Right now where I live, in Islamabad, the wide, clean streets are dry as a bone, the air is clear, and the sky is sunny. In the rest of Pakistan, massive and continuing floods are threatening to take over the whole country. It's been raining a lot here in town over the last few weeks too, but Islamabad is in a secure little spot nestled right at the foot of the Himalayas so we're on high ground. The most flood-related inconvenience I've had to endure was stepping in heels over a 4-inch deep puddle in the driveway of my office, which disappeared pretty quickly.Does everyone around the world know how bad the flood disaster in Pakistan is? It has already affected more people than Haiti's earthquake and the Asian tsunami combined, but maybe because it is a slower disaster, it's a less exciting story for the media. There isn't one, dramatic moment of destruction where the buildings fall or the wave hits the shore. Just hour after hour of unrelenting monsoon rain, water inching up slowly and then faster to cover people's homes, possessions, and millions of acres of crops. The death toll will climb more slowly as well. The first case of cholera was reported today, and children are already dying for that slow, very undramatic reason of lack of clean drinking water. The aid pledged for Haiti and the tsunami victims was in the billions; here the total pledged is about 209 million so far.
It certainly doesn't seem fair that Pakistan has to face this, as if natural disaster ever is fair. (Although how "natural" is this, or the Russian heat wave and mudslides in China that are also happening at the same time? Massive drought, flooding, and other erratic weather disasters have been predicted by climate change specialists for years and now we are watching it happen. It was also predicted that it would hit developing countries with large populations the hardest.) Pakistan and its 180 million people have already been through enough, I would say, but the flooding is now putting the country back 100 years by some estimates.
My project was in the middle of rehabilitating fish farms in Swat, the region damaged in Pakistan's conflict with the Taliban last year. In the spring of 2009, the Taliban came into villages, killed "resistors," destroyed buildings, and dumped poison into trout and carp farms. One of the fish farm owners told us how the Taliban came into his home, killed all his fish with poison, and cut off his arm. But he didn't want to give up on his farm, so we were working with him and 39 other fish farm owners to rebuild the fish raceways, get high-quality fish feed, and get the industry going again. The flooding washed away ten of the 40 fish farms completely. Many more are damaged, but because so many bridges are out, we can't even access all of them to find out how badly.
Boston.com has done a great series of photos on the flood; I've been very proud of the newspaper of my adopted hometown and their coverage. Here are also a few photos taken by someone I know here who organized a collection to buy food for displaced families.
My impression from my friends in the U.S. is that overall this isn't getting a lot of attention. Or not as much attention as say, the quitting Jet Blue flight attendant. This is strange. Does anyone have an explanation for this?
Sullivan,
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing. The paragraph on the fish farms really brought the whole thing together, it was something I could read, hear, focus on.
I say that because when we try to understand why its not getting more attention or promise of AID, things get pretty complicated.
My guess is that a) enough people haven't died, losing your home makes for a less of a story b) I think the world is tired of helping out...or at least more tired...the oil spill has exhausted a lot of American leftover compassion/response c) I don't think the "its worse than the Tsunami and EQ combined" phrase does more than get people's first 3 seconds of attention. That is a fascinating fact. d) I don't know, I worked on the Pak Earthquake response and the Tsunami task force and there was a huge sense of urgency. Pulling together a donor conference does quadruple the giving, as does having a WB/ADB funded needs assessment done. e) I remember after the Mariott was destroyed, the firetrucks didn't have the necessary equipment to reach the fourth floor there was a lot of disgust about Pakistan's weak capacity to manage its own problems. There has been a lot of press on Zardari's poor choices, like staying in Europe. I think the most important thing we can do is build the capacity of the Pakistani organizations responsible for responding, planning, and helping these 14 million people survive and then start over--even, or especially, when they are moderate Islamic Relief organizations (You should look up my friend Niyaz, the press guy at Islamic Relief). Which is the best organization on the job? This also brings us to the press about how its the humanitarian wings of the terrorist groups, that in fact, really are the first responders and deliver more effectively...looking to hear more from you...Thanks for writing.
I've been thinking a lot about this. In fact, I did a little experiment this morning. I made a comment about the floods to my friend's husband, who works on Wall Street and does not realy follow international issues. He does not watch a lot of TV, but he is on the internet and connected like most people. I was curious to see what he knew about the floods and his level of interest.
ReplyDeleteHe did not know about the floods. I showed him some of the Boston.com photos. A really nice guy, but he did not show any big interest. Honestly, it does not relate to his world. Like most Americans, natural disasters like this (even to this large scale) do not impact his life. I guess I can't blame him. What does a group of poor people who have lost their houses, animals, or family members have to do with him?
It means something to me because I lived there. I worked with Pakistanis, many of whom were affected by the flood. For that reason, from a distance, I am trying to help my former colleague and her organization raise money. I know her, she knows me. I have abilities and access that she does not have, just as she has abilities and access that I don't have. There is a mutual interest.
There is no answer to this, but I would say there is a lot of benefit to people-to-people connections. The internet has made connections and information sharing easier. So, how do we take the next step and go beyond the news and to something more personal?
great post, sullivan. to my mind, pakistan has never gotten thorough press here, save for nuke-related stuff (which, i mean, NUKES!), and i'd posit that the fact it's a -stan has something to do with it. it's right next to afghanistan, which was always the one that got the press, going back to the ussr days. now afghanistan's our enemy and pakistan's our ally, except it's where bin laden is, and ... for journalists reporting a narrative, it's more complicated than it could be. you could draw that thread back to the blacks and whites the public will digest, but, having just watched monday's daily show, i'm inclined to lay it all at the feet of the media and leave it there.
ReplyDeleteThank you guys for all the insightful opinions! I did not have time to respond earlier, but am headed back to Pakistan on Sunday and am hoping to see where things stand.
ReplyDeletePakistan need world help for rebuild flood effected areas.
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