Sehwan: Serving Details at Lal Bagh camp – Phase - 2

20th September, 2010

We are in a continuous touch with our contact persons at Sehwan, their ration supplies have improved and the shortage of Rice and Pulses have been covered. As per our discussion over the last weekend, they are facing a shortage of Cooking oil, salt and red chilli powder as well as there is a desperate need of packing shoppers (as they received Flour, Rice and pulses in 50-100 KG bags) and they want to pack them in separate packages so to deliver the package to the families on an individual basis.

So on 20th of September, we dispatched our second shipment to Lal bagh camp of Sehwan that consisted of following stuff for around 3K families: 

§  Cooking Oil 1 Litre – 3000 Bags

§  Salt 1 Packet – 3000 Bags

§  Red Chilli Powder 100gm – 3000

§  Cooking Oil 1 Litre – 3000 Bags

§  Salt 1 Packet – 3000 Bags

§  Red Chilli Powder 100gm – 3000

§  Packing Shoppers: (0.5, 2, 5 and 10 KG) – 5000+ shopping bags

Sehwan: Serving Details at Lal Bagh camp

15th September, 2010

As referred in the earlier post, when the Eid holidays were over we initiated the purchasing activity for the identified requirements. Before finalizing the purchase we re-contacted to our sources on the ground and found out that as the chances of Manchhar lake overflow are rapidly increasing so surrounding areas have been evacuated on an emergency basis, and the camp is now hosting thrice more as the ones we observed during our assessment visit. With this new intel and confirmation we updated our distribution plan and immediately dispatched a truck carrying the following items to the Lal Bagh camp for 1000 families:

§  Daal Chanaa 2 KG – 1000 Bags

§  Cooking Oil KG – 1000 Bags

§  Rice 2.5 KG – 1000 Bags

§  Salt 1 Packet – 1000 Bags

§  Red Chilli Powder 100gm – 1000 Bags 

The truck was dispatched on the night of 15th and it reached the destination on 16th of September

Sehwan: Need Assessment for the IDPs from Sehwan, Dadu, Meharr and surrounding areas

Updates: 9th September, 2010 (Chaand Raat)

A couple of days earlier to Eid, the network that assisted us in transportation / distribution of food items to Sajawal families referred us about some prospect needs in the relief camp Laal Bagh, Sehwan so we planned a visit to the place. As Sehwan is at a distance of around 273 KM from Karachi that is a drive of around 3.5 – 4 hours straight so that comes out as a whole day activity. We planned to utilize the Pre-Eid holiday i.e. Friday 9th September for that purpose and were on our way at around 5:45 AM just after Sehri.

Sehwan – Releif camp @ Lal Bagh

After travelling for around 3.5 hours and a distance of 273 KM and bypassing the cities of Hyderabad and Jamshoro we reached Lal Bagh area. There were around 6500 persons in the camp that was already established there. After having a assessment and discussion with the responsible persons there, we spotted out and being told as well that they had ration (including flour, rice, sugar, pulses etc.) available for them for the next 7-8 days around and the supplies are in continuation. When we mingled up with the IDPs resident in the camp and having a discussion with the persons who were responsible for ration distribution, we found out that the basic ration items are available but there is an acute shortage of Salt and Chilli powder that are essential for cooking any sort of pulse or curry.

Sehwan – Manchhar Lake

From there we moved ahead towards Manchhar lake (that wasn’t over flooded yet) to see if there are some people who need some relief activities. Manchhar lake is at a distance of around 25 min drive from Sehwan. When we reached the place, that was crowded with locals who were on their toes to strengthen the lake banks so that there may be no catastrophy due to this huge bulk of flood water that was continuously coming to the lake so that it can be drained out to Indus river.The water level at that point was noted down by us as reaching to 117 feet height (the total capacity of the lake was 121 Feet)

Dadu and Meharr

From there we planned to move towards Dadu (around 45 KM away from Sehwan) and ultimately to Meharr (around 80-90 KM away from Sehwan). After entering to the limits of Dadu district we observed some intense activity with a couple of excavators that were strengthening a defense wall in front of Dadu city. On the way we talked to a couple of persons about the situation of Meharr city and found out that the city is surrounded by water and its nearly impossible to enter the city at this moment via road. we decided to return back from this point and thought to purchase the required Salt and Chilli powder from the Bhhan Saeedabad or Sehwan market. we were unable to do so because of the fact that we couldn't locate an ATM in both of the cities (we didn't had any cash available with us as this was an assessment phase as well as the on-ground situation didnt permit to carry cash with us)

Coming back to Karachi

We left for Karachi at around 3:30PM and on the way back faced a horrible storm as well as heavy showers while driving on the highway. We did the last Iftar of this Ramadan at a gas station at Noori Abad and continued our journey back to Karachi. When reaching home at around 8:30 PM of Chaand raat, when we checked our speedometer then we found out that we’ve done a coverage of around 700 KMs in a single day.

We would be trying to contact our sources in Karachi to arrange for the Salt and Chilli powder so to ship them to Sehwan during or immediately after Eid holidays.

Next Plan :)

Within 30 minutes of reaching home, a phone call got received mentioning about the presence of a large number of families in the Manghopir area of Karachi that are in an urgent need of Food stuff. One of our volunteers group have been contacted to carry on a pre-assessment phase to sort out the necessities out there. As per the groups’ commitment they would visit the place on Eid day.

So thumbs up and Yes! Chaand Raat Mubaarak :)

Lakki Shah Saddar and Sehwan – Images and Maps

Updates of 19th August 2010

Trails of our exit from the Sehwan and our last visit to the camp in the nearby mountains

Lakki Shah Saddar and Sehwan – Helping hand during Rehabilitation

Updates of 19th August 2010
We had a pointer earlier that there’s an urgent requirement in Lakki Shah Saddar and Sehwan, as there are almost thousand people waiting for help from government and NGOs. Preparations were made on urgent basis to dispatch a team to these places. We depart from Karachi @ 7:00 am on 19th of August 2010 and reach Sehwan @ 11:30 pm on the same day. We met our local collaborators and had a detailed briefing of the situation on ground. We were quite shocked initially, and later were pleased, to know that the pointer we got earlier was not real and there’s no emergency situation at all in and around Sehwan.
Displaced people were settled in the (1) Relief camps (2) Safe places close to their original homes (3) Area, where there relatives were living and (4) high altitude areas in near by mountains. We were told that there were no casualties in the area due to floods. We spent all the day in visiting different parts of the city and suburbs to verify what we were briefed earlier in the day. We gathered following stats regarding the affected people living in the camps setup by district government:

1. Sehwan Degree College – 50 families ~ 300 people
2. Mono Technical College – 27 families ~ 150 people
3. Government Primary School – 50 families ~ 430 people
4. Government Girls High School – 50 families ~ 400 people
5. Government Girls Primary School – 30 families ~ 250 people
6. Makrani Mola Girls Primary School – 15 families ~ 100 people
7. Tajar Government Boys School – 20 families ~ 100 people
8. Government High School Sehwan – 30 families ~ 300 people

During our travelling all along the city and suburbs we discussed several aspects of the calamity and the critical times people are going through. We also discussed the challenges these people might face when they will come back to their areas only to find their devastated agricultural lands and their severely damaged homes. At that time they will need support from us and only at that time they will find themselves alone, government and NGOs all gone from the scene and flood crisis being the haunted memory of the past. They need our support at that time of rehabilitation and we must respond to that call.
You must be thinking that it might be an uphill task to commit for any rehabilitation work but before you move further in that direction let me clarify that they do not expect from us to support or fund them in building their homes or making their agriculture lands re-plough-able. All they expect from us that we should supply them following basic necessities so they can focus on their rehabilitation efforts.

1. 3kg rice
2. 2kg lentils
3. 1kg tea
4. 2kg milk powder
5. 3kg sugar
6. Salt and Spices
7. Soap and Surf

Ready to serve Sehwan and nearby areas

Alhamdolilah, we are all set for flood relief activities in and nearby Sehwan. The team will be reaching Sehwan today via Hyderabad. Need assessment will be starting with Lakki Shah Saddar area. We will assessing the need of food, clothes, medicare, medicines, water, shelter, bedding, etc.
Please pray that Allah SWT enable us to serve our fellow Pakistanis as much as we can. Also, we would like to acknowledge and thank our donors and volunteers for tremendous support and we hope that we’ll receive the same support in coming days. We have already started working on the second batch, so please donate generously and spread the word as much as possible.