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Aid worker diary
Islamic Relief (IR) aid worker, Niyaz Muhammad is in Mardan District where IR is working with those who have fled the fighting in Buner, Dir, and Swat. In his diary he reports on the situation in an area that is struggling with more than 2 million displaced people.
Families separated
“As 70-year-old Kakai was telling me her story tears began to stream down her face. She explained how when the helicopters started to fire on her village there was chaos as people grabbed what they could carry and ran for safety. In the panic she was separated from her two sons.
Makeshift camp
Alone and frightened, some neighbours brought her to safety. When I met her she was in the classroom of a school that has been converted into a makeshift camp for displaced people in Mardan. She told me that her fellow villagers have been searching for her family but so far there has been no news.
As Kakai showed me where she was staying I couldn’t see any possessions that might belong to her. She explained that the conflict was so sudden and unexpected that she had no time to take anything with her. She did not even have any shoes on her feet.
When I asked where she slept at night she pointed to a sheet on the floor, in a room that is crowded with other displaced people. I couldn’t believe that there are over 400 people crammed into this school, with each room sheltering around 40 people.
As I walked around the camp it was noticeable how few men there. Many of the women had travelled here on their own as their husbands stayed behind in their villages to look after their houses and land. There were also many children on their own who had become separated from their families.
Queuing all day
Near to the school I saw a long line of men and women queuing for handouts of food from kind-hearted local people. They told me that they had started waiting for the food immediately after the dawn prayers and were still waiting late into the afternoon.
The conditions in Mardan District are becoming increasingly difficult, with shortages of shelter, food and clean water. But despite this, more displaced people continue to arrive every day. I saw streams of trucks laden with animals and people, as well as those on foot heading away from the conflict in search of safety.
Newly displaced
In the nearby village of Chahar Gulli I met Umer Zada who had just arrived with his family from Kalpari in Buner. They had walked for six hours in the mountains before finally renting a vehicle to bring them here. He explained that he is a tailor and has left behind his shop, his house and his land, and has no idea what will happen to them while he is gone.
I asked Umer where he and his family would be staying and he said that they hoped to stay with extended family. However, their future seems uncertain. Umer has no job and so no way to bring in an income, and the burden of caring for so many extra people may be too much for his relatives. If they cannot cope he and his family may have to move on again.
There are 2,000 households in Chahar Gulli, but an extra 400 families have settled in the village in the last few weeks. Mohammed Ullah is a carpenter who also lives in Chahar Gulli and has just taken two families into his home. That is an extra 16 mouths that he has to feed. With none of these extra people able to work, he does not know how long he will be able to cope.
First distribution
We carried out our first distribution of relief items in Chahar Gulli yesterday. Displaced people who had arrived in the area with nothing were provided with essential items including hygiene kits, household kits and kitchen sets.
In the next few days we will also be setting up a ‘Mercy Centre’ in the village. This will provide displaced people and the local community with food, healthcare, clean water and hygiene training, psychosocial counselling and care for traumatised children. We will also help to reunite families like Kakai’s that have become separated.
This area used to be so peaceful and beautiful, and everyone I spoke to told of how they were in shock at how badly and how quickly their lives had been ruined. I thought back to Kakai sat alone in the makeshift camp and kept thinking that this was not how an elderly woman should be forced to live her life.”
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