‘We feel like VIPs at this camp’

“They're kind and we are being looked after properly,” a flood survivor who is currently living at a relief camp said.

SUKKUR: “Here at this camp, we are being treated like VIPs,” Haji Sain Dad, a flood survivor who is currently living at a relief camp alongside the airport road in Sukkur, told The Express Tribune.

“I have been to other camps in the nearby areas, where my relatives are complaining of a lack of food and medicines besides unhygienic conditions,” said Haji, who added that the management at his camp is very good. “They are kind and we are being looked after properly.”

Residents of the Udi village lost their homes in the floods. Living at a relief camp set up by the students of the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), however, they are not unhappy.

“This camp is as comfortable as a home,” says Mai Samani Shaikh, a resident of the Udi village near Thal.

Mai Samani came to Sukkur with her husband and three children on a donkey cart. She said that they had four goats, which were swept away with the torrents and that her family was only able to salvage some clothes.

When asked about provisions at the camp, Mai Samani said that the management gives them uncooked food every three days, which they cook themselves. We get cooked food in the evenings, while we cook our own meals for the rest of the day, she added.

“We honestly don’t have any problems here,” said Piyaro Shaikh, also a resident of the Udi village. A doctor at the camp just came to see us as my wife, Pirani, has a headache. He has given her packets of ORS,” said Piyaro.

His three sons were playing in a corner, sharing some biscuits. “We are very happy here, but my children are missing home a lot,” Piyaro said.

Hafiz Suhrab Shaikh, another Udi resident, has taken it upon himself to make a difference at this camp. He is currently teaching 30 students at a mosque in the area and apart from academic education, he is also imparting religious education to his students.

“This school serves as a mosque and I lead prayers five times a day here,” he said. “Back in Udi, I used to teach children at a mosque as well,” said Suhrab, who added that he is very happy as he can continue his work at this camp.

IBA’s relief camp comprises 70 tents, which house 70 families. “Fifty more tents are to be set up in the area and we are planning to eventually raise the number of tents to 200,” said Kashif Shah, a former IBA student.

More than 30 IBA students are running this camp, said Shah, who added that apart from providing the campers with cooked food in the evenings, the management is also giving them vegetables, wheat flour, rice, cooking oil, sugar, tea, milk, pulses and spices to cook their own food.

“Special attention is being paid to maintain hygiene at the camp and to minimise the chances of people falling sick. We have also established separate toilets for men and women and people have been employed to clean the camp and toilets,” he added.

Dr Syed Mohammad Zahid from the Civil Hospital Karachi and Dr Mohammad Sharif Khan Niazi from the Institute of Skin Diseases in Karachi are providing medical assistance to the flood survivors at this camp. According to them, most people are suffering from gastroenteritis and skin allergies, while some have also been diagnosed with conjunctivitis.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 23^rd, 2010.