Sindh province, Pakistan, after the floods

As mentioned in my previous post, I visited Pakistan for a work trip a couple of weeks back. I accompanied Singapore NGO Mercy Relief on their second disaster relief mission to Pakistan, which experienced its worst ever flooding this August.

It was my first time in Pakistan and my main concerns were security. Indeed, there were multiple bomb attacks in various parts of the country in the short 6 days I was there. Fortunately, none of them happened in Karachi, where we were based for this mission. But an Al Jazeera cameraman, who joined us for filming midway through, told us that he had a friend who died during a blast in Lahore just the day before. Despite that, he still maintained his professionalism and completed his filming over the next two days.

Indeed, if there was one thing I observed about the Pakistanis during the trip, it would be exactly that — they are a hardy bunch. Even during our visits to the various relief camps, I saw more smiling faces than sulking ones. Yes, the children are probably less aware of the severity of the situation and the whole displacement might have been more of a joyride to them, but among the adults, I saw many who seem to have gotten over their losses and are trying to improve their situation. The flood victims may have been through a lot, but life goes on.

Anyway, I was told to file a story on my fourth day, which came as a surprise because my boss had told me prior to the trip that I could file after I'd gotten back to Singapore. Fortunately, I managed to get access to a working PC with internet connection that afternoon — because of the time difference with Singapore, I had to send in my story by around 5 to 6pm local time. I say "fortunately" because on all the other days of the trip, we would have been in the middle of nowhere and there would have been no way I could have written a full story in time. It was still a mad rush though — I effectively had about two and a half hours to write the story and send in pictures. (To add to my fortune, I had already flagged my best pictures a day earlier, on the long van ride back to Karachi from the flood-hit areas, so it didn't take me very long to select the photos)

But it was worthwhile in the end, because a picture I took for my story made it to the front cover of the Straits Times. I couldn't contain my delight when Joanne first told me about it. 

The Straits Times cover on Sep 6, 2010.

The picture was of Madam Saleha, who lost her home during the flood. She now lives in a tent by the side of a road on an embankment, and depends on aid for food and water. It was a poignant picture because my story was about how the victims all want to go back to their land, where generations have lived. 

The original picture. Madam Saleha's house is somewhere under the water, in the background.

I also took many other pictures, which did not make it to print due to lack of space. I was very pleased with the Ricoh GXR camera (with the S10 24-72mm lens unit), which I had bought for this trip. It took me a while to get used to, as it operates a noticeably slower than my DSLR, but looking at the final products, I had very little to complain about.

Here are some of my personal favourites:

A boy carries a carton of read-to-eat food packs given out by Mercy Relief as his family follows him back to their makeshift tent in Thatta district, Sindh province.

Flood victims at a relief camp in Sindh queue up with their ration forms in hand while waiting for their turn to collect their carton of ready-to-eat meal packs, disbursed by Mercy Relief. 

Madam Aasi, 45, broke her left arm as she scrambled to evacuate her home when the floods came. But she recovered from her shock and eventually walked for 3 days before reaching the relief camp in Thatta district in Sindh province, where she is now staying. To her left are her daughter-in-law, who is holding her grandchild, and her daughter.

Three men walking on a flooded road near the Indus River. The last man was holding some fish he caught, presumably from the flood waters.

Ready-to-eat food packs, bought by Mercy Relief, in a store room at the office of their local NGO partner. 

Young flood victims in a relief camp in Thatta district, Sindh province.

A young girl at a relief camp in Thatta district, Sindh province.

Though short, the trip was a very memorable experience. I would never have gone to Pakistan under any other circumstances, given the volatile security situation. For the first time, I made it a point to let my mum know that I was ok at the end of every day during the trip — I just had to. I do wish to revisit this country again in less troubled times, however.

For now, I hope that all the victims are getting on well, and may they return to their land to start their lives anew soon.