Posts Tagged ‘Pakistan’

Photos give a glimpse into Oxfam’s Pakistan flood response

August 18th, 2010 | by

Every day this week I’ve seen more photos coming in from Oxfam’s flood response in Pakistan, where Oxfam and our local partners are working to reach more than a million survivors with essential aid. Most were not taken by professional photographers, but by Oxfam staff on the ground—and they have a kind of immediacy that captures the urgency of the situation. Here are a few of the latest images:

Photo: Mubashar Hasan / Oxfam

Photo: Mubashar Hasan / Oxfam

Above, Oxfam and a local partner organization use a rescue boat to help people reach relief shelters in Koth Mithan, Sindh Province. So far, local search and rescue boats have helped Oxfam safely evacuate tens of thousands of people.

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In Pakistan, a city becomes a place of uncertain refuge

August 12th, 2010 | by
 On August 10, a family wades through water while fleeing the flooded village of Karam Pur, 43 miles from Sukkur in Pakistan's Sindh province. Around 3,000 people displaced by the floods have now taken refuge in Sukkur.

On August 10, a family wades through water while fleeing the flooded village of Karam Pur, 43 miles from Sukkur in Pakistan's Sindh province. Around 3,000 people displaced by the floods have now taken refuge in Sukkur.

In the excerpt below, Oxfam’s Mubashar Hasan reports from Sukkur, a city in Sindh province, Pakistan. The UN estimates 1.1 million people in Sindh province alone have lost their homes, crops, and livestock during the major floods now affecting the country. While global funding for the emergency response has been slow, Oxfam and partners are aiming to reach more than 650,000 people with clean water, sanitation kits, and other essential aid.

As soon as I approached the city of Sukkur, I felt the tension in the air. I saw many folks were stopping their cars on Sukkur Barrage and anxiously looking down to the water flows of Indus River to measure the increase of the water level. Security was beefed up around the riverbanks where Pakistan Army, rangers and police personnel have closed many roads.

Sukkur is making headlines as next possible place to be hit by floodwater. If it happens, according to official predictions, many parts of Sindh Province will go under water.

After entering the city, I was roaming in an old, congested suburb near the riverside named Myani Road. Many shops in that place were closed down, and some people in small groups were discussing what to do. Few of them were going near to the river to measure the water level.

“We are living in anxiety here,” one man, Dr. Natwar Lal, told me. “Any moment water could submerge our shops and homes.”

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Killer Epidemic Strikes 40 Million More

December 12th, 2008 | by
Jim Holmes/Oxfam

Jamil Hamzah walks through rice fields in Gampang Ladang, Indonesia, where Oxfam helped farmers purchase rice paddy seed. According to a new UN report, Indonesia is one of just seven countries where 65 percent of the world’s hungry people live. Photo: Jim Holmes/Oxfam

Each day, the epidemic is spreading further across the globe, extending its tendrils into every nation on earth. It strikes women and children first, as well as the poorest among us. Nearly 1 billion people are already affected, and this year alone, an additional 40 million more suffered its symptoms: fatigue, dizziness, extreme weakness, even death.

The thing is, you don’t read much about this epidemic in the headlines these days. No one’s handing out ribbons or marching for a cure. Though it’s treatable, people aren’t doing much to prevent it. In fact, hardly anyone seems to be paying attention.

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