Relief/Recovery for flood affected in Pakistan

Dear Friends,

Thank you for the wonderful support and for trusting on AWARD. We would like to inform that AWARD has raised USD 91,000 to help and support the disaster affected communities. As there is still a great need and thousands are still under open sky without shelter, food and warm clothes, we would request all our supoorters to keep helping the people of Pakistan. 

Undertaken Activities:

The mentioned below activities were carried out prior to the food distribution:

1. Need Assessment in the flood affected areas.
2. Initial meeting with emergency department team regarding the food distribution in Tehsil Taunsa
3. Meeting with procurement committee for purchasing of the Food items from Faisalabad.
4. Visit to the flood affected areas of District Dera Ghazi Khan and short listing of the most vulnerable and badly affected areas
5. Purchased food items (for 15 days) and packed them properly for 300 families.
6. Formed Flood Relief Committees (FRC) in each area for the smooth and fair food distribution.
7. Flood Relief Committees (FRC) prepared the list of selected beneficiaries and distributed token among them prior to the distribution.
8. FRC informed the beneficiaries about date, time and venue where distribution had taken place and also assisted in distribution as volunteer.
9. Distributied food packages among the 300 most desrving families of Taunsa Sharif.

Details of the Activities:

Initial Meetings:

With Emergency Coordinator:

The Executive Director, AWARD and Program Manager had an initial meeting with the Emergency Coordinator and discussed the entire flood situation of the country (especially in Southern Punajb) with him.  A plan was designed for the effective procurement and distribution  of food packages among flood affected families.

With Procurement Committee:

A second meeting was held with the Procurement Committee (consisting of the Emergency Coordinator, Finance Manager and Program Manager) to prepare a plan to purchase the finest quality food items from the best stores of Faisalabad. The committee visited 3 departmental store in this regard and had quotations from them as well.                                                                                                                

Assesment of the flood affected areas:

The Emergency Coordinator along with other team members visited several flood affected areas of Tehsil Taunsa, Southern Punjab. The team faced transportation problem, as a large portion of land was covered with water and mud. However, 8 worst affected areas were selected for food distribution. The team also visited flood-affected families to learn about their needs, difficulties, mental trauma and health issues.

Formation of Flood Relief Commiittees:

Emergency coordinator with the help of community leaders and key stake holders formed, 8 Flood Relief Committees (FRC) in 8 selected flood affected areas (one committee for one project area). These FRCs were formed to assist the AWARD team in selecting the most deserving families who were not provided any assistance by the Government or by any organization.

Roles of the committees are mentioned below:

1. To assess and prepare the list of vulnerable families.
2. To distribute the token to the selected families.
3. To make arrangements for distribution of food packages.
4. To make arrangements for unloading and transportation to the target areas.
5. To have regular contact with Emergency Coordinator.

Later the FRCs prepared a list of 300 selected beneficiaries from 8 flood affected areas and distributed tokens to them for fair and square distribution. After finalizing the list, the tokens were distributed among 300 families to ensure the transparency. It was decided that the food package would be given to the family holding the token only. The community volunteered themselves along with AWARD staff  to  load and unload the food items from trucks and to distribute the tokens. They played an appreciative role during the food distributions.

Packing of food items:

 The procurement committee purchased food items form the a local cash and carry because of its easy access and the reasonable cost of food items. Later, the Food packages were packed and loaded under the supervision of emergency team and AWARD management on 8th September 2022. Prior to the departure of food packages vehicles, a short ceremony was carried out in which some renowned personnel such participated.

Distributions of Food packages:

AWARD team distributed 300 food packages to flood affected families of 8 different villages of Taunsa Sharif on September 09, 2022. Moreover, Assistant Commissioner ,Taunsa joined the distribution ceremony. These packages included different types of food items such as; flour(15 kg), rice (5kg), sugar (5kg), two types of grams (2kg +2kg), cooking oil (3 lit), tea leaves (½ kg), salt (1 kg), milk (1 carton), red chili (½ kg), biscuits (2 boxes), Dettol soap (3 packs), tooth paste (large family pack), tooth brushes (6), mosquito repellent lotion (1), sanitary pads (2), mineral water (20 lit), pyodine (1) and bandages (12).

The food packages (consisting food items for 15 days) were distributed among the beneficiaries in a very systematic manner by receiving the tokens which had already been provided to them and by taking their signature on the receiving sheets prepared by AWARD Pakistan. Moreover, the dignitaries expressed their views and thanked AWARD Pakistan and all the stakeholders for this act of generosity for their community.

All the families were happy after receiving the packages, as no other public and private organization reached them. They also thanked GlobalGiving and Award team for this timely support. Lastly, the award management appreciated the efforts and volunteering of the FRCs.