In southern Pakistan, residents of a flooded area float on a makeshift raft. Photo: Caritas Pakistan
In summer 2011, heavy monsoon rains inundated southern Pakistan, an area already reeling from massive floods in 2010. Here, a survivor tells her story.
My name is Shakeela Mohammad Bakhsh. I live in Badin along with my two brothers and sisters. We are living under the guardianship of our uncle because our father died.
I still remember the night of July 22, 2011. We were all sleeping—it was 3 a.m. Suddenly we heard the noise of flood waves reaching our house. The water level was rising fast, too fast for us to carry some household items. We heard the cries and moans of the people around us calling for help and rescue.
At last, some rescue teams came for us and carried us to a safer place. Here, we were alone, and had nothing to eat or drink with us. Adding woes to worries, my brother fell ill and we did not know where we would find the money to arrange his treatment.
After a few days, a Caritas Pakistan team visited the area and saw the miserable conditions we were living in. At first, we wondered if this team would act like others–collecting data from us but never reappearing.
Our apprehensions proved wrong. Two days later, they distributed tokens for food hampers. On the promised date, they gave us a large food hamper, even more than we had thought. The ration in the food hamper was enough to fulfill our needs for a month. A few days later, Caritas Pakistan gave us kitchen utensils, quilts, bedsheets and pillows.
Caritas Pakistan is still in regular contact with us. We are really thankful to Caritas Pakistan for looking after us and supporting us in a difficult time.
