Striving to serve humanity
Striving to serve humanity
“Life was full of emotional challenges, financial crisis and social distress, when, alone, I had to raise my 13 children (7 daughters and six sons) and to look after my paralyzed husband,” said 47-year-old, Hakim Zadi Siyal from remote village Chak Siyal, Ghotki district. Her shaking hands and trembling feet were in absolute contrast with her firm determination and strong confidence in making society a better place for everyone around her. Regarding the floods, she said, “The torrential rains in July 2022 were detrimental. “However, the primary cause of extensive damage to our homes and belongings was the deliberate redirection of water from neighboring influential landowner, resulting in the demolition About her work she said, “I have facilitated hundreds of women and girls to get their CNICs, which is prerequisite in numerous situations including access relief and rehabilitation services in disaster management.” Hakimzadi, Village Chak Siyal, Ghotki of numerous houses, including my own. This led to the loss of all our possessions and livestock perished as our roof collapsed.”Among the various challenges we faced during the flood, such as obtaining food, medicine and shelter, the lack of privacy for personal hygiene was the most critical issue. It was addressed through community’s collective efforts by putting temporary toilet using the bamboo and Ralli to create a cover. Hakimzadi realizes that social customs like early marriage, negative attitude towards girls’ education and family planning are the main reasons for her socio-economic miseries. The natural disasters further aggregate these miseries. Hakimzadi and her son work as agriculture laborers’ to feed their large family. Most of the time what she earns doesn’t even bring adequate food for the family. Sometimes, they had to endure prolonged periods without food, going days without a meal. She said, “In addition to community, the Village Development Organization responded to our call and mobilized funds for rebuilding our house. Since the newly built house is registered in my name, that gives me a strong sense of protection and empowerment and I enjoy the pride of being in my own house.” Many women like Hakimzadi feel socio-economically deprived due to such natural disasters. Therefore, provision of houses will not only reduce the economic burden from their shoulders, but it will also lead to social empowerment. It is commendable that Hakimzadi serves the community, especially during the disaster, despite living in a socially conservative and challenging environment. During the flood of 2022, she participated in relief activities and highlighted women’s issues at various forums. She demanded from the government to support women in rebuilding their houses and ensuring their entitlements. Additionally, she emphasized the need to enhance women’s access to healthcare, education, and maternal health services.
“I never thought there would be a trade-off between bread and books. But the hardships of the flood compelled us to choose either education or food,” said Sahjan Bai. She is an elderly Hindu woman, mother of 10 children residing in village Tooh Maar, district Ghotki. Sahjan’s husband is a laborer but due to disruption caused by flood 2022 he occasionally finds any work to contribute to household’s meager income. One of her sons was studying in grade VIII when poverty, hardships and flood traumatized him and caused mental instability. Like millions of families, Sahjan could not protect herself from the disastrous effects of the flood. Her livestock (two goats and one cow, worth PKR 200,000) died during the flood. Her house was washed away, leaving her family nowhere to stay but at the roadside for two months. Besides the monetary loss, the lack of security was an additional challenge. The absence of washroom in relief camp area was making it difficult for women and girls to address their personal hygiene needs. They would wait for night to use darkness as cover for addressing their hygiene needs. They had to use rags for menstrual hygiene. Furthermore, the tormenting flood caused drastic learning losses for Sahjan’s children as their school suffered extensive damage. Realizing the challenges she faced due to illiteracy, Sahjan is determined to ensure that her daughter and two sons continue their education in a local primary school. She believes that by enabling her children to gain education and vocational skills, she will prepare them, especially girls, to face socio-economic challenges caused by natural disasters. However, the exacerbating inflation affected her ability to provide school supplies, like books, stationery, and uniform for her children. After surviving on the roadside and waiting for Government’s help, communities themselves dewatered village and moved back to their broken houses. They started rebuilding the demolished house with the help of their communities and local NGOs. However, due to inflation Sahjan could not finish all the reconstruction work; her bathroom is still unfinished. Concerned about education, particularly girl’s education, she pleaded with the Government to resume education activities at the earliest. She also suggested that Government must prioritize girls’ education and women’s safety and security in camps to avoid harassment incidents. She emphasized the government to allocate a consistent stipend for girls to enable them to pursue their education. Additionally, she highlighted the need for widows and deserving women-headed households to receive monetary support from government to meet their basic needs. The stipends will also help them in building their houses, washrooms and save livestock which is a main source of women’s livelihoods.
