By Raja Habib ur Rehman
(Bagh, Azad Kashmir)
Zarina lived in the village of Chand-Land-Rath in district Bagh , Azad Kashmir with her husband , Mehmood, and 3 children. Mahmood sold vegetable and fruit on his bicycle cart and made enough to feed his family. The earthquake of Oct 8 caused their house to collapse. Zarina and her children remained safe but the roof stones fell on Mahmood and injured his spine. After that, he was unable to ride the bicycle or do any other physical activity.
With the livelihood gone, the family started to go hungry. Sometimes the neighbours and relatives gave them food but as the food prices went high, they stopped. “my brother told me that atta (floor) and pulses were so costly, he could hardly feed his own children let alone feed me and my family” sobbed Zarina. “It’s not his fault, there is not enough food, and so many mouths to eat”.
But things were meant to change for the better. Soon Zarina learnt about ActionAid from other local women, who had started to attend women meetings organised by ActionAid. “ I also went to one of these meetings with my neighbour women. I came to know that ActionAid was supporting earthquake hit communities in reviving their livelihoods. I told the woman organiser about my problems and she promised to help”.
A week later, Zarina received 50 chickens and their 3 months food to start her livelihood process. As the chicks began to lay eggs, she sold them in the neighbourhood and local market and made Rs 150 to Rs 200 daily. The family also used eggs in their diet and their health improved.
“It is because of ActionAid’s support that I’m able to provide food to my family. Although the prices (of food) are rising everyday, yet we are surviving. If it hadn’t been for ActionAid, we would have starved to death long ago”.
(Courtesy: http://www.actionaid.org/pakistan/index.aspx?PageID=3779)
No comments:
Post a Comment