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Pakistan

Children at Jalozai Camp in Pakistan study in their tent classroom
A pair of shy young girl students smiles at the camera.
A boy is engaged in class activity at an IRC tent school.
A young girl traces letters in a penmanship class.
Young students enjoy recess at an IRC-run school at the Jalozai Camp.
A student at an IRC-run school at Jalozai Camp plays cricket during recess.
Girl students enjoy recess with their teacher at Jalozai Camp.
The dusty Camp streets are lined with canvas walls, behind which, are tents.
A student peers out of her tent classroom.

Providing stability amid upheaval

Refuge, Pakistan
05.10.2012

More than 5,200 children attend IRC-run schools at the Jalozai camp for those displaced by conflict. The schools provide a stable environment and a routine that helps the children recover from the traumatizing experiences many have faced. Teachers are trained to actively involve students in learning, increasing their self-awareness and confidence.

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WASH, IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan

A class in post-flood recovery

Education, Asia, Pakistan
12.05.2011

As many as five thousand schools were damaged or destroyed in Pakistan's record flooding of 2010.  During this past summer, the IRC rehabilitated nine schools in northern Pakistan. We also retrained teachers, and revived Parent Teacher Associations. 

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Some of the 8,000 goats the IRC is distributing to flood-afflicted families in P
For much of August, some 300 goats were distributed daily- one per family. The g
The goats were quarantined and vaccinated prior to the distribution, to ensure t
Men, women and children stood in line for their goat. The priority families were
Pakistan has one of the world's largest populations of goats, with an estimated
A goat heads off to its new home in a seat of importance between its owners, in

8,000 goats

Pakistan Floods, Pakistan
08.31.2011

The IRC is helping flood-afflicted farming families in Pakistan’s Sindh province, one goat at a time. Many lost all their belongings, their crops, and their livestock in last year’s devastating floods.  Pi James, the IRC’s communications coordinator for our Pakistan programs, recently visited Sindh, while the IRC was coordinating a massive distribution of 8,000 goats.  Here are some of her photos.

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Men drive in a flooded street in Pakistan; IRC is rebuilding infrastructure
Men unload emergency supplies like food, hygiene kits after floods in Pakistan
A man carries materials, part of IRC Cash for Work program to rebuild roads
Children stand in a refugee camp where IRC provides water, hygiene, health care
A baby receives medical care; the IRC prevents and treats diseases like malaria
A girl in school; the IRC rebuilds schools that were damaged in the flood
IRC helps people who lost identification and documents in the flood
A boy stands in his sewing shop; the IRC trains people for good jobs to make mon
Pakistani men hold tickets for seeds, livestock, part of IRC livelihood program

Inside our work in Pakistan

Pakistan Floods, Pakistan
08.11.2011

The IRC has worked in Pakistan for over 30 years, providing health care, education, job training and other essential services. In 2010, the IRC reacted within hours to the monsoon flooding that left more than a fifth of the country inundated and continues to help Pakistan recover and rebuild.

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A boy stands in front of stagnant water and debris in a photo from 2010
Two women stand outside a tent
Flood victim Mir Salam in a picture from a year ago, sits next to his belongings
An aerial view of Azakhel showing trees and a few cows, but no houses.
Elders at the Camp look over Peter Biro's photos from a year ago.
Mir Salam wearing a broad smile
Two young girls eating at Azakhel Camp
A young boy smiles at the camera
Akhtar Muhammad speaks to the IRC about life in Azakhil Camp
A mason lays bricks for a future religious school for girls

Return to Azakhel

Pakistan
07.05.2011

A year ago the Azakhel Refugee Camp in western Pakistan was home to thousands of Afghan refugees. Many had lived there their entire lives and had build sturdy mud brick homes. But in August of 2010, the worst flash floods in living memory roared through the camp, washing the homes away. The IRC's Peter Biro documented the conditions with his camera immediately after the waters began to subside. Peter's colleague Ned Colt went back to Azakhel in the summer of 2011 to see what had changed.

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The people of Shah Wasaye returned to their village in late February. More than six months after the floods, the community is still in ruins.
A resident of the village clears debris from the spot where his house once stood. Flooding destroyed an estimated 1.7 million homes throughout Pakistan.
The IRC's Dr. Abdul Jalil examines patients in the village of Shah Wasaye. Most communities were poor even before the floods struck. Now they are suffering from an upsurge in disease brought on by food shortages, contaminated water and poor hygiene.
Parveen Abro, an IRC nurse, treats a girl from Shah Wasaye. The IRC operates two mobile health teams in Sindh Province that provide services to some 50,000 people.
Some 170,000 flood victims remain in camps for displaced people, according to the United Nations. The number of homeless people is much higher, including those living in tents beside wrecked homes, like this family near Shah Wasaye.
This family built a makeshift structure outside Shah Wasaye. The village's farm land and livestock were destroyed by the flooding.
The IRC has launched a far-reaching project that will rebuild vital infrastructure in hard-hit Sindh Province and help over 150,000 people.
Food shortages are acute in some areas of Sindh Province. The IRC's new aid project will rehabilitate agricultural land and distribute seeds, fertilizers, poultry and livestock.
The IRC supplies drugs and equipment to rural health clinics such as this one in the village of Mianjogoth.
The IRC has installed water tanks, hand pumps and latrines across Sindh Province. In the village of Aitbar Brohi, a girl pumps drinking water from a well.
A boy enjoys a clean shower in the village of Aitbar Brohi.
Cases of diarrhea and scabies have dropped dramatically since the IRC installed a fresh water supply, according to Mohammed Alem, who lives in a tent in Aitbar Brohi.
Much of Pakistan's flood zone is in the same desperate shape as it was six months ago. Although the international aid effort has helped millions of people it is still struggling to catch up to the immense human need.

After the flood

Pakistan
03.22.2011

More than six months on, the humanitarian crisis brought about by the worst flooding in Pakistan’s history is far from over.   The IRC is providing clean water and health care, and helping hard hit communities to rebuild vital infrastructure and kick start their local economies.

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Farmers including Obaid Ullah, 44, (center) happily load their wheat seeds onto a cart to take them to their fields for planting the next day. Failure to plant would mean another year without crops, food and income.
Haji Khan, 50, (right) helps Obaid Ullah (center) load a bag of wheat seeds onto a wheelbarrow. Khan says that he had carefully saved seeds from previous crops, but that they had all washed away in the floods. "These seeds make me very happy," he says.
Loading wheat seeds onto a cart to take to home. The IRC is also providing Khan, Ullah and other farmers in the area with 12,000 bags of fertilizer.
Azra (in red) and her friends watch as their fathers collect the wheat seeds for planting. These seeds will grow into much needed crops that will provide income for many families, Azra says with a hopeful smile.
Obaid Ullah with his wheat seeds.

Race against time

Pakistan
12.06.2010

Farmers in flood ravaged Pakistan are in a race against time to plough fields and sow seeds before the end of the winter planting season.  Failure to plant will mean another year without crops, food and income. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, the IRC is rushing to provide some 3,500 farmers with 300 tons of seeds.

 
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Nowshera, Pakistan: Children try a damaged hand pump in their village.
Nowshera, Pakistan: International Rescue Committee water tanker
Nowshera, Pakistan: Children fill drinking water containers
Nowshera, Pakistan: Three women living in tents
Nowshera, Pakistan: A widow, Tasleem, speaks about her family's hardships
Nowshera, Pakistan: Tamala, a mother of eight, in her temporary kitchen
Nowshera, Pakistan: This girl has not been able to return to school
Nowshera, Pakistan: This boy is suffering from a skin infection after the floods
Nowshera, Pakistan: Two girls collecting water in their village

Pakistan after the floods

Pakistan
11.23.2010

The IRC is providing lifesaving aid to families who lost their homes and livelihoods to the worst flooding in Pakistan’s history.  Although flood waters have receded in the northwestern Nowshera district and other hard-hit areas, the situation remains desperate.

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Men pray in the rubble of their flooded mosque in Swat Valley, Pakistan
A boy plays with a wooden rifle in Swat valley, Pakistan
Men, donkey carry wood on road in Swat Valley, Pakistan cleared by aid workers
Men in Swat Valley, Pakistan work on a water system installed by the IRC
Two villagers sit atop an IRC-built water tank in Swat Valley, Pakistan
Boys in Swat Valley, Pakistan play football in warm clothes from the IRC
A man in Swat Valley, Pakistan works in an IRC-built irrigation canal.
Children play cricket on a rebuilt street: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
A man rides a tractor in northwestern Pakistan
A village elder inspects a new crop of wheat in northwestern Pakistan.
A boy feeds chickens in northwestern Pakistan.
Four village elders in Camp Korona, northwestern Pakistan

Swat after the floods

Pakistan
11.23.2010

The people of Swat Valley have gone through unimaginable suffering in the course of just two years; first when the Pakistani military launched an offensive to drive out Taliban militants from the area and then by the worst floods in Pakistan’s history. The IRC is helping local communities recover and rebuild.

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In the absence of bridges, boats made from inner tubes and bamboo ferry passengers and goods across swollen rivers. Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC.
An old man, made homeless by the floods, collects firewood in Pakistan’s Swat valley. Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC.
Amjad Ali (with his neighbor Muhammad Aqil, right) has been forced to flee twice in little over a year. Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC.
Over one million houses have been destroyed by floodwater, leaving an estimated 8 million people homeless. Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC.
A girl sits by a damaged school in Swat district. As a result of the floods, education will be badly disrupted across Pakistan. Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC.
A communal well filled with thick mud in Mingora. Poor sanitary conditions and a lack of safe drinking water have created the potential for serious outbreaks of disease. To help stop the spread of disease, the IRC is distributing water purification tablets. The next step is to distribute drinking water and clean wells. Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC.
In some areas, the Pakistani army has set up makeshift lifts to ferry people across rivers. Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC.

A flood in the valley

Pakistan
08.25.2010

Already battered by a brutal counter-insurgency war, the people of Pakistan’s Swat Valley are now watching their lives and livelihoods washed away by flood waters.

Photos by Peter Biro/The IRC.

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