Pakistan Update #7

New Team Members Coming
We’ve had some tremendous encouragement, with some fresh hands coming to help here, including two medical workers from Canada, an American couple and a person from WorldVenture. We’ve been praying and wishing desperately for just someone like them to help spearhead a medical effort here. They plan to settle in this Saturday.

Hyderabad
Our relief efforts around Hyderabad are now being focused on reaching those getting missed by main-stream aid efforts, especially those areas where it’s difficult to reach (500 families in total over about five weeks).

Water at the Kotri Barrage (dam/dike) is at 950,000 cusecs and rising. They expect just under one million cusecs. It’s a LOT of water. The barrage capacity is around 850,000, so the water is already above the open cavity of the gates and hitting the gates on the top side.

The Hospital (SCH)
Another camp has appeared closer to the hospital. The government is trying to empty schools as they want to open them to IDPs. A pump handle will be installed on the well bore today to give the people some water. As of last night, no one seemed dehydrated. The Civil Hospital is now full with 2-3 kids to a bed. Diarrhea is increasing, but we aren’t sure if it is just seasonal or if we are on the cusp of a major epidemic. Someone has built a latrine.

Cooking equipment that has been purchased for each family includes: a large cooking pot, small cooking pot, thao, steel kneading bowl, plastic manni basket, plastic colander/basket, two plastic jars, a strainer, ladle, large wooden spoon, rolling pin and board, and stove rack. The cost will be about 80,000 rupees (Rs) for 80 families.

The people also need bamboo poles, ropes and tarps to give themselves some shade. Robert pointed out that using the tent rain flies for tarps won’t work as rain is forecast for this week, and they need to be able to keep their stuff dry. People are asking footwear every day, as well. We discussed the possibility of buying 10 pairs of sandals a day and distributing them.

We will not be able to sustain our efforts for long. We discussed concentrating on the people on our side of the “Sonny Gate,” who have virtually nothing. The others have more and are getting fed by the surrounding businesses. We decided to start ordering uncooked food. The food packets that the group in Sukkur is giving out will feed a family for 15 days. They will cost 1875 Rs apiece for a little more than 300,000 Rs total. Based on the numbers present today, we have $8,000 left for our relief effort.

Today’s meal will be chickpeas and flat bread. We want to survey a little more thoroughly and get a National ID Number for each family head as a precursor to giving out kitchen sets. Also, today a survey will be done for tents and latrines. It is hoped that more money will come in and that more food will start appearing from different relief groups. We would like to get food from the UN, U.S. or Canada, but we don’t yet know how.