Children Tell Of Horrors Of Devastating Floods

Children Tell Of The Horrors Of The Devastating Floods In Pakistan

Monday 30 August 2010 - Ten-year-old Olfata watched helplessly as floodwaters swept her younger sister Fozia away from the banks of the Ushu River in Pakistan’s Swat district.

Olfata is the oldest of five children. Their father works as a driver in Saudia Arabia and they are looked after by their uncles and grandfather, who grow potatoes and apples in the village of Bhan.

Olfata was taking care of her younger siblings as their village began to evacuate because of the approaching floods. As they walked, a stray dog lurched at the apples Olfata was carrying and the frightened children scattered.

Seven-year-old Fozia hid from the dog inside a deserted house and just moments later Olfata watched the floodwaters tear down the house, sweeping away its wooden beams and thatched roof along with her little sister inside. There was nothing anyone could do.

Devastated the family walked for four hours through the mountains to a cousin’s home in Kalam. When they got there, they found five families already in the spare room of their cousin’s home.

The family heard that the body of a girl had been found in the city of Bahrain, 40 kilometres away. Olfata’s uncles traveled by foot to Bahrain to identify Fozia’s body, and bring it back to Kalam for burial.

“I heard everyone crying in the house that day,” says Olfata. “I could not understand at that time but later learned that they were burying Fozia.”

‘We did not know what to tell the children, especially when we have had so little to eat.’ said Ajmer Khan.

At the same time, the family learned their home village of Bhan had been razed to the ground – all the farms, houses and the main market replaced with mud, dirt and large rocks.

A week after Olfata’s family had settled in Kalam, Save the Children’s teams assessed damages and identified the families in greatest need for food distribution with displaced families given first priority for food aid.

Olfata’s family was one of the first to receive 80kg of wheat flour, 4.5kg of high protein biscuits and 1.5kg of ready-to-use supplementary food for children above 6 months of age. “I do not feel hungry anymore,” says Olfa’s sister Seema.

“We are having meals three times a day and eat these biscuits as snacks.’ says Olfata, clutching a packet of high-protein biscuits provided by Save the Children. Olfata’s family has also received a shelter kit for setting up temporary housing.

Save the Children’s goal is to reach two-million children and adults in Pakistan within the next six months. New Zealanders have so donated $257,052.95 to Save the Children for the Pakistan Emergency Appeal. Donations can be made in several ways:

• www.savethechildren.org.nz

• call 0800 167 168

• send a cheque to Save the Children New Zealand, at Freepost PO Box 6584, Marion Square, Wellington.

• donate at local Save the Children stores.

• join the Children’s Emergency Fund to help Save the Children be prepared to respond quickly to disasters or emergencies like the Pakistan floods.

ENDS

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