Nazir Hussain is a resident of village Dhoondar in Bagh District, AJK. Poverty in his area is rampant and the October 2005 devastating earthquake further increased it. Nazir suffered from a permanent disability when he was aged 6 years. He is now aged 45 and he is currently making his living by running a small business at his village. Due to the mountainous and steep location of his area, it is difficult for Nazir to walk for a long distance to work. Nazir is the only breadwinner of his family comprised of seven members.

Despite the disability and the difficulties entailed because of that, Nazir is determined to live a normal life and help his family to sustain their basic needs. According to him, he failed to continue with education at his childhood because of his poverty and disability. By then, it was difficult for his family to provide him with all his educational needs. After leaving his education, he kept doing some small ad hoc jobs to earn a living. Some jobs he had been doing are very hard and impossible for him to continue.

In spite of this, Mr. Nazir has managed after hard work over a period of years to save some money that has enabled him to open a small grocery shop in his village. This small business helped him live independently and support his family for their education, health and other basic needs.

The challenge returned when the October 2005 earthquake damaged his home and business. It was a difficult time for Nazir.  He lost not only his business but also the chance to take care of himself and his children. Again Mr. Nazir was vulnerable even more than before; a situation that was prevalent among many after the massive earthquake.

After the earthquake, Qatar Charity has launched a program of restoring the affected livelihoods. Being a disabled, Mr. Nazir is one of the beneficiaries of this program. QC has reserved 25% of the project’s funds to the People with Disabilities (PWDs). With the support given, Nazir has managed to re-establish and re-strengthen his small business. By now, he enjoys a normal life and is able to support his family for their basic needs.

Zeenat Khatoon is the widow of Mohamad Qasim and resident of Village Thub, Bagh. She is mother to seven small children. Her husband was a labor worker and the only responsible for taking care of his small children. The area she lives in is extremely poor. Her husband had a small piece of land where they grow some vegetable and maize.

According to Zeenat Khatoon, "although the life was difficult and my husband used to earn very little, still we can afford meeting the basic necessities of our living". She added, "However, the devastating earthquake of 2005 changed things drastically for us. Our house was totally collapsed. My husband was critically injured and he was feeling constant and severe pain in his spinal cord and he was no longer able to walk. I myself suffered also from severe trauma due to the loss of my daughter and other relatives in the earthquake."

Zeenat said, “It was a very hard time. I lost my children and close relatives in the earthquake. Our house was destroyed and we had no space to live in. I used to have cows, a buffalo and goats. All of them perished in the earthquake. My husband remained suffering from infections in his spinal cord and whatever money and other resources I had, were spent on his treatment. Despite our efforts, he could not sustain the injuries and finally he died. We were left with no hope at all.”

The only hope left for Zeenat is her eldest son. He is 18 years old and he works to sustain his family. All her other children are young and they are not able to attend school due to poverty.

She said "Qatar Charity has provided me a buffalo. It fulfills the nutritional needs of my family and I sell some of the by products like butter, cheese etc in the market and earn almost 150 Rupees daily to support my family."