Of the current situation in Pakistan, Pakistan-based staff members of Church World Service offer the following reflection:

In the five years since the 2005 earthquake devastated parts of Pakistan, not one year has gone by in which the people of Pakistan have not suffered from disaster. The years 2006 and 2007 brought floods; although not even close to the destruction brought by this year’s floods, people still lost their lives, homes, crops and livestock.

In 2008, a powerful earthquake rendered thousands homeless in Balochistan at the onset of winter. In 2009, millions of people were displaced by the conflict between the Pakistan military and militants in Khyber Pakhtunkwa and Waziristan.

Throughout these years, severe drought and water shortages plagued the agricultural communities, which constantly live with the reality of food insecurity. Now, 2010, a year that was supposed to be a time of new beginnings and the continued road to recovery of previous disasters, has turned into a record-breaking year for flood destruction and not just in one province, but throughout the entire country.

Resilient is a word often used to describe the people of Pakistan, but this cycle of loss and destruction is truly testing this attribute. Thousands of people have been living in pre-fabricated shelters still trying to regain their lives and livelihoods lost five years ago.

Entire communities began to experience rebirth but now these very same people must start over again after the floodwaters are gone. Displaced persons, many who have only recently returned home to Swat and other areas, once again find themselves without homes and property. Farmers who were already struggling with food insecurity have lost or may lose this year’s harvest, thus, pushing them farther away from achieving food security for their families.

Undoubtedly the floods have caused widespread damage to agricultural and crop lands, adding further threats of food insecurity to flood-affected families. Particularly affected are the crop lands in the province of Punjab, known as the breadbasket of Pakistan – thereby exacerbating the problems facing the country. As sources of food supply remain underwater, families face the possibility of not being able to harvest and sow their crops. Worsening the situation — increased prices for essentials like sugar.

What is most worrisome is the harsh test of time, and a cycle of never-ending disasters: Flood-affected families in Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Balakot had already experienced massive devastation in the 2005 South Asian earthquake.

“People in the affected areas are most vulnerable and they had hardly managed to get their lives back together after the earthquake. Again everything they had is taken away from them,” said Dennis Joseph, associate director of the CWS program in Pakistan. “At this moment it is not just their material well-being but also their physical well-being, which includes their mental well-being that is important.”

Dennis shared the story of Mehr Nisar, a 50-year-old widow from Punda Balla Village. She told Joseph: “I lost my husband in the earthquake, and I was living in a [pre-fabricated] shelter with my son after that. This has now been destroyed as half of the land under the shelter was washed away.”

In northern Haiti, members of a community-based group began a feeding program for those displaced by the January 12 earthquake. In the southern coastal city of Jacmel, a group of disaster survivors banded together and moved onto the grounds of a local church. And in Port-au-Prince, a woman who gave birth to her infant son twelve days after the quake wondered what she would do next.

These were some of the Haitians CWS staffer Chris Herlinger met in January and February, immediately after the disaster. Durring a recent return to Haiti, Chris attempted to find these individuals. How are they doing? What are they doing? What are their plans for the future?  Here is an update, based on recent travels in Haiti.

Click here to read more.

ELCA Disaster Response has committed $100,000 to the CWS appeal to respond in Pakistan.  This is a recent news release from CWS on the situation.

With more than 3.2 million people displaced or affected by monsoon rains and the worst flooding in north Pakistan in nearly a century, global humanitarian agency Church World Service has announced a U.S. and international fundraising appeal.

The agency reports that its aid workers in the region are continuing their initial response, providing food packages, shelter materials and non-food supplies. In addition, one mobile health unit has been dispatched so far, delivering emergency health services in Balakot.

CWS Pakistan team members report an increasing need for assistance, and say blocked roadways and communications continue to hamper aid workers from reaching cut-off survivors with vital food and supplies.

CWS Pakistan Senior Project Officer Tassaduq Hussain described the situation in Banna, Allai Tehsil, saying lack of communications and passable roads continues to hinder access to elevated areas of Allai. “Here, there is major food shortage in markets, and the condition for the people is not good.”

Hussain said teams are hoping roads will reopen today, although more rain is expected. He said the most immediate needs are food packages and shelter materials.

Elsewhere, from Sibbi, Balochistan, CWS Pakistan Senior Project Officer Saleem Dominic reported a similar situation. “Food is the initial, immediate need, with hygiene and shelter next. Houses are completely destroyed and flood water remains in the houses, which poses health risks,” Dominic said.

CWS is the first organization to distribute food in Sibbi, “for which the people are very grateful,” said Dominic.

Assessments by CWS and partners indicate survivors face grave challenges given the loss of housing, crops and livestock. Most of the affected villages are still inundated, and people in general have little to eat and no means to earn money.

CWS, other humanitarian groups and Pakistan government officials are voicing concern over the destruction of some 100,000 acres of fertile soil along the Swat River, a main source for food for 50,000 people in the area, which will take years to renew.

But for now, urgent rescue and relief continues. Church World Service plans a response to a wide geographic area, subject to change in the weeks ahead based on changing conditions and needs.

Initial CWS efforts have included providing 500 food and shelter kits in Sibbi, conducting assessments in affected areas and identifying beneficiaries, and engaging the agency’s mobile health clinic services, now providing patient examinations, essential drugs and prenatal care.

Based on assessments conducted by its staff and local partners, CWS plans to provide emergency assistance to 70,000 people in Swat, DI Khan, Sibbi and Kohistan, including food assistance to 35,000 people; emergency shelter supplies to meet the needs of 17,500 people; and mobile health access for 17,500 people in Mansehra and Swat.

Church World Service has worked in Pakistan for more than five decades and is a leading agency in promoting and adhering to international Sphere and Humanitarian Accountability Partnership standards for aid quality and accountability, and as such, focuses keenly on the quality and the nutritional value and mix of the foods distributed in disaster settings.

CWS food packages will be distributed directly to affected families at convenient food distribution points established in each community and consist of 44 lbs. each of wheat flour and rice, 4¼ lbs. each of beans and sugar, 10½ cups of cooking oil, 7 oz. of tea, and a box of iodized salt.

As well, CWS will assess the particular nutrition needs and status of children under 5 years of age in beneficiary families, to determine if supplemental food resources will be required in later weeks.

Church World Service is working with other members of the ACT Alliance Pakistan Forum as part of a coordinated response.  CWS Pakistan also has planned ten introductory Sphere and HAP international standards workshops for humanitarian organizations in different Pakistan cities, to ensure quality and accountability in the Pakistan flood response.

At least 38 people have been reported killed in twin explosions at stations on Moscow’s metro rail system, reports Al Jazeera.  The first blast took place at the Lubyanka station in the center of the city.  A spokeswoman for Russia’s emergencies ministry, told the news sources; “The blast hit the second carriage of a metro train that stopped at Lubyanka, at 07:56 (03:56 GMT).”  The headquarters of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), successor to the Soviet-era KGB, is located just above Lubyanka station.

A second blast followed at Park Kultury in the southwest of the city.  Moscow authorities believe that the explosions were carried out by two female suicide bombers wearing explosive belts.

ELCA Global Mission has had a long standing relationship with the Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy (MPC), an international, interdenominational Christian ministry serving the English-speaking community of Moscow. The Chaplaincy was established in 1962 by the National Council of Churches of Christ of the U.S.A. and today has many social ministries serving vulnerable groups in Moscow including refugees, students, elderly and the poor. ELCA Global Mission currently supports the work of MPC soup kitchens, serving more than 200 people a day, five days a week.

Rev. Robert Bronkema, chaplain at the Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy, sent the following message early this morning:

We just got news of the bombing on the metro subways stations. So far we have not received any notice of MPC members who have been affected by the blasts but have not been able to contact a number of them. Please keep MPC in your prayers during this time and especially all of the bombing victims and their families.

The blasts occurred on the red line which is the line that we use fairly much on a daily basis. It is also the line where the foreign student university is located and I know of one group of students who were on the line during the blast, but quite a ways away from the actual blast.

We continue to try to reach all of our community. We had to close one of our Soup Kitchens for the day, Kuznetsky Most, which was exactly at the station where the first bomb went off. All the other ministries are running.

May we continue to hold our brothers and sister in Russia in our Holy Week prayers. We pray for those who have died and been wounded. We pray for families and care givers. We pray that we may all turn away from violence and respect the dignity of the other.

Marie Lucie Osias (L), lives with her son (R), the lone earthquake survivor among her four children, in a makeshift shelter. (Photo by Jonathan Ernst/LWR/ACT Alliance)

Click here to read the full article on shelter needs from the ACT Alliance.

People hold candles during a mass in the shadows of the ruins of the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which was devastated in a January 12 earthquake. Paul Jeffrey ACT Alliance

It has been one month of suffering since the earthquake in Haiti. In Port-au-Prince and other parts of Haiti, individuals and families affected commemorated the tragedy this weekend. In churches and public spaces tens and tens of thousands gathered to share their grief, prayers and hope for days ahead.  ELCA Disaster Response, through the ACT Alliance, is supporting many of these families that gathered recently in hymn and prayer. 

I invite you to view a slide-show of this at: Prayers & Hymns in Haiti