Hope after a challenging year
Losing her home during last year's devastating flood in Pakistan was hard enough. But for Hafiza Bibi, the catastrophe was compounded by the deaths of her husband and daughter.
Her husband, who worked as a farmer and labourer-the sole source of income for the family-died of cancer during the heavy rains that caused the flooding and also destroyed her house. His death left Bibi a widow with four children to care for. While struggling to deal with those losses, her daughter suffered a nervous breakdown due to the trauma and stress of the flood and the death of her father.
"It took us a whole day just to reach to the nearest hospital," Bibi recalled of trying to find help for her daughter. "She stayed in the hospital for ten days but did not survive. She was only 21 years old."
With her house, husband and daughter gone, Bibi found shelter on the property of her brother-in-law--something she knows isn't a long-term solution. "I live in a makeshift tent just outside the house," she said, adding she wants to get her own house one day. She doesn't know how that will happen since "I have no money to build a place of my own," she said.
Along with that challenge, she can't afford to buy food. In fact, many people in her village in Pakistan's Sindh province struggled to find enough food to eat because of the flooding; Bibi and her children have sometimes gone for days without eating.
"Our relatives sometimes help us by giving wheat or money as charity," she said. "However, after the floods everyone suffered badly and no one we know was in a position to help."
Staff from Community World Service Asia (CWSA), a partner of The Humanitarian Coalition's member Canadian Foodgrains Bank, visited the area to assess needs. That's when they came across Bibi; they knew right away she needed help.
With assistance from The Humanitarian Coalition, supported by the Government of Canada, Bibi received 36,000 Pakistan rupees ($170 CAD) from CWSA to buy food.
"I bought essential food items such as wheat flour, rice, sugar, tea, milk and vegetables, "said Bibi of how she used the money to feed her family. "This assistance has provided me some relief and allowed me to put food on the table for my children."
Bibi is just of the 33 million people in Pakistan affected by the catastrophic flooding last year. Support from The Humanitarian Coalition, through its members and their partners, helped people like Bibi get the food they needed to get them through that difficult time.