Hope for the Determined

Isakhel, Mianwali: HRF Isakhel Hospital in collaboration with Esakhel Foundation.

The devastating floods hit Pakistan in the end of July to leave more than 20 million people homeless and over 2000 citizens of this country dead. Several were injured and were left stranded with no access to basic amenities which are required by a human being to survive. The destruction flowed from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Thatta in Sindh, destroying Punjab and Balochistan on the way; the natural disaster did not reprieve any one on its course. Several organizations arrived on the scene to provide relief to the destitute flood survivors.

One of the first ones to rush to the scene was Human Relief Foundation UK (HRF). HRF was established in 1991 by a group of dedicated and committed professionals. They wanted to alleviate the suffering of the ordinary people of Iraq who were affected by the Gulf War of 1991 and the UN sanctions imposed on the country. This relief work has since expanded to other countries and areas. These include Somalia, Ethiopia, Chechnya, Bosnia, Kosovo, Kashmir, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Palestine and many other areas. HRF established itself in Pakistan in the year 2005 after the life destroying earthquake which shook parts of Kashmir and Balakot; since then HRF has established a permanent office in Pakistan to change life of those hit by natural and man made disasters.

On a priority, HRF provided basic amenities to the flood survivors in order to equip them to battle out the crisis. HRF distributed food ration, clean drinking water, non food items, clothing, and provided urgent medical help in order to secure lives. The distribution of relief goods was implemented all over the country; notably in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Punjab. Relief work from the organization spread into the unreachable districts of SWAT, Nowshera and Charssada – in KPK – and Attock, Mianwali and several areas in Southern Punjab were also covered by the organization. More than 30,000 beneficiaries alone have benefited from the effort where HRF workers on the field toiled day and night in order to save and change lives.

As soon as the winter season arrived, the need for a shelter and warm clothing increased. In order to help them to fight the harsh winter season, HRF provided clothing, bedding, blankets and quilts to the deserving families, till date families are benefiting through this effort launched by HRF which rescued them at the right time. Moreover, HRF launched a pilot project during the emergency phase to provide sources of livelihood immediately to those flood affected families which lost their source of income due to the flood. HRF distributed livestock to over 100 families in the month of November 2010 in order to take the lives of those affected by floods towards self sufficiency and economic prosperity. The daring project took special care of the vulnerable segment of the society i.e. female headed houses were mostly selected for this sort of reprieve.

HRF strongly believes that in order to restore sanity after a crisis, medical facilities in a crisis hit region should be upgraded in order to stop communicable diseases and control non communicable diseases. HRF played a key role to curtail spreadable diseases like malaria, cholera, etc. in the District of Mianwali. As the government hospital was flooded and occupied by several organizations who wanted to reconstruct it, HRF did not wait and opened up a parallel facility instead to accommodate the grievances and medical problems in the area. The Sub District of Isakhel has a population of over 600,000 out of which 62 % of the population was severely hit according to the surveys conducted by the foundation, Pakistan Government and UN agencies operating in the region.

Therefore, HRF launched a hospital which is known as the HRF Isakhel Hospital. Today, it is providing the best medical facilities in relation to mother and child care, skin, eye, chronic, communicable and non communicable disease in order to recover them from the physical trauma they had to face due to the crisis. The hospital is equipped with the latest medical facilities and has a state of the art operation theatre for eye and other essential surgeries. HRF Isakhel Hospital has provided free cataract operation to over 150 patients before the end of 2010; a true Sadaqah-i-Jarriah. Moreover, the facility is capable to provide rehabilitation to over 150,000 people living in the surrounding areas; according to UK standards that is unacceptable, but there was only one hospital to serve a population of 600,000 flood affected people before HRF established a hospital in the region.

A major concern in the area, even before the floods, was the lack of mother and child care facilities. HRF took a notice of the situation and equipped itself with the required resources to end misery for pregnant ladies in the region, who used to usually lose the battle with their lives on the way to the hospitals in Mianwali city which is more than 90 kilometers away from the region. The infant mortality rate , i.e. deaths of those under the age of five, is as high as 40 % in the area of Isakhel in District Mianwali. The first delivery which arrived at the HRF Isakhel Hospital was a critical case where the organization was bestowed by Allah (SWT) to save the life of the mother; the child did not make it alive into this world.

It was one of the most heartbreaking moments for the field staff and for me personally. It was a terrible sight for the medical staff to witness a new born breathless, but to see the mother alive triggered the passion in the staff to work even hard to protect lives of the vulnerable people living in the region.

Allah (SWT) entered joy and happiness in leaps and bounds into the lives of the people living in the region and the field staff serving day and night to protect lives in a dignified way. Maryam was born; the first child to be born at HRF Isakhel Hospital. There were celebrations, laughter, smiles and tears all over the hospital, For me, it was a world cup moment, holding Maryam in my arms was nothing less than holding a trophy...

Since then, HRF Isakhel Hospital has continued to serve unconditionally the deprived yet determined people of Isakhel. Most importantly, Human Relief Foundation has transformed HRF Isakhel Hospital into an institution striving to provide all sorts of relief to the people living in the region. A full time field office has been established in the region which is providing assistance in relation to distribution of food items, non-food items, shelters and economic empowerment opportunities to push the lives of the flood survivors towards the optimum level of sanity and normality.

Human Relief Foundation is an organization led by humans overpowered with pure intentions to bring a positive change in third world countries suffering from hardships and economic disparity. There is one thing common between the people who are running this organization, hospital and the community and i.e. for them “Crisis means and creates motivation” – no doubt Allah (SWT) helps those who ask for His Mercy at all times.