Millions of Pakistani kids risk waterborne disease (Dialup & Upsetting Images Warning)

[Turborama]

Source: AP

By ASIF SHAHZAD (AP) – 2 hours ago -

PABBI, Pakistan — Five-year-old Shahid Khan struggled to remain conscious in his hospital bed as severe diarrhea threatened to kill him. His father watched helplessly, stricken at the thought of losing his son — one of the only things the floods had not already taken. The young boy is one of millions of children who survived the floods that ravaged Pakistan over the last month but are now vulnerable to a second wave of death caused by waterborne disease, according to the United Nations.

Khan's father, Ikramullah, fled Pabbi just before floods devastated the northwestern town about a month ago, abandoning his two-room house and all his possessions to save his wife and four children. "I saved my kids. That was everything for me," said Ikramullah, whose 6-year-old son, Waqar, has also battled severe diarrhea in recent days. "Now I see I'm losing them. We're devastated."

=snip=

Access to clean water has always been a problem in Pakistan, but the floods have worsened the situation significantly by breaking open sewer lines, filling wells with dirty water and displacing millions of people who must use the contaminated water around them. Children are more vulnerable to diseases such as diarrhea and dysentery because they are more easily dehydrated. Many children in Pakistan also were malnourished before the floods, weakening their immune systems.

The Pakistani government and international aid groups have worked to get clean water to millions of people affected by the floods and treat those suffering from waterborne diseases. But they have been overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster, which has displaced a million more people in recent days.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jmJKIXRzLGGjCmi0p_Iv4uvl99YAD9HTFMI81

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Disturbing images at the link.

Some 3.5 million children are at imminent risk of waterborne disease and 72,000 are at high risk of death, according to the United Nations.


An areal view shows the flooded area of Rajanpur District in the far southwest part of Punjab
on August 28, 2010.


An aerial view shows a flooded village in Sujawal, about 150 kilometres (93 miles) from Karachi
in Pakistan's Sindh province August 29, 2010.

Hundreds of thousands of people were fleeing areas of southern Pakistan on August 28 as rising floodwaters breached more defenses and inundated towns. For nearly a month torrential monsoon rains have triggered massive floods, moving steadily from north to south in Pakistan, affecting a fifth of the volatile country and 17 million of its 167 million people.


Pakistanis stand on their property which is totally surrounded by flood waters as they gesture
to a Pakistani Army helicopter near the flooded Indus River, outside Thatta, Sindh Province,
southern Pakistan, Sunday, Aug. 29, 2010




THATTA, PAKISTAN - AUGUST 29: Young girls, whose families were displaced by floods, sit
on a makeshift bed, as they take shelter on higher ground of a bund on August 29, 2010
in Thatta, near Hyderabad in Sindh province, Pakistan.


Pakistani children displaced by flooding play in a camp in Karachi, Pakistan on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2010.

Floodwaters inundated a large town in southern Pakistan on Sunday as authorities struggled to build new
levees with clay and stone to prevent one of the area's biggest cities from suffering the same fate.


Shabira, 5, a flood victim takes care of her baby brother while taking refuge on an embankment
with her family in Sujawal, about 150 kilometres (93 miles) from Karachi in Pakistan's Sindh
province August 29, 2010.


A Pakistani girl who survived the floods and who suffers from an eye infection, lives in a camp
setup for displaced people in Nowshera, Pakistan on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2010.


A Pakistani boy who survived the floods sits in a tent at a camp setup for displaced people
in Nowshera, Pakistan on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2010.



One-year-old Shadab rests on his mother's legs while taking refuge with his family in a
relief camp for flood victims in Sukkur, in Pakistan's Sindh province August 29, 2010.


Two-year-old Alia, covered with flies and suffering from diarrhea,
lies in a hospital bed in Nowshera, in Pakistan's northwest
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province August 28, 2010.


Pakistani flood survivors live at a roadside after losing their houses in Thatta near Hyderabad,
Pakistan on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2010.

More photos at my Journal (the archives have recent news, photos and vids too): http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Turborama:

[Skittles]

1. .

:cry:

[midnight]

2. K&R.

[OhioChick]

3. Good God....

Is this even getting any time on the M$M, yet?

I've heard people at work asking why this disaster isn't big news here.

[ginnyinWI]

7. yes it's been on the mainstream news.

I've seen plenty on PBS Newshour and BBC World.

[necso]

4. I return to the thought

that the affected persons themselves should be utilized to the maximum possible extent (not that this isn't being done... I have no wish to be discourteous; but I have no first hand information, and the situation seems very bad, and potentially very consequential).

If they can be kept from (perceived) desperate need, disaster-affected persons are often willing (driven even) to contribute; to help themselves, others; to earn a little.

...


{ed: on reflection, an inappropriate change of context. The peace of God be upon all the afflicted, and all mankind.}

[sabrina 1]

11. I think it probably is being done. From what I have read

right now, they are occupied with just trying to survive. They are trying to outrun the water so until they can find a permanent safe place that they don't have to leave again, as has happened to many people, as the water, one woman said, 'seems to be chasing us'.

I think once the water starts to recede, which may not happen for a couple of weeks as they expect more rain, and they have basic needs like water and food and shelter of some kind, I am sure many of the people will be willing to help each other. But right now they are just keeping ahead of the water, and trying to stay alive.

That is a very nice prayer and I too hope the people will find security and peace.

[ihavenobias]

5. Kick n/t

[ginnyinWI]

6. Doctors Without Borders is there.

I've donated to them and I'd recommend it. http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

[Turborama]

8. BTW Those girls in red...

...they're not sitting by the sea...


THATTA, PAKISTAN - AUGUST 29: Villagers, displaced by floods, travel through flood waters
on August 29, 2010 in Thatta, near Hyderabad in Sindh province, Pakistan.

The country's agricultural heartland has been devastated, with rice, corn and wheat crops destroyed by floods

[WorseBeforeBetter]

9. Oxfam - Donate to the Pakistan floods response

https://www.oxfam.org.uk/donate/pakistan-floods/index.php

[ZombieHorde]

10. Recommended. nt

[sabrina 1]

12. Omg, that photo of the baby covered in flies. Can they not

get mosquito nets or something to them? One of the CNN reporters mentioned the flies last week, she said 'that's one thing you notice, the flies are ever-present'.

Also, they will cause desease. But she said many of the people were just too weary to fight them anymore.

This is just too sad .. I wish there was some way to get all those people out of there :cry:

[Turborama]

13. From the LA Times: Displaced Pakistanis make highway median their home

Their tents form a chain of misery that extends 27 miles amid traffic whizzing by at 60 mph. Their hope in this flood-stricken landscape lies in drivers who stop with a bag of rice or a wad of cash

By Alex Rodriguez, Los Angeles Times
August 30, 2010



Reporting from Charsadda, Pakistan —

Gul Nar's new home is a canvas tent on the median of the Peshawar-Islamabad expressway. To get to the grassy shoulder where they can have room to play, her two boys dart across three lanes of 60 mph traffic. Her tent is one of hundreds along the dirt median of the M-1 where victims of Pakistan's catastrophic flooding have taken refuge. They've decided that despite the danger and the din of incessant traffic just a few feet away, the expressway is their best bet. Why? Because every once in a while, a car stops with a handout: a bag of rice, a carton of milk, a handful of dates, a small wad of cash.

"We had no choice but to come here," says Nar, 30. "Yes, we know it's dangerous. But the government hasn't given us any help, so we survive on what people in passing cars give us. Sometimes one car stops; sometimes no one stops all day."

The tents form a chain of misery that extends 27 miles, from the Charsadda interchange to the ramps that lead to Peshawar. The 15-foot-wide median is like a misbegotten island; the land that slopes down on either side of the highway is either flooded by several feet of water or slathered in thick mud. Baking in the midday sun and lashed by monsoon rains, the flood victims are wholly dependent on the occasional humanitarian aid truck that pulls over to hand out biscuits and beans, or Samaritan motorists moved by the sight of people marooned on a highway.

Most families on the median have been there since late July, when the rains deluged the city of Charsadda and the rest of northwestern Pakistan. Since then, the floods have submerged a swath of Pakistan the size of Italy, killing at least 1,600 people and disrupting the lives of more than 20 million.

The crisis, the worst natural disaster in the country's history, has robbed millions of farmers, laborers and merchants of their livelihoods and forced them to scramble for ways to survive.

Much more from this very insightful article, here: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-pakistan-flood-median-20100830,0,277091.story

Edited to add these videos which show the flood they escaped from...

A brave young Pashtun rescue a poor old Pashtun from a deadly flood in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Video Dated 30 July 2010

A champion Pashtun Farman Ali Khan who saved the lives of 14 people in the Jeddah floods Nov. 25 flashfloods before drowning while trying to save another is one of the many unsung heroes of that fateful morning.He sacrificed his own life and saved others. He did this only on humanitarian basis, not for any worldly reward.

2010 29 -July we have a new brave Pashtun young man who rescues an old man's life in deadly flood of Pakistan northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.He does it the same way as Mr Farman Ali Khan but SubahanAllah he obvious his life.May Allah bless those brave two guys & and their families.

I'M SORRY.I dont know what this angel name is, in this video.If anybody knows Please let me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i5g5ZzPjbQ


Flood in Charsadda
Video dated August 01 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZhIc1nrVbg

flood in Charsadda Sardaryab
Video Dated Video dated August 01 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOcZGpZ4xSk

Floods in the Pakistan's Peshawar area
Video Dated August 03 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAqhT5I2deY

[OhioChick]

15. Making the highway median their home?

Sound familiar?

[Turborama]

16. I've not heard of it before now

Care to elaborate?

[OhioChick]

17. Katrina flashback....

All of those people sitting on the highway. Hungry, sick, nowhere to go, etc.

[Turborama]

18. Now, those are some images that have to be kept from the memory hole...!

[OhioChick]

20. Yes....Those are what I was thinking of

Seems like yesterday. Hard to believe that was the US.

[Turborama]

14. Pakistan Floods In Numbers: Latest UN Figures Show That Millions Are Still Waiting For Emergency Aid

Last Modified: Aug 30 2010 04:31 Doha Time

As towns and villages in southern Pakistan are evacuated, waters are receding in some areas in the north and in Punjab in the east of the country.

But the question of aid looms large in a country where millions are still waiting for emergency aid.

The latest figures gathered by the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Pakistan show that:

160,000 km2 - is affected by the floods, an area greater than the size of the England

17,2 million - people are affected by the flooding nationwide

1,2 million - homes are destroyed or damaged

800,000 - people are still cut off by the floods

10,916 - schools have been damaged

6,097 - schools are being used as shelter for displaced families

1,600 – people are confirmed to have died in the floods

2,366 – people are confirmed injured

141 - is Pakistan's ranking out of 182 countries on the Human Development Index

The world's foremost group of Islamic states has pledged nearly $1bn to help flood-relief efforts. This comes on top of the $1bn already promised by foreign donors.

$15 billion - is the cost of reconstructing Pakistan, according to a Pakistani diplomat

$460 million - was appealed for by the UN for the Pakistan Initial Floods Emergency Response Plan

64% - of the Pakistan Initial Floods Emergency Response Plan is now funded

$90 million - is the shortage faced by the World Food Programme in funding

Top ten donors to Pakistan:

1. United States - $156m 2. Saudi Arabia - $74m 3. United Kingdom - $65m 4. Private individuals and organisations - $57m 5. European Commission - $56m 6. Australia - $32m 7. Central Emergency Response Fund - $30m 8. Canada - $29m 9. China - $18m 10. Sweden - $17m

(Compiled by OCHA on the basis of information provided by donors and appealing organizations)

Source: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/08/201083031457610208.html

[Turborama]

19. UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie Appeals For Greater Public Support For Pakistan

Here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x500491

[AnnieBW]

21. How much money has she given?

And how many Pakistani children is she going to adopt?

[Turborama]

22. She gave $100,000 a week ago and in June 2009 she & Pitt gave $1,000,000 to help war refugees

Angelina Jolie donates $100,000 to help victims of the Pakistan floods
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/kindness/post/2010/08/angelina-jolie-on-pakistan-this-situation-is-going-to-get-worse/1

Hollywood stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have donated $1 million to help Pakistanis displaced by fighting, the UN refugee agency says.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8108543.stm

[OhioChick]

23. Good for her.

:thumbsup:

[OhioChick]

24. Kick

:kick:

[Turborama]

25. Thanks

In case you miss it, here's an update from Save the Children: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9072905