Kiwi UNICEF Worker Blogs from Pakistan

Tania McBride, is a New Zealander working for UNICEF as a Communications Specialist. She has recently been deployed to Pakistan, after severe floods have left 20 million people affected, including 8 million children.

Here she blogs about her experiences in Pakistan, after witnessing the devastation left by the “flood of the century”.

“I arrived last night in Sukkar, in the Sindh province, with a “Ladies and Gentlemen…in’shallah… we will land” tune only to immediately step onto the tarmac; into the searing furnace of heat and a mere 37 degrees at 8.30pm, causing sweat to drip down my back and face and pool into my neck.

Sindh has very badly hit by the recent flooding, with more than 2.5 million people in the last two weeks displaced from their homes and villages. A recent text message received today informed that another 400,000 people have been displaced over the last 24 hours. Tent camps line the route from the airport, and snapshots of lives flicker in the highlights of the car. People lying on mats by the road, children crying, the elderly woman fanning herself on a bed in the open air and the steamy night.

In the cold hard light of day, these images are even more disturbing. The scale of the disaster seen from the air simply outweighs the capacity on the ground to meet all of the needs.

Our mission this morning in the camp was to gather photographs for communications materials, more specifically hygiene promotion posters and leaflets. UNICEF WASH specialist Roberto Saltori says that targeting the population with four simple and yet critical key messages is going to be essential for the survival of children who have already fled the floods and are now facing serious risk of diseases. In this humid, hot environment where stagnant waters are fast becoming breeding grounds for mosquitoes and malaria, this is a critical move to educate the population.

One-year-old Farzana and her mother in Sukkar, Pakistan. ©UNICEF/Pakistan/McBride

Exclusive breast feeding, drinking clean water, washing your hands and covering faeces after defecation are the key messages UNICEF Water, Sanitation and Hygiene specialists in Sukkar have identified, and will use in the training of health promoters who will work with affected communities in the coming days.

The camp is home to approximately 200 internally displaced people, many of these children. UNICEF is already providing clean water supplies and a tankering truck was due to come and fill the 10,000 litre bladder for drinking use.

Upon our arrival, the children came running curious to see who we are and what we are doing. The tents flap slightly with the hot breeze, revealing their inhabitants; sometimes a bed, a mat with children sitting playing games, and other meager belongings gathered in haste. Women cook potatoes and chapattis over an open fire, seemingly oblivious to the flies, extreme heat and dusty conditions.

With Laikat, (our interlocutor from local NGO partner “Youth Action”) and a little cross cultural encouragement, their shyness quickly turned into enthusiasm and a bevy of aspiring actors and actresses lined up to demonstrate the benefits of clean drinking water and the need to wash your hands. Tailoring these IEC (Information, Education and Communication) materials is important for situating the messages within Pakistan. By having children from Pakistan as examples, they ensure that our messages link to the culture of the children and families we are working with, in order to kick start social mobilization around hygiene promotion.

Two girls in the Makeshift camp demonstrated the correct ways to wash your hands. Handwashing with soap or ash is a simple, but effective way of mitigating the spread of illness in camps. ©UNICEF/Pakistan/McBride

Laikat takes advantage of the children gathered in the temporary learning centre to provide an impromptu lesson on hand washing and using the toilets. Even though the children enthusiastically answer, we know that these messages will need to be continuously reinforced, especially as many of the displaced people move through the “faeces field” to tend their cattle and wash their clothes near a local contaminated canal.

Two girls in the Makeshift camp demonstrated the correct ways to wash your hands. Handwashing with soap or ash is a simple, but effective way of mitigating the spread of illness in camps.

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges for UNICEF to try and stop the spread of disease is the practice of open defecation. It’s estimated that the majority of the population in the camps engages in open defecation. While latrines have been set up in many of them, some children and adults still go to the toilet near to area where they are cooking, eating and living. These messages and training hygiene promotion sessions are vital to combat diseases and ensure that each child has the best possible chance of remaining healthy.

In disaster situations, it’s the children who suffer the most. In Sukkar, this reality is obvious to the eyes. It was striking today that not only was stress etched on their small faces but also on their bodies. An outbreak of skin diseases amongst the children – coupled with rashes caused by the conditions – was evident. Little Farzana had just been bathed by her mother. Her back was pockmarked with skin sores which had been treated by the UNICEF supported mobile health clinics, but at one year of age it was evident that she was also severely malnourished. Farzana’s mother, weary also with the extreme heat, fatigue and poor conditions, struggled to breast feed her and eventually gave up as small Farzana writhed and cried.

A group of newly displaced children and women camp by the roadide waiting for assistance. ©UNICEF/Pakistan/McBride

Surprisingly, these are the lucky ones. Those on the roadside have nothing. We stopped to talk to a group of newly displaced people, sheltering under their beds, some with nothing, just some small shade clothes. They are desperate. Children, elderly women and families – some who have come by foot – ventured 120km from Kandhkod to Sukkar only to find that there is no room, food or water at the camp.

Looking across to one of the temporary shelters, I catch the eye of a young adolescent girl. Her message is clear….we need help.”

If you would like to help, please donate to our Pakistan Flood Emergency Relief Fund.

Read Tania’s second, third and fourth blogs from Pakistan and let us know what you think of this one by leaving a comment below.