Provision of Transitional Shelters to the Balochistan Earthquake Affectees
Balochistan is one of the provinces of Pakistan which has been prone to disasters in the form of flash floods and earthquakes during the last few years. On October 29, 2008, a strong earthquake of magnitude 6.4 jolted the province of Balochistan and leveled many villages of Ziarat and Pishin Districts. This earthquake damaged the main infrastructure of these villages and compelled the residents of the respective areas to be displaced and to live in the open under severe climatic conditions.
With the onset of cold and chilly weather, the miseries of the earthquake affectees were increasing and they were in dire need of winterised shelters. Keeping in view the intensity of the problem, Qatar Charity has provided 80 winterised shelters to the most vulnerable families. The objective of this project was to save the lives of the affected people especially women and children. Shelters were constructed in village Dilsora, Pishin District to help the EQ affectees recover from the immediate shock and to prepare them to cope up with the stress during the cold season.
These shelters were constructed keeping in view the local construction methods to make it user friendly for the beneficiaries. Each shelter was spacious enough to accommodate approximately 8 family members. During the whole exercise, a proper assessment was done to identify the target beneficiaries. The collected information was shared with other stakeholders to avoid any duplication. To ensure the community participation, respective communities were sensitised and trained to erect the shelters. The materials and the main structure of the shelters were provided by QC while the communities were contributing the rest of the work; mainly labour. QC has materialized this project in collaboration with Muslim Aid.
Qatar Charity had contributed to alleviate the sufferings of the affected. In the early days of the emergency, QC had provided food items to 3000 families. Each family had received a pack of twenty Kg consisting of the main food items.
“A Bolt from the Blue – Ahmad Jan”
Ahmad Jan - a 50 years old driver of village Dilsora, Pishin District - is like many other poor residents of north-western Balochistan living under the never-ending stress of economic needs, severe weather conditions. Ahmad Jan is deprived of most of the necessities of life. He is one of the residents of the village struggling to meet their day to day needs in the testing and challenging conditions of the area.
His village is devoid of vital services of water & sanitation and basic health services. Ahmad Jan also has a large family like other residents of the village, including 9 (i.e. 5 sons and 4 daughters) children and 4 unemployed younger brothers. He is the only main source of income hence faced with a serious challenge of pulling the needs of his dependants. In one way or another, he has been managing to meet the expenditures of his family in spite of all hardships.
But the early morning of October 29, 2008 came as a wrath of the heavens on Ahmad Jan and his family, when a ravaging tremor struck the area, and his prime refuge - his house - was racked to rubbles. He and his family fell victims to the aftermaths of the ruthless catastrophe as he was already a financially ruined man and was living a hand to mouth life. On the other hand, his house had been seriously damaged. Three rooms in his house were completely collapsed and the rest was in intensely insecure shape, which brought him along with his family in a tent to fight against the bone-freezing cold and stormy winds. It was a real disaster for him, and he was left with no option but to wait and look up for help to build a reasonable structure to live with some pride and comfort.
“I am already a poor man. My salary is too little to meet my colossal expenditures, and I am under a lot of loans too. My wife is also sick for the last 5 months, and now my house has been damaged. I don’t know what to do? Where to go? We are living in a small tent which cannot accommodate all my family members. The weather is very cold and there is no heating arrangement. I don’t have money and resources to construct my house again, nor have I resources to make arrangements to protect my family from the cruel weather, we want to live with some respect” said Ahmad Jan while talking to our team members few days after the calamity.
Qatar Charity & Muslim Aid (Implementing Partner) launched a project aimed at constructing 85 transitional shelters in his village Dilsora, district Pishin. It was nothing less than a heavenly blessing for Ahmad Jan, when he was told that he would be given a mud, Iron, and CGI sheets based structure as transitional shelter. The community was told that they would be given CGI sheets and iron angles. The community would have to only raise the mud foundation for the structure.
The construction process was started within the period of one month and the shelter was ready in less than two weeks for Ahmad Jan and his family to move in. Now, he and his family were protected from the harsh conditions and ruthless weather.
“God is great! Thanks to Allah, after that thanks to Qatar Charity who helped me and my family by providing this shelter. I am a poor man and whatever I had I have lost during the quake, as my animals died and I do not have any savings. I would never have been able to make such a shelter with my own resources. Thank you very much again!” said Ahmad Jan thankfully.
Ahmad Jan says, “every member of the community is happy that Qatar Charity has realized the sufferings of our community and has taken this practical step of providing the community with these shelters. The given shelters are particularly beneficial for us as we and our families will be safe in these shelters during the severe months and we will be able to rebuild our houses and look for the opportunities of earning once again.”
Qatar Charity is in a special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations since 1997. In Pakistan, QC is registered with the Economic Affairs Division, Ministry of Economic Affairs & Statistics
