Six months after the deluge, the waters may have subsided. But the impact of this disaster has not. There’s no end in sight to the misery, hardship and heartache being endured along the length of the Indus river basin, from the Himalayan foothills to the Arabian Sea. Nowshera was one of the worst hit districts in North West Pakistan. Many displaced people in this camp lost everything in the flood. With no source of income, the future looks grim. This family remains traumatized by the loss of their seven year old daughter Rehmat Bibi, crushed by rubble as the waters tore their home apart. SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Shireen Zeba, mother:“Happiness is happiness. Happiness is not in our destiny. I will cry to God and ask his help. I hope he answers my prayers; what else can I do” SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Mehnaz, 10 years old:“The wall fell on her and I saw her die in front of me” SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Shireen Zeba, other:“All I can do is cry. She left me, what will I do without her” SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Mehnaz, 10 years old:“ I miss her because she used to play with me”For some, the floods were just the start of their troubles. This tent was incinerated as the occupants tried to keep warm. Two children were burned. This camp will soon close as authorities are encouraging families to return to their areas of origin. SOUNDBITE (English) Shandana Aurangzeb, UNICEF Peshawar: ” People are worried, they are very worried about where they are going to go because they don’t have anything to go back to, all their household belongings are gone, their livelihood is gone and they don’t have any means to set up a new life.” In neighbouring Punjab province, the waters have still not fully receded. Not all of the land has natural drainage. Throughout Pakistan, more than 1,000 square kilometres remain submerged. In the village of Jharkarwala homes and crops have been lost, but they have come back to start again. Water in the area is poisoned with arsenic traces. UNICEF has provided help to find water beyond the contamination. SOUNDBITE (English) Waseem Ul Haq, Water Specialist Punjab Province, UNICEF: “The people are reluctant to use the ground water but unfortunately they don’t have any alternate; so that’s the reason they’re using this contaminated water. And UNICEF is providing the hand pumps the effective hand pumps which can go deep up to 300 feet and that’s like, we are trying our level best to provide safe drinking water to the affected communities.”

In a camp for flood survivors near Dadu in Central Sindh province,Islam Gulzar gives birth in the most primitive conditions. Her daughter will be called Dua, which means prayer. SOUNDBITE (Sindhi) Islam Gulzar, mother:“We’ve lost everything. I’m worried because I’ve no home. This place is cold, we need a roof over our heads.”In the same camp, this family of seven has been driven to the very edge. SOUNDBITE (Sindhi) Sajjad Shoro, 17 years old: “I had big dreams. I wanted to get an education. I wanted to get a job. I wanted to see the children in my village educated I wanted to see the village prosper. But the floods came and drowned all our dreams.” Across Pakistan, UNICEF is trying to help children return to normality through play, recreation and education. At the end of the day, nine year old Nazira heads to her shelter. She doesn’t have a proper roof over her head. SOUNDBITE (Sindhi) Nazira, 9 years old:“Living in a tent is extremely difficult. Waking up in the morning, sleeping at night is very uncomfortable as it is very cold.” SOUNDBITE (Sindhi) Zohra Bashir, mother: “We need rations, shelter and clothes. We have nothing. Our house and everything in it was washed away. We need everything, everything a human being needs to survive.” Six months after surviving the floods, children’s natural optimism is returning, especially for those who’ve never been to school before. For some, the temporary learning centres are their first experience of education. SOUNDBITE (Sindhi), Mukhtiar Ali, 12 years old: “If I went to school, I would study and I would get a good job. I want to be a doctor.”SOUNDBITE (Sindhi), Malika, 13 years old: “Because of the floods we lost everything we lost our homes, if we had a school we would be so happy” SOUNDBITE (Sindhi) Banu Ali, 14 years old: “We don’t have a school. No one ever built one here. This is the first time we’ve had a teacher. I want to study, so I can become a police inspector. Then I will catch people who rob and gamble and put them in jail.” UNICEF is working to ensure that the children who’ve had their first taste of school, maintain their education. Helicopters have been flying essential supplies, such as warm clothing, children’s shoes, blankets and newborn kits, to the most vulnerable villages. The children of Pakistan have survived an apocalyptic flood, but now they are at risk from the cold.

Nurat Fateh Ali Khan - background

Transcripts / Production notes / Scripts

Six months after the deluge, the waters may have subsided. But the impact of this disaster has not. There’s no end in sight to the misery, hardship and heartache being endured along the length of the Indus river basin, from the Himalayan foothills to the Arabian Sea.

Nowshera was one of the worst hit districts in North West Pakistan. Many displaced people in this camp lost everything in the flood. With no source of income, the future looks grim. This family remains traumatized by the loss of their seven year old daughter Rehmat Bibi, crushed by rubble as the waters tore their home apart.

SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Shireen Zeba, mother:
“Happiness is happiness. Happiness is not in our destiny. I will cry to God and ask his help. I hope he answers my prayers; what else can I do”

SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Mehnaz, 10 years old:
“The wall fell on her and I saw her die in front of me”

SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Shireen Zeba, mother:
“All I can do is cry. She left me, what will I do without her”

SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Mehnaz, 10 years old:
“ I miss her because she used to play with me”

For some, the flood were just the start of their troubles. This tent was incinerated as the occupants tried to keep warm. Two children were burned. Fires have caused deaths in the past few months. But this camp will soon close as authorities are encouraging families to return to their areas of origin.

SOUNDBITE (English) Shandana Aurangzeb, UNICEF Peshawar:
” People are worried, they are very worried about where they are going to go because they don’t have anything to go back to, all their household belongings are gone, their livelihood is gone and they don’t have any means to set up a new life

In neighbouring Punjab province, the waters have still not fully receded. Not all of the land has natural drainage. Throughout Pakistan, more than 1,000 square kilometres remain submerged

We’re on the road to a village called Jharkarwala, where bonded labourers grow crops for their landlord and get a paltry wage in return.

The community members lost their homes and their crops. They’ve come back to start afresh. Their water supply is extremely harmful, as the source, just beneath the surface, contains arsenic. UNICEF has given them the means to draw water from deep underground, beyond the arsenic traces.

SOUNDBITE (English) Waseem Ul Haq, Water Specialist Punjab Province, UNICEF:
“The people are reluctant to use the ground water but unfortunately they don’t have any alternate; so that’s the reason they’re using this contaminated water. And UNICEF is providing the hand pumps the effective hand pumps which can go deep up to 300 feet and that’s like, we are trying our level best to provide safe drinking water to the affected communities.”

In a camp for flood survivors near Dadu in Central Sindh province,Islam Gulzar give birth in the most primitive conditions. Her daughter will be called Dua, which means prayer.

SOUNDBITE (Sindhi) Islam Gulzar, mother:
“We’ve lost everything. I’m worried because I’ve no home. This place is cold, we need a roof over our heads.”

In the same camp, this family of seven has been driven to the very edge. All they have to eat are two chapattis, flat bread cooked in oil.

One of the key problems facing children in the aftermath of the floods is a lack of schools. Thousands were destroyed in the deluge.

SOUNDBITE (Sindhi) Sajjad Shoro, 17 years old:
“I had big dreams. I wanted to get an education. I wanted to get a job. I wanted to see the children in my village educated I wanted to see the village prosper. But the floods came and drowned all our dreams.”

Across Pakistan, UNICEF is trying to help children return to normality through play, recreation and educaiton. At the end of the learning day, nine year old Nazira heads to her shelter. She doesn’t have a proper roof over her head.

SOUNDBITE (Sindhi) Nazira, 9 years old:
“Living in a tent is extremely difficult. Waking up in the morning, sleeping at night is very uncomfortable as it is very cold.”

SOUNDBITE (Sindhi) Zohra Bashir, mother:
“We need rations, shelter and clothes. We have nothing. Our house and everything in it was washed away. We need everything, everything a human being needs to survive.”

Six months after surviving the floods, children’s natural optimism is returning, especially for those who’ve never been to school before. For some, the temporary learning centres are their first experience of education.


SOUNDBITE (Sindhi), Mukhtiar Ali, 12 years old:
“If I went to school, I would study and I would get a good job. I want to be a doctor.”

SOUNDBITE (Sindhi), Malika, 13 years old:
“Because of the floods we lost everything we lost our homes, if we had a school we would be so happy”

SOUNDBITE (Sindhi) Banu Ali, 14 years old:
“We don’t have a school. No one ever built one here. This is the first time we’ve had a teacher. I want to study, so I can become a police inspector. Then I will catch people who rob and gamble and put them in jail.”

UNICEF is working to ensure that the children who’ve had their first taste of school, maintain their education.

And the onset of winter means the agency must work hard to keep children and families warm, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where snow has begun to fall.

Helicopters have been flying essential supplies, such as warm clothing, children’s shoes, blankets and newborn kits, to the most vulnerable villages. The children of Pakistan have survived an apocalyptic flood, but now they are risk from the cold.

Tags

• Children
• education
• fire
• girls
• Malnutrition
• schools
• Pakistan floods