The difficult roads make it a longer and more tiring journey than it should have been. It is still the early hours of the morning and were not it not for the blasting AC in the car, we too would have felt the scorching heat of this hot summer day. Today, we are travelling to Tangi, a village almost 60 km north of Peshawar. Assessments have already been made and the results have not been good. People there are waiting for our arrival in great anticipation. They have been told a medical team is finally arriving. Many of us have already heard about the floods in Pakistan on the news. However, experiencing these situations in person goes that extra distance in allowing you to fully contemplate just how serious the situation is out here. The aftermath of the floods that I experienced during this journey was unbelieveable. At one point during the journey, I saw the rooftop of a building just above the water level. Someone pointed out that it was a hotel, now it was beneath the water. This was the case with entire villages, shops and every other building. Everything was under the water. In other areas, the level of water had subsided and it had left behind nothing intact. As a result, in this region alone, hundreds of people have died and millions are left homeless. People are now living in graveyards, on roadsides... anywhere they can. They have no food, no water, no shelter and no medication. Their entire livestock has been destroyed and they wander from place to place in dirty muddy clothes – all that they have left now of their possessions. Many roads and bridges have been blocked by the floods, making it very difficult for people to move around. There is water and mud everywhere and at one point I wonder how we will ever make it to the village of Tangi. Alhamdulillah, we finally arrive and from the car window I see there are a lot of people waiting in the distance. Too many. We were given a few tables to work from. The medications were laid out before us. We were each given one bottle of mineral water which was the only drinking water we would have for the day, and no food. The weather was hot but that was the least of anyone's worry. Men were gathered on one side of the table and the women on the other. These were all local Pukhtoon people. Children were everywhere; barefoot and dirty. We worked continuously until Dhuhr time. We prayed and then continued until the evening. Over 400 people were there, most of whom were women and children. They had many different ailments and we neither had the sufficient amount nor the right resources to attend to their medical needs. These destitute people have nothing left except hope that some help would arrive. I arrived back home in Islamabad only to receive another phone call from a place called Layyah in the Punjab region. “Thousands of people have been made homeless there. They have no food, water, nothing.” Similar story, only no one has been there or even has any plans of traveling down to that region to professionally assess the situation and arrange relief because all resources are being utilized in other areas. For the people of Layyah, they are left to help themselves in whatever ways they can. It is a huge and worrying struggle. This is just a minor account of what I experienced to give you readers an idea of what is going on out here in addtion to what you already know. One of the aid workers, who is incharge of assessing and providing emergency relief and who worked to provide emergency relief for the people of Swat and Muzaffarabad during the earthquakes, said, “In the past 13-14 years of work I have done, I have never seen anything as bad as this.” My second purpose of writing this is to make an appeal to each and every one of you to donate whatever you can to help these people. You can donate online to Muslim Aid or Doctors Worldwide – both registered and renowned UK-based international charity organizations. We need to raise whatever we can, however we can, to purchase much-needed medication, food and clean water to drink. We also need money for shelter, but right now, this probably comes as a secondary requirement. It is extremely difficult to truly appreciate what Allah has blessed us and our families with until we come face to face with the reality of what so many people, like the people of Pakistan who have been hit by the floods, are experiencing. In many cases when we donate, we will give a certain amount when in reality we are capable of giving more. My appeal to everyone in this case is to please open your hearts and give that extra more. It will go a very long way in helping our brothers and sisters here. Many of you have your own children and will spend every penny you have in order to help even one child of yours in need. These people have children suffering from multiple health problems and they can do nothing except wave off flies from landing on their infected wounds. Ramadan too is fast approaching. I would urge everyone to make the most of this opportunity and hasten to increase your good deeds. There are plans of opening mobile medical clinics which will cost around $20,000-30,000. Even if what we raised was used generally for food, water and medical supplies, if we truly came together and gave from what Allah has blessed us with, sincerely and wholeheartedly, we could raise this money and much more Insha Allah. – SG Farhan Safdar is a British doctor currently working with Doctors Worldwide to provide medical assistance in flood-hit areas of Pakistan. He can be reached at +923345446694 or emailed at [email protected] __
