Save the Children has launched an emergency response to devastating Pakistan floods
Save the Children has launched an emergency response to get life-saving help to children and their families after torrential flooding in Sindh province, Pakistan. Hundreds of thousands of people - many whom had not fully recovered from the catastrophic 2010 floods that destroyed millions of families' livelihoods - have once again lost their homes. Save the Children aims to provide holistic support to 1 million people, including 600,000 children and is targeting three of the worst hit districts: Badin, MirpurKhas and Sanghar. Save the Children is already working with local partners to deliver shelter material, emergency health kits and household kits including soap, buckets and blankets to families in desperate need. Almost 8.1 million people have been affected 361 individuals have lost their lives 1.4 million houses have been damaged 6.6 million acres of land have been totally destroyed Around 625,000 people have been displaced to temporary relief camps, of which more than 233,000 are children.
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What is Save the Children doing:- To date we have reached over 935,000 people with life-saving humanitarian support in Food, Health, Nutrition, Shelter as well as Child Protection and Education interventions.
- Over 9,600 tons of food has been distributed to 83,510 households (584,570 recipients) including 204,600 children in partnership with the World Food Program.
- 154,190 patients have received healthcare services.
- To date, a total 8,315 children have benefited from Save the Children's Child Friendly Spaces and temporary schools in the flood affected districts of Badin and Mirpur Khas.
- Save the Children has distributed 6,503 family packages, each containing a shelter kit, a household kit and a hygiene kit, for the benefit of 45,521 people.
- 18,496 people have benefited from water, hygiene and sanitation services such as, temporary latrines.
You can support children and families affected by disasters like the Pakistan Flood by donating to our Children's Emergency Fund.
Learn more about the Pakistan Floods
Human Stories  Saddam
Saddam is 10 years old and lives in Mirpurkhas district in Sindh with his family of seven siblings and his widowed mother. Saddam's father passed away when Saddam was in fifth grade. Being the eldest son of the family, all the responsibility of his large family fell upon his shoulders.
He left school and started working in the cotton fields. "I worked in the fields from dawn until the sun set to earn a few rupees to provide food to my family," said Saddam. "I miss my school days. I wanted to be a doctor but I have to work now to provide for my younger brothers, sisters and my widowed mother." But the heavy rains in August and September 2011 inundated all the fields that Saddam worked in and destroyed standing crops. The heavy monsoon rains turned into violent floods and destroyed the whole of Saddam's village. "We were hoping for a very good crop last year but the floods destroyed everything. I am worried about what will happen this year." said Saddam. Save the Children has provided Saddam's family with food, shelter and non-food items. "We have received shelter and food supply but we still cannot go home, he said. "There are ponds of contaminated water everywhere in the village. I enjoy going to the CFS and hope I can carry on learning and playing with my friends. " Saddam's mother said, "Two of my children are staying with relatives as we have no home or food. I have not seen them for a few weeks. I am just waiting for the moment when the water disappears and my home will become normal and I will live with all my children again. I am happy that Saddam does not have to work these days and he enjoys his time in the CFS. I hope that he can have a good future and not have to work in the cotton fields all his life like we do."
Ramesh
Ramesh, age 13 years, is one of thousands of children affected by the monsoon floods that hit southern Sindh, in August 2011. The rains partially damaged and submerged the house he lives in with his 85 year old grandmother, Ochi. They now live in a makeshift shelter beside the road. Ramesh says, "I did not want to leave our house as my grandmother is very old. At least there we had a roof over our heads, but as our neighbors started leaving I knew it was the time to go." Countless families are living alongside the road in the union council with little access to food or clean drinking water. Many of these shelters are damaged and provide little privacy and dignity to the occupants.
Ochi says, "We have been living alongside the road for over a month now and hadn't received any aid because we belong to a minority community. Now, because of Save the Children, we can set up a proper shelter until the water recedes." Many families affected by the floods have received house hold kits. Ochi says, "The household utensils are much needed for cooking food and storing water as many families' possessions were washed away by the water." Since the floods almost 8.1 million people have been affected. Save the Children is on the ground providing life saving humanitarian support in the form of in Food, Health, Nutrition, Shelter as well as Child Protection and Education interventions. Lalbagh "Crocodiles are everywhere; you can hear them groaning at night," says Lalbagh, 29. The rains have affected more than 5 million people who are now struggling to survive.Lalbagh sits next to sacks of wheat flour and rice, and containers of vegetable oil, salt, beans and high-nutrition biscuits meant to feed a family for a month. He collected them from a nearby distribution centre recently set up by Save the Children. It was the first aid he had received since the rains struck.
"Our three-month-old daughter died of dehydration and diarrhoea a few days after we fled our home. "We couldn't her get across the water to a hospital. I'll regret this for the rest of my life." 
His family had been living mostly off dried biscuits, tea and bread, drinking contaminated water straight from the lake. More than 3 million people in Sindh are in urgent need of food and medical care, according to the United Nations. Desperate for food, Lalbagh and other men from this village deep in Sanghar district, one of the worse hit by the floods, sometimes venture out early in the morning on foot to the mainland about 2 miles away.
They wade through the water in groups of four or five to scare away the crocodiles. With no access to boats, they struggle to cross the newly-formed lake by trying to follow the path of the elevated roads which, unlike the surrounding fields, are 3 to 4 feet under water. They search for casual jobs in the nearby market towns to make a few rupees. If they're lucky and find work, they use the money to buy some wheat and rice and water containers.
But the money is not nearly enough. Many children in the village are severely malnourished."Look at her," says his wife Sabhal, holding Nazia. "She's 4 years old but looks just one and a half. When she eats, her stomach becomes very bloated; she has fever and barely touches food anymore."
Lalbagh and countless other small farmers in the region do not expect to return to their damaged fields until a year from now when the waters completely recede and the land recovers from the accumulated salt. He used to make 55 rupees (60 cents) a day cultivating cotton and rice, and owes 50,000 rupees ($575) to the landlord; he has no hope to pay back. "We're trapped. This is the land of our ancestors, but there's no future for us here now. I pray to God every night that my family and I will survive."
Read about our 2010 response.
You can support children and families affected by disasters like the Pakistan Flood by donating to our Children's Emergency Fund.
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