his mother. Herself illiterate, the mother is a remarkable women for she and her husband had worked hard to educate all her seven sons. No surprise then, that Shehdev is a matriculate.

Shehdev works as a bricklayer wherever he can get work. And this is mostly in Umerkot, 6 kilometres away. With the fare being PKR 60 (Approx. USD 0.27) out and back, his daily wage varying between PKR 800 and PKR 1000 (Approx. USD 3 and 4.45), is enough to put reasonable food on the table for the five-member family. To supplement this income, Shehdev’s mother goes to the flooded cotton fields to pick the ripe crop. She knew the flood has caused venomous snakes to take refuge among the vegetation, but the work cannot be given up, especially at a time when other work is hard to find.

In July, the deluge came and construction work came to a halt. Some little savings from his work helped Shehdev and his family make it through the first couple of weeks before things began to get difficult. Had there not been some work helping local landowners drain their flooded fields and for his mother to endanger her life in the cotton fields, Shehdev would have gone under debt.

In early September 2022, food was the least of Shehdev’s worries because his mother continued her work and brought some cash. He was more concerned with the rebuilding of his collapsed home. Sahehdev, now living under a makeshift tent on higher grounds nearby to escape the flood waters, admitted the cost would be negligible because the clay for the bricks was locally available and the rafters for the collapsed roof were undamaged. Being a bricklayer himself, he was better acquainted than most with the work and as soon as he got some cash, he would begin reconstruction. If only his two yearling bulls had not died during the rains, he could have easily disposed of them for a neat PKR 70,000 (Approx. USD 312) and raised his home in quick time. But without that ready cash gone, he has to rely for cash from his mother’s farm work and himself if he is called to help drain a field. Shehdex, who is now supported through one of Community World Service Asia’s development projects, will only be able to return to work as a bricklayer when construction begins again after the last crowds have dissipated.

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When: 19th-21st, December 2022 (arrival at venue on 18th Dec 2022)
Where: Umerkot, Sindh
Language: Urdu and English
Interested Applicants: Click here to register
Last Date to Apply: 5th-Dec-2022 (incomplete applications will not be entertained)

Training Objectives: Through this training, you will be able to:

  • Identify the key Q&A initiatives and their tools to support Project Cycle Management
  • Select and adapt existing Q&A tools and resources to overcome challenges throughout the Project Cycle
  • Outline the opportunities and challenges faced by humanitarian workers in implementing Q&A approaches and tools throughout the project cycle
  • Identify means by which you and your colleagues can collaborate and coordinate with other agencies to improve the quality and accountability of a humanitarian response
  • Introducing and mainstreaming quality and accountability mechanisms through the organisation

Training Purpose

The impact of humanitarian work on communities depends greatly upon the quality of services and accountability of actions both during emergency and non-emergency times. With millions of people affected by disasters and conflicts, the importance of Quality & Accountability (Q&A) is undeniable. The effective implementation of Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS) requires a commitment to build institutional and individual capacity of people engaged in designing and implementing humanitarian as well as development projects.

Community World Service Asia (CWSA) aims to ensure that all relevant agencies including NGOs, INGOs, UN, donors, universities and government agencies, playing an active role in the disaster response & rehabilitation are given the opportunity to implement Quality and Accountability approaches and tools in their work.

Number of Participants

  • 20-25 participants will be selected for the training. Women and staff belonging to ethnic/religious minorities are encouraged to apply.
  • Preference will be given to participants representing organizations working in Umerkot and surroundings.

Selection Criteria

  • You have experience in managing a key position
  • You have an idea about the Q&A initiatives
  • You are interested in introducing Q&A mechanisms in your organisation
  • You have a ‘good enough’ command of English.

Fee Details

  • Training fee for each participant is PKR 10,000. Fee concessions and scholarships are available for participants belonging to marginalised groups and NGOs with limited funding.
  • No TA/DA will be given to participants and travel expenses will be incurred by participants themselves.

REGISTER NOW!

Community World Service Asia (CWSA) is a humanitarian and development organization, registered in Pakistan, headquartered in Karachi and implementing initiatives throughout Asia. CWSA is 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.

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The death toll from the Pakistan floods is now recorded at 1,700, with over 33 million people affected. Quoted as the ‘tenth costliest’ disaster in a decade with some areas still under flood water which could possibly take a few more months to recede. Areas where flood waters have receded, the needs of children and women are becoming more and more urgent and critical. Malnourished, hungry children are struggling to fight against malnutrition, diarrhea, malaria, dengue fever, typhoid, acute respiratory infections, and painful skin conditions.

Millions of agrarian communities have lost their homes and livelihoods and have no access to food, shelter, or clean drinking water.

Community World Service Asia, with the support of its partners, is on the ground in Pakistan, providing immediate support to some of the most hard-hit and remote flood-affected communities.

Our response is currently focused in four districts of Sindh, the province most severely hit by the disaster. We have deployed seven Mobile Health Units (MHUs) that are operational across Mirpurkhas, Matiari, Umerkot and Khairpur.

The Mobile health Units are providing curative and preventive health care through experienced and trained health and medical practitioners to flood-affected communities living in temporary shelters and camps as well as communities that are currently hard to reach due to stagnant flood-water.  The most common illnesses reported at the MHUs since its operations are skin diseases, diarrhea, malaria, eye infections, and more. We are also conducting health awareness sessions on common diseases found in the area such as scabies, malaria, diarrhea, Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI), hepatitis C as well as on family planning, malnutrition, maternal and neonatal care.

CWSA’s Emergencies teams are closely working with government health departments to identify areas and communities who are still left unreached. Further needs assessments and participants selection is underway with the engagement of affected communities for our cash support projects which will also start implementation shortly.

28,007 Flood affected people reached through MHUs

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Twenty-five year-old Vadhri of Rohiraro rarely leaves home. Even though her village is just sixty kilometres southeast of Umerkot, she has not been to town for a couple of years. She may have had some liberty had her husband been alive, but since his death in 2018, she has been under the constant watch of her meddlesome, overbearing father-in-law.

Vadhri’s husband was a maker of the famous farasi (camel and goat hair carpet) of Sindh. Working ten hours a day, seven days a week, he made around PKR 4000 a month (Approx. USD 20). Though it was a pittance for the masterful work he was doing, he kept at it but remained perpetually in bondage to the middleman who provided him the required materials for the product. To this loan shark he was obligated to sell his produce at a price set by the buyer. That, it goes without saying, was considerably lower than the market price. Like hundreds of other Meghwar men engaged in this craft in Umerkot, he was too poor to procure the materials and become independent of the exploitation.

What little time he got, he laboured in the five-acre plot of land he owned in the village. Long years ago, when his father was a young man, rains were timely and plentiful and this holding provided the family with sufficient food for the year. But things had changed and now there were years when rains failed and he lost what he had invested in his land.

Meanwhile, even the priceless and exquisitely beautiful farasi was going out of fashion. Once a prized adornment in any self-respecting Sindhi home, its demand dwindled and craftsmen turned to other professions. Vadhri’s husband resolved to become a driver. From what he knew, that was a line of good and regular income. But to be a driver he did not have to go to school. All that was needed was to attach himself to a vehicle as helper to the driver.

The rules for this apprenticeship are that he was to clean the vehicle, fetch the master his cup of tea and food and be much like a slave. The master considering he was doing the apprentice a favour by teaching him a valuable skill, did not pay any salary. And so from being a slave to the farasi middleman and making a meagre living, the man became a slave to the driver without a salary.

Over time, he was permitted to do a little bit of reverse and forward practice in the village. But before he could actually master the skill, misfortune struck. On a journey perched precariously atop some baggage on a desert road, the vehicle he was riding struck an unseen speed breaker. The jolt threw the poor man onto the road where he quickly gave up his ghost because of a head injury. He was barely twenty-five years old.

Vadhri was left alone to fend for herself and her three little children. It was just as well that she was a skilled embroiderer of the prized Sindhi cap. But she too was in bondage to the buyer who supplied her the materials and purchased each complete piece for PKR 800 (Approx. USD 4). It took Vadhri a week to finish one cap, but there never was a month when she had work all four weeks. Her income therefore floated around PKR 2500 per month (Approx. USD 12).

She was fortunate to receive the monthly monetary aid under the Benazir Income Support Programme1  (renamed Ehsas) which allowed her to maintain her eldest child in the local school. Evidently a very foresighted woman, Vadhri dreams of enrolling the other two when they reach the age because, as she says, it is only be through education that they will break the shackles of poverty.

Despite the BISP support being just PKR 1000 per month (Approx. USD 8) and her own income only a little more, Vadhri, began to put away little by little. When she had saved about PKR 5000 (Approx. USD 24), she started a small general merchandise store in the village. This she gave to the charge of her father-in-law. Once again, the profit was not consumed but ploughed back into the business to constantly increase it. Meanwhile, she herself continued diligently with her cap making to feed her family.

But PKR 2500 Approx. USD 12) can scarcely keep a family of four fed for a month. Therefore, while she restricted herself to two meagre meals a day, she ensured that her children were fed as best as they could be given the tiny resource. And so, if the CWSA field staff picked a deserving candidate for food aid under the Humanitarian, Early Recovery, and Development project, it was Vadhri. This was just in time because the PKR 7000 (Approx. USD 34) accrued from selling her 2021 autumn crop of millets, guar and lentils was all but used up over the winter when children need more nourishment.

Since April 2022, her three children have food much better than they had ever had in their lives. Vadhri herself is now eating three meals a day. In mid-May, her larder still contained some of the supplies of the first handout even as she expected the second instalment the next day. She will not have to sell her goats to feed her family, she says. Why, in those difficult days of the Corona virus she had to sell two of her eight goats and had fretted that she soon might be left with no goats at all.

In May 2022, with food secured, Vadhri was yet putting away all her cap income for she had no idea how much longer the food aid would continue. There will be a time she will have to buy her own food for which she needed to save up, she said. Her next concern was that the PKR 500 (Approx. USD 2) that she spends every month on her school-going child should always be at hand. Soon the next child too will be eligible for enrolment. The food aid has made that possible.

Meanwhile, as her store continues to grow, one can only wish her well and would like to see her blossoming into an entrepreneur in a year or so.

1 The Benazir Income Support Programme is a federal unconditional cash transfer poverty reduction program in Pakistan.

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Twenty-two year old Aman works as an IT and HR officer at Riverside Development Organisation (RDO), a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation based in Sukkur, Sindh. “RDO is working in the field of education, capacity building and empowerment of women, children, and youth, and health. I joined the development sector for its dynamic work environment, the opportunities to make decisions in uncertain situations, being able to work with diverse teams, taking on different roles according to situational needs and being able to serve people,” shared Aman while introducing himself at a training organised by Community World Service Asia under its Capacity Enhancement Program.

The training titled ‘Leading in Complexity and Ambiguity’, was held in March (2022), providing a learning space for humanitarian practitioners to reflect on their leadership style and its relevance and effectiveness in the Covid-19 context and other crises. “We received resource material before the training which was concise and easy to understand. This allowed us to get familiar with the content of the training and come prepared to the workshop.”

Aman found the session on feedback management and coaching as a leadership most interesting. Learning how to take critical and positive feedback as practised in one of the training exercises has really helped Aman strengthen relevant systems in his organisation and in his professional dealings. “The feedback mechanism incorporated in the training and the session on it encouraged me to implement the same in my organisation. Upon my return, I developed an anonymous feedback form and encouraged staff to share their feedback regarding management, co-workers and office facilities. The staff was sceptical and cautious due to the possibility of punitive action being taken against them. I held a session with all employees to explain the value and anonymity of the feedback system and to urge them to freely submit their opinions. This increased staff confidence, and they were more willing to provide comments as a result.”

While frequency of feedback received increased, Aman observed that the feedback they were receiving was mostly centred on the negative aspects of the organisation. In light of this, he introduced a ‘compliment slip’ allowing employees to anonymously submit good thoughts about the organisation and colleagues as well. “We distributed both forms among staff on a weekly basis. This really boosted the morale and motivation of our team members because they know that they will get appreciated through compliment slips. This initiative has established a culture where transparency and confidentiality can both exist, encouraging employees to offer their comments honestly and confidently. Before staff awareness on this was increased only 2-3 feedback slips were received weekly, while the number has now increased to almost 20.”

Another key learning of Aman was coaching as a leader. He learned through the session that coaching employees/staff members on organisational values and objectives was an effective way to build teams, individual staff capacity and increase confidence and productivity. “Coaching is more performance driven, designed to improve the professional’s on-the-job performance. I improvised my coaching methods. As staff would sometimes discuss problems they faced within the organisation, I would usually hear them out and work on the solution myself. However, I now ask them for solutions and I ask them related questions to create a comfortable environment during our discussions. I now urge them to draw the solution while responding. I am amazed to see how the discussions eventually lead to a solution.”

“The workshop helped me enhance my expertise and bring about a positive change at RDO. The staff is more expressive and comfortable talking to me about any matter that arise in the organisation,” stated Aman optimistically.

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Some six hours from Karachi, we set foot on a wooden boat to sail through a village that was drowning in water. A village that could never have been imagined to be sailed through instead of being walked through. A village that once was home to over 2700 people and more than five hundred families. A village with green, fertile lands for pasture and two neatly built public schools for the children who called this village their home. A home that was no more for many.

After sailing for more than two kilometers through what seemed like a deserted ghost town, with houses half submerged in water, tree tops peeking out from under, an eerie sound of insects and nothing but mucky brown water under us, we reached a house which showed some sign of life and sound. The only inhabited house in the entire village. As we carefully stepped out of the boat, directly into a portion of the house, we were warmly greeted with a smile and a hug by an aging woman. She was Tejan, the proud owner of this fairly large house with five to six rooms surrounding an open patio in the middle.

The floors were muddy, with standing water in most parts of the house and in the patio laid some charpayis1 which had silver utensils lined up, like they were just washed. Tejan quickly commented, “We just got done washing all the utensils”. To which our natural question was how and with what they were washing their utensils and clothes (as those were also hanging freshly washed on the ropes in the courtyard). “We use this water (pointing at the flood water settled around their house). This is the only water we have access to. We use it to wash clothes and to bathe. We try to keep it in the sun so that the dirt settles down first. We used to have a water reserve (pointing at a water tank) but with the rains, it leaked and all the dirty water got mixed into it. So we have no option but to use this. We use it for cooking too.”

We were soon joined by a group of more women – young and old, living in the same house. Some six to seven families, all related presumably, lived in this once lively house. All the women were cheerful despite the experiences they had recently lived through and the conditions they were currently living in. These women, along with a few small children (a baby, one slightly older and a 13-year-old), were the only ones who had ‘willingly’ stayed back when the entire village was evacuated by army helicopters some three weeks ago. When asked why they had stayed back, they said they had to protect their home and their belongings and could not leave it to the water to take away.

After more casual conversation, it was revealed that this household belonged to a Baloch tribe, who are traditionally considered more conservative in this area, and Baloch women ‘never mingle with men from outside their community’. It was due to this very reason that these women, along with most of their children and babies, were ‘asked’ to stay behind and protect their assets so that they are not exposed to other men and other communities living in emergency camps or outside on the roadside (where many families of this village had temporarily settled).

Tejan is a widow and mother of eleven children, most of them married. Two of her sons live in this house with them. One of them, who works at a government office, returned to his job after the rains to ensure some livelihood remains. The other son, who relied mostly on their livestock and small agrarian garden, has temporarily settled on the roadside in a self-made tent with his children to get whatever in-kind support he can from government agencies, good samaritans or charity organisations passing by.

Since the monsoon rains hit their village two months ago, Tejan’s brother has been occasionally supporting their household – he sends in some dry food (like flour, lentils, sometimes milk) and water. The water he sends is treated like “holy water”, Tejan laughed. “We use it very sparingly as we know it cannot last all of us (women living here and children) very long. I do not think my brother can also keep supporting us more. His own house and lands have also been affected.”

With increasing food insecurity by the day, the iron ladies of this house must ensure that the food they get in charity must last them long enough to sustain as they have no idea when the water around their house and in their village will recede, or when they will receive proper help and aid. They are living in constant uncertainty. The only hope they have is their prayer and the belief that help will come. “We mostly eat one meal a day. That meal consists of some flour we cook together with chopped onions, chillies and rarely tomatoes (chutney). We cook all of it together because we do not have enough fire-wood or fuel so we cannot waste it on cooking roti and curry separately. The chai we make is not what we used to have before. Our chai was very good, now it’s just like warm water.”

“Many of us have not stepped out of this house since the floods. We stay here and look after the house and the little children. We do not let them go out much and have to guard them well as there are many snakes in the water that come to our house too. We have heard that a lot of the children in our village have also gotten sick. Moreover, just one trip, one side of the way, costs 50 rupees (US $0.21) per person. We cannot afford this ride up to the road so we let our sons and men bring to us what we need and what they can bring,” shared Tejan.

Skin and eye infections have become increasingly common among displaced residents of this village. Even the families living on the road cross through the water now and then and are exposed to all sorts of water borne infections. Tejan confirmed that the younger mothers in her house needed health and medical support, especially the ones with small babies. They could not afford going to the roadside in a boat, let alone traveling some far distance to a hospital.

While proudly walking us through her house, Tejan stopped at a door. A door that once led to her backyard blooming with fresh vegetables. With tears in her eyes, she showed us how it was all under 8 to 10 feet of water. This house was once her sanctuary, a place she was proud of and where all her happy memories were lived. If given a choice, she would never leave this house but living in the current conditions was challenging. They were without clean water, food, clean clothes, a secure house and a livelihood. The walls of their house were leaking and most of their outer walls were totally damaged. The only thing still intact was their dignity and that they will not let go off.

[1] A traditional woven bed used across South Asia

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Thirteen-year-old Luqman looks outside his window, their house surrounded by up to 10 feet of contaminated water at all sides. Luqman is the only boy in a house full of women in a far corner of a deserted village deep in flood water. The only way to access the house is in a boat that costs PKR 50 for one person, one way, from the main road. He must take care of his mother, his younger siblings, his aunts and grandmother who have been asked to stay in their flood-hit house to safeguard the honour of their Baloch family. The older men of the house have evacuated to safer grounds and in make-shift shelters on the canal banks and roadside in search of relief and in-kind assistance.

Luqman was a regular student at the Public Boys Schools in their neighbourhood in village Sayandad Alyari of Jhudo district, Sindh. He was studying in Grade 6 and was very proud of his academic accomplishments so far. Excitedly, he took out his last report card and showed it to us with gleaming eyes. Since monsoon rains hit Jhudo district in early June, the public school in their village has been shut down for two months now.

Missing his school days, his friends and even the homework he got, Luqman is growing more and more tired and frustrated in his house. He has no one to play with. All of his friends and relatives from the village have evacuated to the roadside while he is stuck in the water-guarded house. His mother and grandmother do not allow him to wander off outside the premises due to a growing number of snakes in the water around and a high probability of skin infections caused mainly from water contamination. Many children and people from their village are falling sick and catching skin infections.

Every day, Luqman hopes that somehow miraculously the water level around their house and in their village would go down and things would get back to normal. He wished to have a hot, scrumptious meal – with fresh roti and fully cooked, delicious curry or vegetables. He was only eating half-cooked meals which did not taste that great these days. The water that they use in cooking is dirty and they do not have enough fuel or fire wood to prepare meals properly. This is the reality that Luqman and many other flood-affected children are surviving on a day to day basis.

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Fifty year old Pehlaj works as a primary school teacher at a government school in Umerkot district of Pakistan. His co-education school is located in a remote part of Umerkot, with a student count of 262, and a total of five teachers.

As part of a training programⁱ for teachers, Pehlaj participated in three trainings focused on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE). The trainings aimed to increase teachers’ capacity on teaching in a pandemic environment, child-centrered and positive learning techniques. “This was a first of its kind experience for me. I became more acquainted with early-grade teaching techniques owing to the training, which also included classroom management, learning corners and class decorations. Additionally, the session on COVID-19 pandemic taught us practical steps to follow in schools to stop the virus from spreading among students and teaching staff,” shared Pehlaj.

Like other participants of the trainings, Pehlaj received an ECCE kit at the end of the training, which included stationary, poster cards, water colours, markers, wall clock, puzzles, play cards, learning cards of English and Urdu Alphabets, colour pencils and chart papers. “The learning kit was a good motivation and helped us make our lessons very interesting. Our students enjoyed learning through practical activities. I came up with a plan to develop identical kits for other classes at the school too.”

As a hobby and passion, Pehlaj also sings songs and performs as a professional dancer at religious activities for which he is paid mostly. Pehlaj turned down payments in the past and only recently has started accepting payment for his performing art services. “I began to accept PKR 5000 as remuneration for each performance at the festivals. I buy first aid kits, educational materials, stationery, and play cards for the students in Grades 1 to 5 with the additional money I make.”

The hygiene kits provided in the trainings focused on education during a pandemic, particularly COVID-19, have been quite useful, conferred Pehlaj. “I encouraged the students to use face masks and hand sanitizers in the classroom and made them wash hands with soap before and after lunch breaks. Additionally, we ensured phenyl was used to disinfect classrooms.” Pehlaj also oriented other students and teachers on COVID-19 SoPs through individual sessions in each classroom of their school.

A hand washing station was also installed in the school under the project. Students were oriented on effective hand-washing to prevent coronavirus.

“Students in remote schools have less resources to pursue a high standard of education and combat pandemics. This assistance was both necessary and timely. Our students are actively participating in their education activities and utilising classroom resources effectively,” concluded Pehlaj.

ⁱ Community World Service Asia & Act for Peace’s Education project

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