It has been more than two months now, since the worst flood hit Pakistan in early August. The flood affected about 20 million people, by destruction of property, livelihood and infrastructure. Amjad Jamal, a WFP spokesman in Pakistan, relates the general situation of the country as millions of people are in the process of recovering from the calamity through the help of relief and food assistance efforts.
Jamal describes the Pakistan today if we were to go to areas in Swat Valley in the north and Sindh and Balochistan in the south. People residing in the Swat Valley are rebuilding their houses since the floodwaters have already receded. They are also replanting their fruit orchards, one of their sources of livelihood. Wheat crop planting resumes in the fields of Punjab. Areas such as Sindh and Balochistan are still in flood thus residents there still live in camps and can't return to their homes.
Furthermore, he added that people are working hard to reclaim their lives with the relief efforts in assistance to their needs. Even though a poor harvest is expected this coming season, the fertile soil due to the flood waters may give a good harvest for the one after the next summer.
Because of the large number of affected people, helping them one by one is a big challenge. Jamal said that the relief efforts are costly and complicated. Another factor is the difference in the needed assistance of each area. Punjab requires the rebuilding of irrigation canals while Sindh's southern region needs to reclaim the farms from the floodwaters. The farmers in Sindh have missed the September planting season. It is also difficult to get to everyone in Balochistan due to its widely scattered population. The threat of security along the Afghan border aggravates the challenge in helping all the flood victims.
WFP started to help people who were displaced when the calamity began in August. Some of the assistance they gave are distributing food and helping in rebuilding homes, walls, and planting crops. Amjad Jamal shared a story that left a deep impression on him. He met a man whose wife died due to the sight of their house being torn by the floodwater. That man promised his children that they will rebuild their house just the way it was.