Counselling and play bring life back to traumatized children in Balochistan

By A. Sami Malik

Balochistan, Pakistan, 25 October 2010 – Syeda Khatoon, a grandmother in her fifties, faces a double ordeal: recovering from the flood-related death of her son, Syed Ghulam, and caring for her six grandchildren in the Mangoli camp. Her daughter-in-law died in 2008 while giving birth to her sixth child, leaving Ms. Khatoon to raise her grandchildren. After the massive flooding that began in July 2010, she managed to flee from her native village near Shikarpur, one of the worst flood-affected cities in Sindh Province, across into Dera Murad Jamali, in Balochistan.

“We had to leave our home overnight,” Ms. Khatoon said. “We spent two nights on a roadside as I begged people for a ride to a safer location. No one wanted to carry us as they were all in a hurry trying to save their own lives. We were penniless and I had to sell my granddaughter’s earrings to raise money for transportation to this camp.”

© UNICEF Pakistan/2010/Malik
Syeda Khatoon cares for her grandchildren in the Mangoli Camp in Nasirabad District.
Her son died in the flooding and her daughter-in-law died giving birth to their sixth child.
Five of the children attend UNICEF-supported child-friendly spaces.

Ms. Khatoon eventually reached the Mangoli camp in Balochistan’s Nasirabad district.  She felt extremely vulnerable as the sole head of a family. Many of the 418 families in Mangoli camp were headed by women, because men either perished in the floods or moved to major cities in search of work. Most of the families in the camp had been there for more than two months. Those managing the camp encouraged them to move back to their places of origin, but many villages were still under water. And once they returned home, families faced further hardship, because many houses and belongings were washed away by the floods.

With no source of income, Ms. Khatoon is completely dependent on the camp’s services. She is unsure about the future and extremely worried about the well-being of her orphaned grandchildren.

Balochistan is one of the five provinces in Pakistan. It is the largest but has a low population density. According to Balochistan’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority, 11 districts in the province were affected by the floods - impacting the lives of an estimated 700,000 people, nearly 6 per cent of the total flood-affected population in Pakistan. Schools, health facilities, food and livestock, roads and bridges and other infrastructure were partially or completely damaged.

UNICEF, with the help of its implementing NGO partner, Society for Empowering Human Resource (SEHER), established 11 child-friendly spaces in the Mangoli camp. These places are safe havens for children. Children can play and learn through playful activities and a counsellor is available to help them overcome their trauma. The child-friendly spaces in Mangoli are among the 64 fixed and 12 mobile child-friendly spaces in Balochistan. Nearly 6,000 children benefit from the services offered. Child protection committees have also been established to support these places within camps for internally displaced persons.

© UNICEF Pakistan/2010/Malik

UNICEF’s Child Protection Officer, Zahida Manzoor interacting with children

at one of the CFSs in Magnolia camp established

 with UNICEF’s support for the flood-affected IDPs

 in district Nasirabad of the Balochistan province

Two women-friendly spaces were also established in the camp to provide psychosocial support and privacy for breastfeeding women. More than 600 women have benefited from these this service.

“All we have in this camp is this tent,” said Syeda Khatoon. “Sometimes we don’t even get food on time. But I am happy that five of my grandchildren go to the centre [the child-friendly space]. They are learning how to read and write, and when they come back, they keep talking about it. I don’t understand any of what they talk about, but I know that they are happier than before.”

One of Ms. Khatoon’s grandchildren, Naseeba, 12, had never been to school prior to arriving in Mangoli. Exposure to the child-friendly environment and learning through playful activities has been an eye-opener for her. She shows keen interest in all activities and learning as well as the games.

“We study in this centre,” Naseeba said, “and do whatever the Baji [teacher] tells us to do – read, write or play. We then go home, have lunch and come back to the centre. I skip a rope, play football and other games. I wish that when I go back home there is a centre like this where I could study.”

Psychosocial support is a strong force for normalizing the lives of women and children affected by the floods. UNICEF helped SEHER hire Arifa, a qualified psychosocial counsellor who moves among the various child-friendly spaces. The children have developed a strong bond with her.

“The fear of the floods is still on their minds,” said Arifa. “By helping them to play games, giving them special attention and talking to them, we try to help them overcome that fear. We provide them counselling, as a result of which they are gradually coming out of the trauma and returning to a normal life. The smile, happiness and innocence, which should be on every child’s face, are gradually coming back to these child

UNICEF's Continued support 6 months after the floods in Balochistan ...

By : Jawahir Habib

The flood hit areas of Balochistan still show a grim picture of devastation from the worst floods in the history of the country. According to PDMA floods affected a population of 700,000 in Balochistan province only. Martin Mogwanja, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the region termed the situation in Balochistan as “A tragedy within a tragedy”.

Young girls utilizing emergency latrines and hygiene products 

provided by UNICEF at ShahChowki Camp Jafferabad

Photo credit: UNICEF/Pak2010/Sami Malik

Balochistan is the province with lowest literacy rates and poorest health indicators in the country. 69% of households in Balochistan have no improved toilet facility at all. About 66% households in Balochistan don’t have access to water in their premises.

In emergencies such as the 2010 Pakistan floods UNICEF is committed to ensure that the flood affected children and woman have access to sufficient water of appropriate quality and quantity for drinking, cooking and maintaining personal hygiene. UNICEF Balochistan continues to provide clean drinking water to 340, 000 people in two most flood affected districts Naseerabad and Jafferabad on daily basis through 76 water tankers after 6 months of floods hitting these districts of Balochistan

UNICEF is working on recovery and currently has installed 17 drinking water treatment plants in Naseerabad and Jafferabad providing clean drinking water to around 84,000 men women and children.

A Boy fetching water from water filters 

established

 by UNICEF at ShahChowki Camp Jafferabad..

Photo credit: UNICEF/Pak2010/Sami Malik

UNICEF Balochistan has been working in the five most affected districts Naseerabad Jafferabad, Sibi, Kohlu and Barkhan to provide access to toilets and washing facilities that are culturally appropriate ,secure ,sanitary and gender appropriate. More than two thousand five hundred emergency latrines and two thousand two hundred washing places have been constructed in the five most affected districts benefiting a population of hundred thousand floods affected man women and children.

To increase awareness about child illness especially water borne diseases as diarrhoea UNICEF Balochistan has conducted 1,985 Hygiene promotion sessions in five most affected districts (Kohlu, Barkhan, Sibi, Naseerabad and Jaffarabad) provide health and hygiene related information to 37,715 men, women and children.The situation in the flood affected districts has been improving however the districts face major challenges regarding water sanitation and Hygiene. UNICEF along with its partners is working in these areas to ensure that Girls, boys and women have protected and reliable access to sufficient, safe water and sanitation and improved hygiene facilities.

Child-friendly centres help young victims of floods and conflict in north-western Pakistan

Child-friendly centres help young victims of floods and conflict in north-western Pakistan

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA PROVINCE, Pakistan, 29 November 2010 – The floodwaters may have receded in Dera Ishmail Khan district’s Band Koray village, but the troubles of families returning home have multiplied. Here in north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the situation remains dire for millions who have lost what little they had.

Temporary learning centres offer new opportunities for children in Pakistan's flood-relief camps

By Sami Malik

BALOCHISTAN, Pakistan, 15 November 2010 – Sitting in her family’s tent, Reshma, 8, proudly shows her mother a textbook she received from the temporary learning centre – or TLC – here in a relief camp located at the Jaffarabad Flour Mill.

VIDEO: 26 October 2010 - UNICEF correspondent Anja Baron reports on temporary learning centres operating in the flood-relief camps of Balochistan Province, Pakistan. Watch in RealPlayer

Reshma had no exposure to formal education prior to her arrival at this camp for people affected by recent flooding in Pakistan. Now, she is one of the regular students at the TLC, established by the Balochistan Boy Scouts Association (BBSA) with support from UNICEF. 

Before the floods, Reshma’s parents lived in Mala Bagan Baba village, near the city of Jhatpat in Jaffarabad district. When the floodwaters came, they had to pack up their five children and flee. Fortunately, the Jaffarabad Flour Mill camp had been set up only 3 km west of their village. Here, they were registered and allocated a tent.

Window of opportunity for education

In the midst of the crisis, Reshma’s parents scarcely could have imagined that this hardship would open a window of opportunity for their children – an opportunity for education. “Our house, village and all belongings have been lost in the floods,” says her mother. “We have come to this camp and our children are happily studying here. The rest we can withstand.”

© UNICEF Pakistan/2010/Sami

A teacher and students inside a temporary learning centre at the Jaffarabad Flour Mill relief camp in Pakistan's flood-affected Balochistan Province.

The Jaffarabad Flour Mill camp is situated between the highway and the railway line that link Balochistan Province to the rest of the country. Almost 7,000 displaced people, most of them children and women, reside in the camp.

UNICEF started supporting the affected population soon after the camp was commissioned in early August. Through its non-governmental partners, UNICEF is providing safe drinking water and sanitation facilities. It has also established child-friendly spaces for recreation and learning activities, and the TLCs for providing basic education. So far, 18 TLCs have been established in the camp, benefiting over 1,300 girls and boys.

Overall, UNICEF has supported a total of about 140 TLCs in the three flood-affected districts of Jaffarabad, Nasirabad and Sibi – and in Quetta, which has not been hit by floods but where some of the flood-affected population is residing in camps. At present, nearly 7,000 boys and girls are enrolled in the TLCs of Balochistan. UNICEF is providing them with ‘School-in-a-Box’ kits, emergency education and recreation kits, water coolers and school furniture.

Students eager to learn

Nadia is one of the teachers hired by the BBSA to work at a camp learning centre. Her own plans to pursue further studies after matriculation were disrupted when the floods displaced her family to the Jaffarabad camp.

© UNICEF Pakistan/2010/Sami

Reshma, 8, is a student at the temporary learning centre in the Jaffarabad Flour Mill flood-relief camp, Balochistan Province, Pakistan.

“I have 103 students here. These girls are studying Urdu, English and Mathematics. They are eager to learn,” she says. “By seeing other children study, more are becoming attracted to learning for the first time in their lives. Some of them were not going to school in their native village or city, but they are studying here and with a lot of eagerness.”

UNICEF Education Specialist Sanaullah Panezai explains that the TLCs provide benefits that transcend schooling.

“Besides catering to the needs of children whose education was disrupted by the floods,” she says, “TLCs are designed to absorb diversity and uphold inclusiveness.” Ms. Panezai adds that the centres provide opportunities for learning, socializing and recreation – including opportunities for children who were earlier excluded from the education system.

You can also follow the story on unicef global site :

Temporary learning centres offer new opportunities for children in Pakistan's flood-relief camps

BALOCHISTAN, Pakistan, 15 November 2010 – Sitting in her family’s tent, Reshma, 8, proudly shows her mother a textbook she received from the temporary learning centre – or TLC – here in a relief camp located at the Jaffarabad Flour Mill.