Islamic Relief - Emergencies And Appeals

Pakistan Flood Emergency Appeal

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Background

IR Response

Floods, landslides and earthquakes
25 January 2011

Begum in front of her home

“I was so afraid that I was shaking. It was raining so hard, and the noise was so loud I thought the whole mountain had collapsed,” said mother-of-six, Begum Noor. “We didn't know it was our house, we thought the mountain had come down. The children were so afraid, and so were we."

Begum is a widow living in Chilyana village, Neelum. Most of the family’s mountain-side home was destroyed when landslides caused by the heavy rains struck their neighbourhood.
Floods that shook the mountain

“Just as we were recovering from the earthquake, these floods came,” said Begum. In 2005, an earthquake measuring 7.6 killed almost 500 people in the area, including Begum’s husband and members of her extended family, and left her with injuries that make walking a daily challenge.

Fifteen years ago, cross-border firing severely injured one of Begum’s sons. The floods of 1992 washed away the most fertile of the family’s crop-growing land, which fed the household, provided fuel for heating, and generated a small income.
The landslides that destroyed the family’s house happened in the small hours of the morning. “When the rocks were falling, it sounded like an earthquake - the earth shook. As the water rose and the floods got higher the mountain shook beneath us. It rained for two days. It was so dangerous, and we were so scared we couldn't sleep. We thought we'd all be swept away.

“Most of what we owned, our possessions, was in that part of the house, so when the landslide took it we lost everything. We could have all been killed, but we survived, alhamdulilah [thank God].”

Begum's lives in the beautiful Neelum Valley

Preparing for a hard winter

The landslides also killed the family’s cow and buried a large water storage tank that Islamic Relief donors paid for in the aftermath of the 2005 earthquake.

“We had so many problems feeding the family,” says Begum’s daughter-in-law, Naseema Bibi, “Everything had been destroyed, and there wasn't enough food for us all. Everything was spoiled.”

The floodwaters took Naseema’s home too, which she shared with her husband and her four young children. The family has sought refuge from the approach of winter in Begum’s home.

“We need a safe shelter,” said Naseema. “This room we've temporarily fixed up isn’t safe. It hasn’t rained much yet, but we're afraid it might fall down. Water leaks in when it rains.”

Begum agrees that the room where the family are sheltering needs to be re-made safely, but says the family doesn’t have the means to do this.

“I'm a little weak now with old age, and we have no income. I’m slowly making preparations for winter; we're busy fixing what we can. We can't manage to get clothes for the children. We're just trying to mend things, but even that is hard because we lost all our tools.

“We're struggling to just fill our stomachs every day. It hurts to see the children suffering as well. But good times come and go and I’m still surviving.

“Both happiness and difficulty are from God and our fate is up to Him.”

Providing comfort and support

As Begum’s family looks to the future and struggle to rebuild what the floods washed away, the family find comfort in the help provided by Islamic Relief.
“Islamic Relief is here for us,” says Begum, “We're really grateful for how they’ve supported and sustained us.”

“In every difficulty, Islamic Relief is the first to reach us.” said Begum’s son, Mohammed, “Islamic Relief is with us every step of the way.”

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