The brighter side of the devastating floods

The floods in 2010 brought many assessments to this country; many lives lost, many houses washed away as approximately one fifth of Pakistan’s total area was underwater and around 20 million Pakistanis were affected. Adding to that, Pakistan slumped deeper into an economic crunch, all developing projects had been halted, construction of new hospital blocks were stopped and taxes enhanced owing to the floods.
It was easily one of the worst years that this country had witnessed. In the aftermath of the flood devastation, many rehabilitating agencies stood up to help the victims which included NGOs, schools, colleges, social groups and other organisations. Cashing in on the occasion numerous, fraudulent rehabilitation campaigns were also initiated which portrayed bogus plans to donors and with the passage of time had either slowed down their relief efforts or disappeared completely.
The enthusiasm seen during the earthquake of 2005 was missing this time, as the masses avoided donating as openly as they did due to the same cause. In this age of hunger and frustration, ‘Resettling the Indus’ (RtI) kept working with consistent passion and enthusiasm due to which now they have many achievements under their name. ‘Resettling the Indus’ is a rehabilitation campaign for flood victims, which was launched five months ago in suburbs of Muzzaffargarh in a small village Basti Kurai.
What makes this campaign stand out from other campaigns working in the flood affected areas of Pakistan? Firstly this campaign might be the only drive which is rapidly moving towards completion, as most of the villagers have moved in and resumed normal living once again. Secondly, Resettling the Indus is a perfectly-planned rehabilitation campaign as its operating with the most economically-efficient strategy of dealing with flood-hit areas.
Lastly but most importantly, RtI is administrated by a group of proud students belonging to various professional backgrounds and determined to resettle their fellow countrymen without the help of the government or any foreign organisation. This might be the only secret ingredient behind their accomplishments until now.
After thoroughly studying the flood-hit areas and material needed to rebuild houses, the RtI team come up with a unique solution of cutting down the cost of houses so the villagers are brought back to life as quickly as possible while remaining in the economic barrier, ‘compressed mud bricks’. By using Bhatta Junior, a mud compressing machine, which produces mud bricks, the RtI team managed to reduce prices of the houses phenomenally.
The solution of mud bricks catalysed the entire campaign, as the bricks are easier to make, take less time in getting ready to be used and obviously are more cost effective. The supply of bricks is the biggest hurdle that all rehabilitation campaigns are facing at the moment. The demand is too much and supply too less. By using mud bricks, the RtI has accelerated as well as eased the rehabilitation process economically. How does it work? The RtI developed a flawless system of providing residents of Basti Kurai with jobs and paying them to build their own houses.
Once all the planning and designing is done, the RtI team collects charity and pays workers-off for building their own houses, providing jobs to the villagers and making sure that everyone gets their house back. One of the brightest examples of the RtI’s simplistic but highly effective approach is that this group used Google Earth to locate washed away houses and currently is building houses right where they were situated prior to the floods, rehabilitation to the truest of its sense.
The pictures captured by Google Earth are usually old images which made it easier to trace out house in the washed away village and relocate them. Something greater than economic planning, physical scheming, mathematics and sciences is the timeless collage of city students working together with the villagers as a unified nation. It is amazing to see students interacting with the villagers, sharing ideas, advising and listening happily despite having communication gaps.
The relation nourished between young technocrats and the villagers is revolutionary and perhaps the only good news the floods of 2010 brought to this country. The amount of care seen for fellow countrymen, the synergy effect and enthusiasm of helping one another is simply unprecedented.
Hyder Ibrahim, a young architect, the man behind the idea of RtI, likes to call this catastrophe a rear opportunity of building a better, stronger and more unified Pakistan. The RtI has successfully completed a whole village and more fascinating is to watch people moving in and recommencing life in what was completely ruined only 5 months ago.
To donate to RtI and help them continue their mission please log on to http://www.facebook.com/RTIndus