Entry republished with permission by UM Healthcare

Date: 13 Aug 2010
Place: Villages Totakai & Gunbatay,
Tehsil: Tangi
District: Charsadda.
Team: CDRS (paramedical staff) and UM Healthcare Trust (Dr. Qasim and paramedical staff)

Today’s camp was directed at medical and relief activities in Village Totakai which lies in District Charsadda.  Charsadda has been the worst hit district in the recent monsoon floods. According to government sources 60% of the local population has been affected, putting the figure at around 700,000 affectees. Part of the reason for theses staggering numbers is Charsadda’s geography. The district is flanked by three main rivers; Kabul River, Swat River and River Jindi. These rivers then merge south of the district and join the Indus river. Although this makes it one of the best irrigated and most fertile areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, it also renders the region vulnerable to flood waters. River Jindi particularly, broke its banks and affected a large area around Tangi Tehsil.

There has not been much improvement in the situation yet. People are still awaiting relief even 2 weeks after the floods caused massive devastation to their houses and crops. Although flood waters have receded, it will take a long time to rebuild the area and rehouse the displaced people. Most of the scenic villages along the river banks now lie in ruins.

UM Healthcare and CDRS joined forces to provide relief to yet another village in Charsadda, called Totakai. It lies in Tehsil Tangi, which was particularly hard-hit. Many houses and boundary walls lay in ruins. We had already established our field office at the beautifully designed haveli (mansion) of Dilawar Khan, a landlord of the area, where we had stored supplies of medicines for onward distribution. We left early and had arrived at the camp site by 9 in the morning. The camp was at the place of a local elder, M Zeb Khan. His house is situated in the center of the village Totakai and refugees living with host families were quickly informed of our arrival. By noon we had treated 118 patients, mostly women and children.

Among the women a significant number were suffering from anxiety and stress.

Dr. Qasim examining an elderly patient

The loss of loved ones and property has also increased the incidence of depression here. We provided counseling to them, suggesting ways to focus on rebuilding activities and to help maintain the health and hygiene of their dependents. The support of local community is also helping in giving affected people a sense of hope amid the grief and devastation.

Most of the children were suffering from gastroenteritis and respiratory tract infections, as they are more vulnerable to these illnesses in monsoon season. There were also many children who were anemic, depicting the poor health status and inadequate nutrition of this population, even before the floods. Our team also vaccinated the patients against Tetanus and distributed toys among the children.

The villagers are trying to cope with a lot of stress and difficulties. They keep scavenging in mud and flood water to look for any belongings that were spared. Thus the incidence of dermatitis and scabies is on the rise and we heavily prescribed skin lotions and emollients to them.

Food is scarce and it’s the month of Ramadan. I asked a frail, elderly lady why she was fasting in spite of her illness. She replied, “There’s hardly any food to feed our children and there’s no help from the administration. I might as well fast so my grand children can have more to eat.”

We had anticipated this by our experience at previous camps and now we carry extra rations of bottled water and water purification tablets at each camp. We had brought along a truck load of water and milk and food items to be distributed among the affectees. Alongside our medical camp, one of UM Healthcare’s Trustees, Mr. Zahid Khan supervised the relief goods distribution to the locals,  with help from local school teachers in record-keeping. A local Councillor visited our camp during the day and appreciated efforts of the organizations in bringing help to their area.

On our way back the road was blocked temporarily by a group of protesters demanding he government to intervene and send help quickly to flood victims. We observed the River Jindi level had risen again since morning. This regular surging of the rivers is one reason why the people still can not return for rebuilding their homes, for fear of a second wave of floods.

Protesters demand more support from the Government

Report prepared by Dr. Qasim Nasr, Medical Officer, UM Healthcare Trust