The people who were very poor in Pakistan were made poorer by last year’s flooding there,” said David Sadoo, International Disaster Response executive for the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). “Lay that natural disaster on top of already existing security issues, and it’s a very difficult situation.” UMCOR is supported by your generous gifts on One Great Hour of Sharing Sunday. (March 18, 2012)

Sadoo was in Pakistan last December to assess UMCOR’s continuing response to the emergency. He traveled to the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) in the north and Sindh in the south, which suffered extensive damage in the flooding that rolled through Pakistan for three months last summer.

During his week-long visit, Sadoo traveled with personnel from Church World Service (CWS), an agency which, along with Muslim Aid and GlobalMedic, has been an important partner in Pakistan from the start of the emergency.

The Indus River, which runs the length of the country, floods every year, Sadoo said. But in 2010, heavier than usual monsoon rains provoked inundations not seen in Pakistan in 80 years—or, by some accounts, ever. Floodwaters covered 20 percent of the country, a land mass greater than the size of England.

“Unlike the earthquake in Haiti, which shook the country for about half a minute, the flooding in Pakistan was a slow-moving disaster. Floodwaters rose by inches at a time starting in July,” Sadoo explained. By late September, the retreating floodwaters had left massive destruction.

Nearly 1.9 million homes, 400 medical facilities, and 7,000 schools were damaged or destroyed in the disaster. Some 5,000 miles of roads and railways were wiped out, and 5 million acres of farmland were lost, according to Government of Pakistan estimates.

“Homes, livestock, crops, fields: all gone,” Sadoo said. “Infrastructure, including roads, bridges, and water systems, was severely damaged.”

Residents of Swat Valley had just returned to their homes a few months before the flooding when the Taliban was routed from the area. Once considered the “Switzerland of Pakistan” because of its rugged beauty, Swat Valley has seen its natural beauty marred and infrastructure destroyed in the violence.

Education opportunities in Kohistan are rare and literacy rates are extremely low, about 10 percent for men, 0.5 percent for women. Malnutrition, especially among children and women, is pervasive.

In Sindh province, which suffered the brunt of the flooding, international responders discovered alarming rates of already existing malnutrition, according to UNICEF.

Feudal economic relations that have kept farmers in this southern province in indentured servitude were apparent in the aftermath of the floods. Small farmers were obliged to sell the crops they’d salvaged to their landlords at a low price, while landlords turned around and sold the produce at much higher prices to local processing factories.

  UMCOR, through its partners CWS, Muslim Aid, and GlobalMedic provided immediate relief in the forms of clean drinking water, relief from dehydration, emergency medical care, food packs, tents, and hygiene kits. Thousands of families benefited.

Nevertheless, nearly six months after the floodwaters began to recede there is still widespread need both for emergency relief and long-term recovery across Pakistan.

--a story by By Linda Unger, UMCOR staff writer

One Great Hour of Sharing offering, a United Methodist Special Sunday, enables the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) to respond to disasters around the world by covering its operational and administrative costs. Unlike other mission programs, UMCOR receives no World Service or other apportionment money. By giving to One Great Hour of Sharing, you enable UMCOR to keep the promise that 100% of designated gifts, will go to support the designated PROJECTS. Please continue to give generously to the One Great Hour of Sharing. Your gift can make a difference in the lives of those who are hurting.