Nowshera’s children no longer chase ice cream vans
In better times children used to chase ice cream trucks, but now food has become the biggest blessing for them.
NOWSHERA:
Children rush after the relief van trundling down what is left of the washed away roads of village Dairikhel in the city of Kalan, district Nowshera. In better times children used to chase ice cream trucks, but deprived of everything, food has become the biggest blessing for them.
Geographically, Dairikhel is the first village of Nowshera. Therefore it had been the first to be destroyed and hence should have been the first to be rebuilt. However, “clearly the aid distribution starts from the biggest house peddling the most influence,” said Waheed Khan, a local. “There are about 60-70 madrassas in Nowshera alone, but the one situated in Cantt had been getting aid regularly,” said Maulana Fatkhulamin, peshimam of the local madrassa, Quran-ul-Taleem.
This was only the second time that food relief had reached this area, and the first time that medical assistance for women and children had been made available. Khan said that the local government was only concerned about its own share of relief and not worried about the people. “Only the NGOs and some volunteers have provided aid. We are always on the lookout for vans to pass by - we chase them like hungry dogs,” added Khan.
Haroon Khan and Ammar Khan from NGO Delta set up a volunteer medical camp for women and children inside the local madrassa and distributed basic food items to the men outside. A noticeable line across the walls prominently marked just how high the water level had risen previously – 12 ft.
Covered in veils, with their children balancing younger siblings on their hips, women came to see the doctors for the first time. But it was the rumour that relief goods were being distributed that had coaxed the women out of the house. “We live in an extremely conservative environment, where our men do not let us step outside the house. We have been complaining about several health problems but they told us to suffer and did not allow us to visit a doctor.
However, I have come because we heard the doctor will give food items, so the men have sent us here to get whatever we can get for survival’s sake,” said Sabia, a 19-year-old girl had come with an elderly woman who was suffering from cardiac pain.
Food is not the only concern of the people. There is a rising threat of diseases amongst women and children.
Dr Rubina Farid said: “Yes, people need food but they should not be unmindful about the spread of diseases. There is no clean water, and skin diseases, gastroenteritis and eye infections are emerging. If these people do not get well soon, the problem will get bigger than it already is.”
Maulana Fatkhulamin lamented over the madrassa’s dispensary having been washed away. He said they used to collect about Rs80,000 as Zakat every year, but this year they had not been able to collect any. With his unyielding faith Maulana said: “This catastrophe has united us and we will come out stronger and better, irrespective of whether the local leaders are there for us or not. We once heard from our elders that a flood like this once came in 1929; now we will be narrating this story to our coming generations.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 2nd, 2010.
Children rush after the relief van trundling down what is left of the washed away roads of village Dairikhel in the city of Kalan, district Nowshera. In better times children used to chase ice cream trucks, but deprived of everything, food has become the biggest blessing for them.
Geographically, Dairikhel is the first village of Nowshera. Therefore it had been the first to be destroyed and hence should have been the first to be rebuilt. However, “clearly the aid distribution starts from the biggest house peddling the most influence,” said Waheed Khan, a local. “There are about 60-70 madrassas in Nowshera alone, but the one situated in Cantt had been getting aid regularly,” said Maulana Fatkhulamin, peshimam of the local madrassa, Quran-ul-Taleem.
This was only the second time that food relief had reached this area, and the first time that medical assistance for women and children had been made available. Khan said that the local government was only concerned about its own share of relief and not worried about the people. “Only the NGOs and some volunteers have provided aid. We are always on the lookout for vans to pass by - we chase them like hungry dogs,” added Khan.
Haroon Khan and Ammar Khan from NGO Delta set up a volunteer medical camp for women and children inside the local madrassa and distributed basic food items to the men outside. A noticeable line across the walls prominently marked just how high the water level had risen previously – 12 ft.
Covered in veils, with their children balancing younger siblings on their hips, women came to see the doctors for the first time. But it was the rumour that relief goods were being distributed that had coaxed the women out of the house. “We live in an extremely conservative environment, where our men do not let us step outside the house. We have been complaining about several health problems but they told us to suffer and did not allow us to visit a doctor.
However, I have come because we heard the doctor will give food items, so the men have sent us here to get whatever we can get for survival’s sake,” said Sabia, a 19-year-old girl had come with an elderly woman who was suffering from cardiac pain.
Food is not the only concern of the people. There is a rising threat of diseases amongst women and children.
Dr Rubina Farid said: “Yes, people need food but they should not be unmindful about the spread of diseases. There is no clean water, and skin diseases, gastroenteritis and eye infections are emerging. If these people do not get well soon, the problem will get bigger than it already is.”
Maulana Fatkhulamin lamented over the madrassa’s dispensary having been washed away. He said they used to collect about Rs80,000 as Zakat every year, but this year they had not been able to collect any. With his unyielding faith Maulana said: “This catastrophe has united us and we will come out stronger and better, irrespective of whether the local leaders are there for us or not. We once heard from our elders that a flood like this once came in 1929; now we will be narrating this story to our coming generations.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 2nd, 2010.