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The emergency food security and nutrition project launched in March 2019, supported by the Presbyterian World Service & Development (PWS&D) and the Canadian Food Grains Bank (CFGB, is assisting 1,600 most vulnerable drought affected families in Umerkot district of Sindh province in Pakistan. Through the project, these disaster-hit families are supported with food distribution and nutritional programs that will last for six months.

The low rainfall has triggered a drought situation in the southern parts of Sindh Province. The districts have not receive any significant rainfall in the monsoon seasons resulting in a long dry spell.  The Pakistan Metrological Department released a drought alert in September declaring Umerkot and seven other districts of Sindh as severely drought affected areas. As per the assessment conducted by National Disaster Consortium (NDC), comprising of International Organization for Migration (IOM), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), ACTED and Hands, District Umerkot was identified as one of the worst drought affected districts in Sindh with 31,390 affected families in 25 Dehs (A deh is an area composed of number of small villages). The assessment results of NDC for district Umerkot revealed that as per the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), approximately 72% of the surveyed households in Umerkot are moderate to severe food insecure while 28% are severely food insecure.

In the third week of June, the third round of the project’s food distribution was successfully completed in four different locations, reaching hundreds of drought-affected families from twenty-two villages of Umerkot District. Most of the affected families, who have solely been dependent on agricultural income, were also provided with millet seeds, sufficient to cultivate two acres of land, for the next sowing season to provide a more sustainable means of economic support and to improve their food security conditions. . To ensure easy accessibility, the distribution points were selected in consultation with local communities.

Food packages distributed under this project are developed in line with the minimum standards outlined by Sphere for food security. Meeting these standards, the food packages designed and distributed ensured the provision of 2,100 kilocalories for each person daily. The package includes 60kgs of wheat flour, 15kgs of Rice, 7kgs of pulses, 4kgs of sugar, 6liters of cooking oil, 400g of tea leaves, 800g of iodized salt and a pack of 10 matchboxes.

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Free Medical Camps for drought affected communities of Amerhaar village of Umerkot district in Sindh were set up under our emergency response and health project supported by Hope Bridge. Over a hundred local community members, of which 44% were women and 52% children, came to take free health consultancies at the medical camp. Prior to the medical camp being set up, the local residents of Amerhaar and other surrounding villages were informed of the medical camps dates and timing by our health team. As a key activity of the medical camps, awareness sessions on Nutrition and Health, focusing on the causes and symptoms of malnutrition and preventive measures of diarrhea, were also held. More than fifty community members participated in these sessions.

My husband is an unskilled laborer and I have vocational skills on hand embroidery. Together, we both earn a scanty income which is not enough to serve a family of seven members. Our household expenses often exceed the monthly income we earn. We reside far from major cities and as a result, have a difficult time finding quality healthcare as we need it. Initially, we travelled to urban areas to avail health care facility of which most expense was born out of pocketing, landing us in poverty. The free medical camps organized in Subhani village provided basic health care to the unprivileged communities. Other than providing general check-ups, the medical team sensitized the community members on personal, domestic and environmental hygiene, nutritious diet, food diversification and importance of breast-feeding through various health sessions.

Champa Bai, Subhani village, Union Council Kaplore, Umerkot

Most of our income expense is spent on healthcare. Residing in an unhygienic environment, often give birth to various illnesses in the family. As an unskilled laborer, my husband does not earn a sufficient income to fulfil all household expenses. It is difficult for people like us to even afford general health diagnosis or treatment as we reside in remote rural areas. Healthcare facilities do not reach in our area. As a result, we have constrained access to health services. Availing healthcare in Umerkot city is costly, both in terms of travel and treatment. The medical camps organized under the health project[1] have reached the poor patients in rural areas. Besides treating diseases other important topics covered by these camps include balanced diets, the significance of including vitamins, minerals, protein, the importance of hygiene and sanitation, basic sanitation techniques such as correct hand washing and environmental cleanliness. I came to the medical camp with the complaint of weakness and frequent headaches. After a thorough check-up, the medical officer diagnosed hypotension and anemia. I was prescribed with multivitamins and advised to drink lemonade regularly for instant energy.

Aami village, Subhani village, Union Council Kaplore, Umerkot

[1] Emergency Response Health Project in Umerkot, implemented by Community World Service Asia and supported by HopeBridge.

We had to travel to Umerkot city to avail healthcare treatment, which is 47 kilometers away from our village. Travel through a taxi costs us PKR 5000 (Approx. USD 33) and the consultation fee of the doctor is PKR 2000 (Approx. USD 13). As a sole bread earner in the family, it is difficult to bear large amounts of money on healthcare. The free medical camps organized in April, 2019 at Subhani village provided free consultations, money and health education to communities residing in remote areas of Umerkot. In the previous medical camps, more than a hundred patients were treated from our village. People in the village are more aware about maintaining a hygienic environment and exercising healthy practices in their homes. The medical doctor has prescribed amoxicillin, paracetamol, an anti-allergy tablet and cough syrup for the cough and fever I was suffering for a few days. The past five years have been difficult for our family due to the severe drought conditions in Subhani village. The fields do not provide a good harvest as there is little water for irrigation. The seeds we sow are wasted mostly. The total expense of the household mounts up to PKR 14,000 (Approx. USD 92) whereas, I earn a small income of PKR 9,000 (Approx. USD 59) as a laborer. Many times I have to request for loan from friends and neighbors to make ends meet.

Kirshan, Subhani village, Union Council Kaplore, Umerkot

I brought my son to the medical camp, organized in April 2019, as he complained about gastro, diarrhea and vomits. The medical officer thoroughly examined him and prescribed some medicines. The medicines included flagyl gravinate, ORS and paracetamol. He was further advised to drink boiled water and avoid unhygienic food items. I reside in Subhani village, which is a remote area in Umerkot district. Accessibility and availability of proper healthcare service is a great challenge. The medical camps organized by Community World Service Asia under their health program, has served as a blessing for our community. People from nearby villages also availed the free health service, doctor’s advice and health education sessions.

Ghaman, Subhani village, Union Council Kaplore, Umerkot

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Taulka Hospital in Samaro area has a total capacity of twenty beds, but at an average, we usually have more than fifty patients admitted at a time. At the hospital, we attend to around five to seven hundred patients in a week through our Out-patient Department (OPD) and carry over a hundred baby deliveries.

In September 2018, we started partnering with Community World Service Asia’s health program and since then our hospital has seen many improvements. Through this partnership, we were facilitated with the provision of women medical staff. This really helped us in establishing the family planning section at the hospital and increased the attendance of women and child patients.  The newly recruited women staff are on duty regularly and provide OPD, antenatal and postnatal care. They facilitate daily child deliveries and also conduct health awareness sessions for families and women. Moreover, if we come across complicated cases, their team and ours work together to refer patients to other hospitals when needed,

shared Dr. Kailash Lanthi, who is a Medical Superintendent (MS) at the Taulka Hospital in Samaro.

The Taulka hospital of Samaro is equipped with basic facilities that include an X-ray machine, an expanded program on immunization (EPI), a laboratory and two in-house pharmacies.

As we collaborated with CWSA’s health team, our hospital was provided with high-quality, internationally manufactured medicines that are available free-of-cost at our pharmacy. These medicines are otherwise rarely available in rural areas such as Samaro. As a medical practitioner, I can confidently prescribe the highest quality medicines to my patients now as I am sure of their availability. We also received positive feedback from the patients about the new medicines working very effectively. In fact, some patients now insist to be given these medicines as they are certain they are more effective.

According to Dr. Kailash, the collaboration with CWSA has resulted in the development of great health and medical facilitators’ team at the hospital. The Lady Health Visitor (LHV) and community mobilizer have enhanced awareness among local communities about health care through regular health awareness sessions and field visits amongst the masses residing in nearby villages.

The local communities have moved away from traditional self-treatment and home remedies and now only come to the hospital for medical consultations and treatment. We normally find a daily high attendance rate in the OPD section now.

The health sessions have increased awareness and promoted positive maternal and neonatal health behaviors among the local communities. Increased access to and community involvement in maternal and child health services have ensured the delivery of quality healthcare services.

The patients now ask questions regarding their health and regarding the medicines, they are prescribed. This shows that they have become more conscious of receiving proper and relevant medical treatment.

Dr. Kailash, however, feels that the physical condition of the hospital building is fragile and requires extensive maintenance.

We have written letters to the concerned departments for the maintenance of the building at least four times but we have not received any positive response yet. Some of the medical practitioners’ positions are also still vacant, which leaves us with inadequate human resources to efficiently run the hospital.

Our hospital has a designated dental unit, but since no qualified dental surgeon has been appointed to the post yet, the unit is not operational. We also need to upgrade our labour room with more trained staff and equipment. For instance, we have an ultrasound machine, but we do not have a sinologist to operate the ultrasound system. There is also no access to ultrasound tests at night for people living in these rural villages. This is why we have no choice but to refer cases to other hospitals in the city, despite being equipped with an ultrasound machine at our own hospital. Sadly, families are forced to travel long distances to access radiology services which become very costly as well. We are still writing to concerned higher authorities highlighting the challenges of the hospital and have not given up yet.

Dr. Kailash recommended that the existing medical staff (women) at the hospital are given advanced trainings in sonology so that the ultrasound equipment available at the hospital can be utilized and patients can be tested here, instead of being referred to city hospitals. He also suggested for establishing a small laboratory where hemoglobin testing and blood transfusion is possible for pregnant mothers and child patients.

Our hopes are high and we believe that things will improve,

quoted Dr. Kailash positively.

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I was the only one who could support my family at the time

. Seeta, 17-year-old artisan, Umerkot.

In a remote village of Umerkot, Seeta lives with her two brothers and parents. Their father used to work as a chef in Karachi where he earned a monthly income of PKR 10,000 (approx. US$ 100). However, a couple of months ago, his head was injured and he was admitted at a hospital where he had to be treated immediately. The medical treatment, though necessary was extremely expensive. Since Seeta’s elder brother had his own children and wife to support and their younger brother was too young to work and was studying, all the medical expenses of their father’s treatment landed on Seeta’s fragile shoulders. Seeta became her family’s strongest and only support; emotionally and financially, at this difficult time.

During this crisis, a Women Enterprise Group (WEG) (under the CWSA & Ycare project) was established in Seeta’s home village, Panju Meghwar. Though it was difficult for Seeta to take time out of all the household chores she was responsible for, she recognized this as the perfect opportunity to enhance her handicraft skills and improve livelihood prospects for the family. Upon joining the WEG, Seeta learned various handicraft skills, such as different stitches, color combinations, and use of assorted fabrics and threads. After the WEG participants learned these skills, the project team helped the women in linking them to urban markets from which they would receive orders with fair profits.

Through feedback from the trainers and project team it has been observed that Seeta is evidently a highly talented artisan. She easily understands design, has the ability to handle any type of fabric, and has excellent time management and quality control.

None of the artisans from the WEG were confident or willing to take orders for embroidery on different fabrics, such as organza or crape, as they were all afraid of the material being easily damaged and being too thin. However, Seeta was the only one among the artisans who took up the challenge and completed the given orders in time and in very good quality. Inspired by her, the other artisans have now also started taking orders on fabric and material that’s new to them.

Seeta has learnt to produce new products like cushions, short shirts, trousers and stationary pouches. The chevron dupattas, with exquisite mirror work and hurmutch stitch, are her most popular and most sold products.

I have started working on orders that require varied types of threads and fabrics and have generated PKR 30,000 in the last three months for my family. I have used this money on my brother’s education, household expenses, and on my father’s treatment. Thankfully, my father is beginning to feel better now.

Seeta feels, and rightly so, that this is only the start. She confessed that at times one needs a push only and that she got from the trainings and by being part of the WEG. Once you get the push, there is no looking back, She plans to continue practicing and perfecting her skills and teach other girls in her village as well. Not only is this a convenient and acceptable business for women in their community, but also something that will remain with them through generations. Seeta further expressed,

I’m thankful to Community World Service Asia because it made me realize that a girl can also be independent and support her family. I am proud of myself for the achievements I have made, and I am more confident after participating in the Women Enterprise Group.

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In response to the severe climate change lead drought in the Sindh and Baluchistan provinces of Pakistan, Community World Service Asia activated its emergency food security and nutrition project in Umerkot last month. This initiative, which is supported by the Presbyterian World Service & Development (PWS&D) and the Canadian Food Grains Bank (CFGB), aims to assist 1,600 most vulnerable drought affected families through food distribution and nutritional programs for six months.

Since most of the affected families belong to purely agrarian communities, millet seeds will also be distributed among them for the next sowing season to ensure their nutritional and livelihood sustainability. The first round of this project’s food distribution was conducted during the last week of April at four different villages, namely Rohiraro, Bhadi, Dhalo Jo Tarr and Ramsar, in Umerkot District. The distribution points were selected in consultation with the local communities to ensure easy access for all selected project participants.

Food packages distributed under this project are developed using the Sphere minimum standards for food security which ensures the provision of 2,100 kilo calories per person per day. The package includes 60kgs of wheat flour, 15kgs of Rice, 7kgs of pulses, 4kgs of sugar, 6liters of cooking oil, 400g of tea leaves, 800g of iodized salt and a pack of 10 matchboxes for every family until they start harvesting their own produce. These families will also be provided16kgs of millet crop seed in June.

Community Voices:

“During the last few months, our family could barely afford three meals a day as due to our poor financial conditions. We had limited availability of food at home, most of which was borrowed at high interest rates. The small amount of money that my four daughters earn by embroidering traditional Sindhi caps is not enough to even cover the expense of my medicines as I am a patient of Epilepsy. A few days ago my husband fractured his hand in an accident, increasing our problems and expenses further. In this difficult time, the food aid provided to us through this project has been a blessing for our family.  The quality of food has been good and will be sufficient to serve my family three meals a day for more than a month. We are hopeful that there will be a good downpour this year and we will have sufficient harvest from our fields.”

Reshama, wife of Kirshan, resident of Ranhar village, UC Kaplore, Umerkot District

“The past two years have been very difficult for my family as there have been limited work opportunities in the area and there have been no harvests from our fields. We have bee surviving with limited resources. Access to food has been challenging. My elder son earns a meager income which is not sufficient to provide food to a six-member family thrice a day. Some community members lend us food sometimes.

We are now eating three meals daily for four consecutive days as a result of the food assistance provided under the food aid project. The food items received from the team are of good quality and quantity. I am glad to see my children sleeping with their stomachs full.”

Kheian, wife of Pargho, residing in Ranhar village, UC Kaplore, Umerkot District

“Due to my physical disability, I manage and try to earn through the little livestock we own. Providing basic necessities for my family of eight people was becoming very difficult. The drought in the area further worsened our living conditions, making our lives more difficult. We barely had any means of income or food. We were not even able to migrate to other areas due to lack of resources.  In order to feed my family, I had to sell some of my livestock, leaving me with only three goats. The situation was getting worst by the day. My miseries came to an end when Community World Service Asia came knocking at my door to provide food assistance. The food package provided is enough to meet the food needs of my family for an entire month.”

Chander Singh, resident of Bhadi village, UC Kaplore, Umerkot District

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Two in-house orientation sessions for forty-four staff members on Training Evaluation Methodology, Complaint Response Mechanisms and Theory of change (ToC) were conducted by our MEAL unit in Umerkot this February. The day-long orientations[1] aimed at developing ToC documents for new projects together with participating staff members, strengthen their capacity on CRM and introduce them to new and simple evaluations process, tools and methodologies.

Revising Evaluation Methodologies

Program teams of CWSA have been evaluating trainings conducted under the various thematic areas that the organization works in through a variety of approaches and tools in the past. During these evaluations, certain gaps were identified in the existing methodologies applied which lead to incomplete information and to an extent challenges in measuring project impact. To address this gap, CWSA’s MEAL unit revised the organization’s evaluation and monitoring system and planned thorough orientations of it to different program teams so that a common methodology is consistently applied through all projects and division of responsibilities, through the process, is clarified among all relevant staff members.

During the orientation,  the guidelines of the methodology and its process flowchart was discussed with all participants in detail and the development of the Learning Outcome form to measure training objectives was explained. Participants were briefed on the standardization of a training evaluation methodology and the learning outcome form within the organization.

This new form (Learning outcome) has been designed to identify between four to six learning outcomes from the objectives of each training. The form will be completed by every training participants at the pre and post stage, resulting in a systematic comparison of the participants learning before and after a training conducted by CWSA. The previous forms used by the training teams included lengthy questions that were not reflecting the training objectives or provide a clear learning impact.

“It is good that some responsibilities are shared among different departments for this new training evaluation methodology and we will definitely get support from MEAL Unit”. Shahab Anjum, Program Coordinator, exclaimed.

Reinforcing Complaint Response Mechanisms

There was a need for a detailed orientation on CRM as new staff are recruited under CWSA’s latest Drought Response and Emergency Food Relief projects[2] in the Sindh province. This was also a good opportunity for existing staff to receive a refresher course on CRM as it is vital for our accountability processes to the communities we serve.

In the session on CRM, staff was oriented on the different procedures and channel processes of lodging and addressing complaints. These included complaints made internally, by CWSA employees and consultants, and externally, by community members, vendors and partnering organizations. Participants were thoroughly oriented on the complaint form with each being provided a hard copy for review and input.

Staff members raised questions on the timelines set for responding to complaints, processes of logging and redress and conditions of appeal, which were all addressed and carefully explained by the MEAL team.

Older staff members shared their experiences of receiving and responding to complaints on different occasions of projects’ deliverance processes which was important learning for newer employees.

“Initially the complaint boxes were rarely used by project participants. As their learning grew, they started to share their hurdles with us. This has built trust in the communities we work in as we aim to address the issues timely,” shared Lata Kumari Khatri, Enterprise Development Officer.

Introducing Theory of Change (ToC)

The session on Theory of Change took the last slot in the day-long orientation session but was the most labour intensive and engaging for the participants. Taking the format of a mini workshop, the session focused on the concept and purpose of ToC and its significance in the successful evaluation of projects.

The task of planning and carrying out evaluation research that provides information on the fieldwork practices and lessons learnt in general is a challenge.  Within the wider TOC framework, logic or outcomes models were identified to be very closely related, often being used to take a more narrowly practical look at the relationship between inputs and results.

The approach of ToC was explained briefly with the inclusion of its difference from Logical Framework Approach (LFA) and other project progress tracking documents. Participants reviewed how Theory of Change allows staff members to see the bigger picture, including issues related to the environment or social contexts that you cannot control. During the session, the staff learnt of all the different pathways that might lead to change, even if those pathways are not related to each of their program.

Participants were divided in groups of two to develop their own ToC document for the projects they are directly engaged in. A sample of an ideal ToC was shared with them for reference prior the activity.

By the end of the sessions, participating staff members developed specific skills on integrating ToC in organizational planning and evaluation processes.

“We learned a different perspective to view our project proceedings and outcomes. This tool will be very useful in guiding teams to maximize inputs in bringing greater change through the projects we work on,” expressed Sardar Shah, Project Officers.

[1] The orientation was divided into two sessions so that the group is divided into 22 participants each and a session each is dedicated to each group.

[2] Financially supported by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan, & Canadian Foodgrains Bank

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A group photo of all training participants with lead facilitator, Nadia Riasat.

A four-day teachers’ training was held under our education program, supported by Act for Peace and Australian Aid for public schools’ teachers from the Umerkot district of Sindh province. The training focused on amplifying the skills of these teachers on early childhood care (ECCE) and advanced teaching methodologies. Thirteen teachers from different schools participated in this workshop that took place in Umerkot from January 29th to February 1st.

Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) is a new teaching approach that was introduced to the teachers in the training in Umerkot. Early childhood, defined as the age between a child’s birth uptil eight years, is scientifically identified as a time of remarkable cognitive growth, with brain development at its peak. During this stage, children are highly influenced by the environment and the people that surround them. The ECCE approach does not only relates to teaching practices in primary schools. It aims at the holistic development of a child’s social, emotional, cognitive and physical needs in order to build a solid and robust foundation for lifelong learning and wellbeing. Since August 2018, the Umerkot district government has initiated the application of ECCE as compulsory in all primary government schools of the district.

Nadia Riasat, program officer and trainer at CWSA facilitated the workshop, emphasizing on the dire need to increase knowledge on holistic development of children and together with the participants identified key learning areas to help develop child-friendly learning environments in classrooms. During the four-day training, she elaborated on the teaching methodologies available to promote ECCE and how these would help teachers keep the students’ interest and attendance consistent.

Through various interactive exercises, the teachers were kept engaged throughout the training and were encouraged to share the challenges they face in teaching and maintaining positive and conducive learning environments. ECCE was identified as one of the key approaches to sustain productive classroom settings as it adopts play-way and activity-based approaches to promote effective knowledge and character building among children. To inculcate the ECCE teaching approaches among the participants, the teachers were engaged in various activities such as role-plays, storytelling, poem recitals, presentations and production of low-cost teaching models. They also learnt new and creative ways of teaching mathematics and topics of general knowledge through applying arts and craft skills.

Naheed, a teacher at the GGPS[1] in Abdul Wahid Colony, Umerkot shared,

The training material we received and the content delivered during CWSA’s training were very useful to us in terms of engaging students in study through fun activities. The knowledge on ECCE has boosted the teachers’ confidence and enhanced their skills to overcome the hurdles we faced in keeping children interested in the subjects we taught. I will apply these methodologies and hope to achieve positive outcomes. Making creative art and craft through low-cost material is very useful, especially in rural areas like Umerkot. Most of the families that the students belong to are living in poor financial conditions and cannot bear extra expenses of additional stationary and learning material demanded by schools on certain occasions. For this reason, the use of extra material that is easily available in many of the children’s homes makes it easier for us teachers to engage children in such activities.

I was not willing to attend the training initially as I had not attended such trainings before. However, today I am glad that my other teacher colleagues convinced me to take part in the training as it gave me an opportunity to build upon my knowledge and develop specific skills to provide quality and fun education. Children learn fast when they are having fun and applying the techniques I learnt at the training will definitely result in positive outcomes for my classes.  I will encourage other teachers to attend such trainings as it is very useful in enhancing the teaching skills of teachers,

expressed Hajra, who has been teaching since 1992 and is currently a teacher at the GGPS in Main Samaro village of Umerkot.

During the training, the teachers were guided on how to develop action plans to implement their learnings and apply them in their day-to-day classrooms. The plans they developed included regular morning meetings in their classes, delegation and balanced division of work among students to build a sense of responsibility as recommended in the ECCE manual[2]. Many of the teachers planned to share their learnings with fellow teachers at their respective schools to mainstream ECCE and positive learning environments across all classes.

Naseem Ahmed Jogi, District Education Officer (DEO), was invited as a chief guest on the last day of the training to award appreciation and participation certificates. Gracing the occasion, Naseer Ahmed remarked,

This initiative by Community World Service Asia is changing the rigid environment of schools, and converting them into fun places for children to learn more effectively and enjoy education. We highly appreciate the strong support of CWSA in promoting the implementation of ECCE in school programs in this region. Our plan is to recruit more teachers specializing in ECCE and to construct separate classrooms for ECCE learning. These kind of trainings will speed up the ECCE application and inclusion processes which is why I encourage all of you here to continue taking such courses and encourage others to do the same.

[1] Government Girls Primary School

[2] ECCE Training Manual entails information on concept of ECCE, holistic development of children through ECCE, key learning areas, competencies of subject arithmetic, Urdu, culture and scheme of work on these subjects with methodologies.

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The Perbhat theater group with the team of community World Service Asia.

Sphere Regional Focal Point, Community World Service Asia organized a theater performance on the Sphere standard #6.3 Food Assistance. Two theater performances were conducted in Ratan Bheel and Mandhal Thakur villages of Umerkot district in Sindh, Pakistan on December 6th! A total of 130 men and women participated in the community-level event.

The play highlighted some challenges faced during the targeting, distribution and delivery processes of food assistance. Perbhat, a local theater group and local partner of CWSA, performed an interactive theater play to highlight the food distribution methods or direct cash/voucher delivery mechanisms that are efficient, equitable, secure, safe, accessible and effective and are in line with the Sphere standards. The play emphasized on the guidelines derived from the Sphere Handbook 2018 that guides the CSOs to use the minimum standards to protect the rights of all groups of society to promote their dignity and ensure their inclusiveness and protection.

Voices of the Community:

Savetri from Ratan Bheel village in Umerkot shared, “The play promoted the importance and respect of differently able and children in the community. These two groups are mostly overlooked but today we learnt that the new Sphere Handbook promotes the inclusion of all groups including men, women, children, youth and the differently able members of communities.”

Khatoon from Ratan Bheel village in Umerkot quoted, “The needs of men, women, children, youth and differently able members of the communities were given importance. None of the group was disregarded as all are served equally during emergency crisis.”

Dhano, Ratan Bheel village, Umerkot. “We learnt an important message today stating that the food assistance provided by various organizations should be according to the needs of community members”

Kiran Bashir, Project Manager, Community World Service Asia. “Sphere Handbook 2018 promotes the inclusion of all women, youth, elders and differently able members of local communities. Every voice counts so let us raise our voices together and share the message of equal participation.”

Jai Ram Dhaas, Ratan Bheel village, Umerkot. “We learnt that the Sphere Handbook 2018 caters the needs of all women, children and most importantly of the differently able members in the community who are mostly gone unnoticed.”

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Reshma, a thirty-five-year-old artisan from Haji Chanesar village in Umerkot, Sindh, has been working with Community World Service Asia as an artisan and Women Enterprise Group (WEG) member since May 2016. Reshma has been very active in the skills-building classes and order completion activities at the vocational center in Haji Chanesar under the livelihoods project*.

Living with eight family members, her seven children and her husband, Reshma is responsible for all household chores and seasonal farming activities. Her husband is a mason who earns a daily income of PKR 500 to 600, however this earning is entirely dependent on the demand of his masonry work in the area; if there is ongoing construction, then his services are required, otherwise not. Hence, the income varies and is insufficient to last the family for a whole month. On an average, the monthly income is less than PKR 10,000 (Approx. 86 U$D).

My husband’s income is mostly spent on daily household expenses and our children’s education. Two of my (four) sons go to school and one of (my four) daughters is married. My younger two daughters have only studied till class 5 and now they stay at home helping with home chores mostly. While two of my elder sons work in Umerkot city at a mobile repairing shop through which they earn a daily income of PKR 300. Their income is insufficient as it also depends on repairing services, a demand for which also fluctuates.

Another artisan from Haji Chanesar village, named Maya, introduced Reshma to the vocational center.

Initially, I used to stitch at home for my children mostly. Sometimes on neighbor’s request, I worked on their clothing and stitched a few, minimal pieces. I did not know that I could earn so well through this skill.

According to Reshma, the skill development training taught her new stitching and designing techniques.

I learnt how to make new designs with a series of vast color combinations and different threads. The products we produced lacked tidiness as we worked with dirty hands sometimes or accidently put cuts on the clothes; often ignoring the quality of the products. After the training, every Women Enterprise Group** (WEG) is assigned a Quality Assurance Supervisor*** (QAS) who ensures the quality of work of every product made in the center. In addition, we also incorporate new patterns and color combinations to meet the consumer demands in the markets.

After furnishing my stitching skills, I started to receive multiple orders from local and city markets. I made embroidered apparels including shirts, pants and scarves and home accessories like cushions covers and rillis. I earnt a good amount of PKR 40,000 from all the orders I worked on. I invested my earnings in setting up a raw materials shop, for artisans and tailors, in my house. My shop provides raw material for stitching garments to retailer. There are different colored threads, needles, decorative ornaments, mirror pieces, a sewing machine, cloth pieces, laces buttons and other stitching accessories available in my shop for selling. I founded the shop six months ago and continuously invested the earnings I made through the sales of my handicrafts and the raw materials I provided. Today, I am proud to admit that I have raw materials worth Rs. one lakh in my shop up for sale.

I travel to Umerkot and Mirpurkhas city to purchase raw material to further sell at my retail shop. My son or my husband accompanies me as I need someone to help me with carrying all the material back home. I am happy to see that my sales are increasing. I now plan to travel to Karachi to purchase even more different raw materials.

It is a challenge for home-based artisans, especially women, in remote Sindh to travel to other cities to purchase a variety or good quality of raw materials needed to produce new, competitive and superior handicraft products.

My shop has a variety of products for women to purchase and some also place orders with me for bulk or specific material as they know that I am able to travel to other cities and will be able to bring them what they require for high making quality products.

My journey of becoming an entrepreneur has not been easy. After getting involved in the vocational center, it became a bit difficult to balance out all my tasks. I had to leave home chores behind and come later in the day after my class to complete them. As an elder responsible for the house, I had many errands to take care of at home too. Therefore, I aimed at working fast and starting the day early at home to finish all my home tasks before going to the center. Moreover, urgent orders for handicrafts made my life even more exhausting and busy.

Depending on design and the type of embroidery, there were products that required more time and attention.  Some buyers give very short deadlines which makes it difficult for us to meet. We have to work late and seek help from other artisans, whom we also pay for their contribution. It takes twice as much effort but we manage to deliver the orders within given timelines. However, urgent orders affect the quality of our products and our health. We need to earn money that’s why we accept urgent orders as well, as it’s a good source of income. Opportunities are limited for rural people like us, therefore, we grab any opportunity we get instead of refusing it,

narrated Resham.

Despite these challenges, I believe, this initiative has brought positivity and a good change in our lives. Before, the men in our family did not permit women to go to other cities while today we travel in groups of women and our husbands encourage us to expand our businesses. It is important for a woman to earn; when a woman has money in her hands, she is not overly dependent on anyone. We can buy clothes of our choice.  Today our choices matter as much that of the men in the family. Whenever the need arises, I spend on my healthcare as well instead of waiting for my husband’s income to come,

concluded Reshma.

* The livelihoods project titled “Increasing financial resilience and economic empowerment” in Umerkot is implemented by Community World Service Asia and supported by YCare International and UKAID.

** A WEG is a group formed of artisans in every vocational center, to produce marketable products and link them to high-end markets for income generation.

*** A trained production supervisor to manage groups to produce quality products in line with market trends.

 

1908
Final Selection of project participants in a meeting held in collaboration with the Village Committee.

Our Emergencies Program is addressing food security needs of drought-affected communities in district Umerkot of Sindh, Pakistan. Food items have been distributed to 280 drought-affected families through voucher schemes at a “market day” that was organized by the project team in Sekhro, a union council of Umerkot.  The food package has been designed in line with Sphere food security standards and includes wheat flour (60kg), basmati rice (15kg), pulses (7kg), cooking oil (6 liters), sugar (6kg), tea leaves (600 grams), iodized salt (1kg) and matchboxes (pack of 10).

During the planning stage of the project, introductory meetings with affected communities were held to form village committees and train them, on project participant selection, use of voucher and complaint response mechanism, to participate in and take ownership of project activities. With the help of the village committees, women-headed households, families with low and no income, orphan children, elderly and the disabled village members were identified as key recipients of the food packages.

The village committee facilitated the entire voucher distribution process that took place a day prior to the “market day” and ensured that the food vouchers were distributed to the identified and most-vulnerable drought-affected families. The selected families were also oriented on how to use the voucher to buy the food items and about the venue and process of distribution on the “market day”. All the project participants were informed of the code of conduct of ACT Alliance and the process of registering complaints as well.

A total of 140 women, 138 men and 2 differently abled individuals took part in the “Market Day”, where they were given a range of food items to choose from with their vouchers for their respective household and family needs.

Community Voices:

“Due to the severe drought in our area we were unable to harvest a single grain. It was difficult to find other labour opportunities in the vicinity as well. I was worried about feeding my family with no work and zero harvest. I was just about to sell my livestock when Community World Service Asia came to our door to provide food assistance in these difficult times. We received quality food items that are enough to cater to the nutritional needs of my family for more than a month.”

Deepo, son of Muko, Sadamani Village, Umerkot District

“I have been unable to feed my children adequately since the last couple of months. With the onslaught draught and lack of fodder for our animals, we barely had any means of income or food.  Many families had to migrate from this area, as they were unable to grow anything or find other work.  This relief project has come to us as a blessing. The method of selecting project participants and the distribution method at the market day was very organized and hassle free.”

Jaman Khatton, wife of late Vishno, New Sobahani Village, Umerkot District

“My wife and I were dependent on our neighbors and other villagers who would provide us with little food assistance as my poor health does not allow me to work and earn a living. The food assistance provided by the project team of the relief project catered to our immediate needs. We now have food items stored in our house, which will last us more than two months. The food package includes a sufficient amount of basic food items required to cook a good meal.”

Mr. and Mrs. Adho, Sadmani Village, Umerkot District

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