{"id":498322,"date":"2022-10-04T18:03:48","date_gmt":"2022-10-04T15:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/my-devastating-inspiring-trip-to-provide-flood-relief-in-pakistan\/"},"modified":"2022-10-04T18:03:48","modified_gmt":"2022-10-04T15:03:48","slug":"my-devastating-inspiring-trip-to-provide-flood-relief-in-pakistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/my-devastating-inspiring-trip-to-provide-flood-relief-in-pakistan\/","title":{"rendered":"#My devastating, inspiring trip to provide flood relief in Pakistan"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3b01ce89386\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3b01ce89386\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/my-devastating-inspiring-trip-to-provide-flood-relief-in-pakistan\/#%E2%80%9CMy_devastating_inspiring_trip_to_provide_flood_relief_in_Pakistan%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;My devastating, inspiring trip to provide flood relief in Pakistan&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CMy_devastating_inspiring_trip_to_provide_flood_relief_in_Pakistan%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;My devastating, inspiring trip to provide flood relief in Pakistan&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n                            Following the worst floods in Pakistan history, Mashaal Saeed of Islamic Relief Canada shares what she witnessed\n                        <\/div>\n<div>\n                                                                        <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Following a summer filled with the worst floods Pakistan has ever seen\u2014which displaced more than 33 million people and killed at least 1,678\u2014countless volunteers and aid workers visited the country to help with relief efforts. One of them was Mashaal Saeed, a Pakistani-Canadian who <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">travel<\/a>led to her home country with Islamic Relief Canada. She was devastated by the destruction she witnessed, and remains determined to help in any way she can. This is her story.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cFor the past three years I\u2019ve worked for Islamic Relief Canada. I moved from Saudi Arabia to Mississauga, Ont. when I was five years old, but regularly visited the homes of friends and family members in Pakistan. I was always greeted with warmth and hospitality. During my most recent trip, I witnessed unimaginable destruction as a result of this summer\u2019s historic floods, but the people I met were just as warm, hospitable and filled with hope as I remembered. <\/span><b>It was both devastating and inspiring.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I had been planning to visit Pakistan with Islamic Relief Canada for several months to check on some of our organization\u2019s long-term initiatives there. But the situation changed drastically after massive floods\u2014caused by an unusually intense monsoon season, melting glaciers and a severe heat wave\u2014wreaked havoc on the country this summer. Though I was nervous leading up to the trip, sitting at home in Canada watching what was h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ening made me feel helpless. I was eager to get there and do whatever I could to help.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As we pulled into a town in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which was heavily affected by flooding, my brain could not process what I was seeing. We quickly went from driving on dusty, dirt roads in a scorched, dry area to being completely surrounded by water. <\/span><b>There was so much water that I initially thought I was looking at a lake, but then I saw the roofs of drowned houses.<\/b><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" style=\"background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CijFhEPL7lW\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By the time we visited, the water had already receded significantly from where it had been just days prior, but it was still up to my shoulders (or even higher) in some areas. In many of the places we saw, the water remained at a standstill. Locals told me that this was one of the main differences between these floods and flooding in previous years. One man told me he\u2019d lived through two other devastating floods in the country, but this was by far the worst because the water came in quickly and stayed for days or even weeks, whereas in the past it receded almost as quickly as it arrived.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And it\u2019s not just water\u2014it\u2019s mixed with sewage, trash and dirt. This is causing major health issues for Pakistani people.<\/span><b> Locals told me at least two people in their town had passed away from dengue,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0a virus that is transmitted by mosquitoes and thrives in moist conditions. I suspect that number has risen since I left.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>RELATED: Nothing prepared me for what I saw in Ukraine<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Driving through the country, I saw protective walls that had been installed to defend against floods but didn\u2019t stand a chance and crumbled at the force of the water. <\/span><b>I saw skeletons of buildings that were once hotels and schools that had quite literally been washed away in the storms.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0I saw huge, ancient trees ripped from their roots. I saw massive bridges made from stone\u2014bridges that were once sturdy and strong\u2014demolished and destroyed. Because of the number of bridges that were destroyed by the floods, providing aid to certain areas was impossible at first, but fortunately Islamic Relief Canada is now able to do so via helicopter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The water also brought in thick, sticky, slippery mud, and I witnessed locals using squeegees to remove this mud from their barely standing homes. In some places, it was still up to their knees when I arrived.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But despite the unlivable, devastating conditions I witnessed, the people we met were nonetheless eager to welcome us in and show us what remained of their homes. That was an emotional experience for me, because the community really let us in and shared their feelings openly. <\/span><b>You could see the pain in their faces and hear it in their voices, and yet they still made every effort to be hospitable and make us feel welcome<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Some even apologized for not being able to serve us tea or host us in better circumstances.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I was able to help provide over 400 food packs while in Pakistan, and<\/span><b> Islamic Relief Canada will continue its efforts to provide clean drinking water, food, shelter, hygiene kits and feminine products for as long as needed.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0We have so many incredible people working day and night on the ground there, and they will continue to do so until the Pakistani people can return to some sense of normalcy. But we need funds to be able to do it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Islamic Relief Canada is one of the 12 organizations for which the Canadian government pledged to match donations.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0We received a matching fund of about $5 million, allowing us to double our impact. But the work is far from over. Millions of houses must be rebuilt from the ground up, an endeavour that will surely take years. We need anyone who is able to <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/islamicrelief.ca\/pakistan\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">donate to the cause<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The time I spent in Pakistan was difficult, but leaving was much harder. I felt guilty departing the country I love\u2014the country that feels most like home to me\u2014during its hour of need. I wanted to stay, to keep helping, but returning to Canada has allowed me to share what I saw with people in this part of the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>MORE: How to fix our broken health care system<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was only once I left that all of my emotions set in, and I realized I had been going on adrenaline the entire time. I am still grappling with the sadness I felt witnessing so much devastation in Pakistan, a place that holds so many happy and significant childhood memories for me. And that pain is exacerbated knowing <\/span><b>this was not just a natural disaster taking its course. This was caused by climate change.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pakistani people have been through so much, and yet we never lose hope for a better future. Witnessing that hope during my visit, despite all the devastation and tragedy, is what keeps me going. Pakistan will always be home to me, and I\u2019ll continue holding on to hope that things will get better for the people and the place I hold so dear.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>\u2014As told to Mira Miller<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"under-article-widget-print\">\n<div class=\"under-article-widget-print-content\">\n<p class=\"under-article-widget-title\">Like what you&#8217;re reading?<\/p>\n<p class=\"under-article-widget-description\">Get 12 print issues for $24.99!<\/p>\n<p>                                                                                                                            Subscribe\n                                                                            <\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"under-article-widget-print-image\">\n                                                                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"304\" height=\"176\" src=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/mac-default-print-widget-image.png\" class=\"under-article-widget-print-img\" alt=\"Magazine covers\"\/><br \/>\n                                                                                <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"under-article-widget-print-logo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/themes\/macleans.ca\/assets\/images\/logo-white.png\" alt=\"Logo\"\/>\n                                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async defer crossorigin=\"anonymous\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\"><\/script><script async defer src=\"https:\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/news\/world\/i-travelled-to-pakistan-to-help-with-flood-relief-it-was-devastating-and-inspiring\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;My devastating, inspiring trip to provide flood relief in Pakistan&#8221; Following the worst floods in Pakistan history, Mashaal Saeed of Islamic Relief Canada shares what she witnessed Following a summer filled with the worst floods Pakistan has ever seen\u2014which displaced more than 33 million people and killed at least 1,678\u2014countless volunteers and aid workers visited&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":498323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screen-Shot-2022-10-04-at-8.59.48-AM-766x431.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[133863,133864,17320],"class_list":["post-498322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-flood-relief","tag-pakistan-floods","tag-pakistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}