By:Alanna Shaikh
In July and August of this year, Pakistan was flooded by unusually violent monsoon weather. Twenty-one million people were affected when the floods first hit. Entire villages were wiped out; one-fifth of the entire country was under water. Four months later, a million people still need help. Huge quantities of the Southern province of Sindh are still submerged. The water may not recede until early next year.
Right now the story has gone from relief to an achingly slow recovery. Most people have returned to their home villages, but they are faced with rebuilding their lives in areas ravaged by flood waters. Homes and farmland have been destroyed – rebuilding and replanting is an immediate priority. So is permanent shelter for the million people who remain in camps. Tents are poor projection against winter weather. Winter will bring respiratory infections, influenza, and pneumonia, all of which are frequently deadly to already vulnerable people. They will spread quickly in crowded camp conditions.
