Flood Relief Efforts in Swat

On August 21st Ghazala Minallah, Samar Minallah and Falaknaz Asfandyar and Fauzia Minallah visited Mingora to help the flood affected. The following locations were visited.
1. Marghuzar town and Bhuttai chowk
2. Sarosh Academy, Mingora
3. Murghazar Valley


Murghuzar valley, in Swat.


Falaknaz giving donations to widows in Murghuzar Valley


Fauzia talking to children about the Hygiene promotion material she developed in 2005 for UNICEF for the affectees of the devastating earthquake who lived in relief camps.

Water is the most beautiful gift of nature, Swat looked so beautiful with rivers and streams filled with water. Yet it was this raging water that swept away villages and towns.
These big boulders were carried by the raging waters and have raised the level of the ground, crushing houses on its way.
Sadia and Halim are one of many children who are homeless now.








Sarosh Academy, distribution organised by Global Peace Council, for Civil Society Islamabad and Shajar-IlmOur little volunteer Khadija .

Ghazala Minallah and Fauzia Minallah giving donation to the affectees

Samar giving donation to an affectee from Shangla
Shiza Shahid of Shajar Ilm



Murghuzar Colony and Bhattai Chowk

12 year old Noman removing cement from bricks to reuse on his devastated home. Surely a sign of hope.



These were shops but now filled with silt.

Samar interviewing an affectee.

Some children of the devastated homes in Murghuzar Colony

Myra Iqbal of Shajar Ilm

This was once called 'Khooni Chowk' or the 'Bloody square' where talibans would slaughter people and leave their dead bodies to rot. After the military operation in 2009 some normalcy have been restored, but for some people of Swat who had witnessed the horrors of talibans as well as army shelling , in 2010 they had to experience one of the most devastating floods of all times too.

Makanbagh, Mingora







This bridge was built only 3 years ago. This is the result of rampant 'corruption' in every department.
Photos by Fauzia Minallah and Ahmad Faraz
Members of CSI, concentrated mostly on women. In Makan bagh women from Bangladesh, Mingora were also present. Rs 3000/- per family was distributed among 100 women.
In Murghuzar town and Bhuttai chowk 79 families were given RS 3000 each.
Global peace committee, Swat organized distribution of flood relief for Civil Society Islamabad and Shajar Ilm, where 134 families from Kabal, Khawaza khela, Kokarai, Shangla, Cham shin and Shin were given Rs.3000/- per family by CSI.
In Murghuzar town, Bhuttai chowk and Makan Bagh there is an absence of an organized camp for the affectees. According to the affectees they received hygiene kits from ACTED.
In Murghuzar valley, Rs 3000/- per family among 42 families were distributed, who are staying in a Government primary school. They were in an organized camp set up by the army and visited by different organizations , UNICEF among others.

UNICEF had pasted ‘Hygiene’ promotion posters on the walls of the school which where designed by Fauzia Minallah in relief camps after the devastating earth quake in 2005.

Rs. 200,000/- were handed over to Mr.Ziauddin of Global Peace Committee, Swat by CSI.
Water purifying tablets were distributed in Murghuzar valley and Tahirabad.
Rs. 200,000 more were given to Ghazala Butt for Bahrain.

Our dear friends and donors are : Maham Ali's friends and family( Fawzia Naqvi, Faisal Bari, Ali Saggu, Rejaa Dar and Nashwa Shakeel, Zimmedar Shehri ( Islamabad) Nahid Pervez, Imran Agha, Jamila Shabnum) Amna Paracha, Tahira Abdullah's friends and family,from UK: Muhammad Bilal (x2), Shahnaz Hashmi,from UK: Bushra Farooqui  her colleagues  friends: Aslam Aziz, Danish Aziz, Samra Sheikh, Natasha Khan.
from Bahrain: Shaheen & Tariq Liaqat Ali &their friends. from UAE: Durdana Saiyed, Amjad Ali Khan, Haroon Sheikh, Tehmina Qureshi,from Canada: Saba Jamaluddin,
from USA: Sabira & Navaid Qureshi, Dr. Sabiha Iqbal,from Karachi: Talha Siddiqui, Rabia Garib & colleagues at TQP, Nafis Aslam Khan, Shahzad Mahbub,from Lahore: Qudsia Saeedullah Khan, Nighat Saeed, Muhammad Khalid, Abu Bakr, M/S Shezan International, from Rawalpindi: Sikander Ellahi,from Islamabad/Wah: Tahira Abdullah, Naheed Aziz, Najma Mahmoodullah, Asim Khan, Sarah Mahmood)

Attaullah Shah, Gina Aziz, Marium Burki, Zahid Saeed, Fakhar Zia, ,Nabeela Ahmad, Sara Mahmood, Nargis Ahmad, Mohsin and Madiha Qazi, Nuzhat Ahmad, Zarina Jamal, Mrs Umar Afridi and friends.
Humaira Masihuddin and her friends and family ( Kulsum Khan, Fatimah Quadri,Tahira Syed, Mr. S.M.Qureshi, Saifullah Quadri, Mujtaba Quadri, Uzma Jamal, Dr Nisar Haq, Moina and Ehsan Haqqani )
Ali Faateh, Asad and Amna Shah,Samira Kakar-Khan,Fauzia Asad Haider, Shahida Shah, Salma Babar, Ayesha, Shirin Ansari,, Mrs. Niazi and Mona Niazi, Zeba Mateen, Shehla Jamshaid, Mrs Salim ( Mother fo Farrukh Salim), Ali Bilgrami , Mona and Akbar ,
Falaknaz's Friends and Family:Sofia and Ali Khan, Tahir and Tabu, Zara Ali. Jean Elise Lewthwaite, Teachers of Murree Convent, Safya Aftab, Rweeda Himayat, Shahnawaz Khan.
Our dear friends from abroad, Mr.Wild, Isabelle Bouan, Maria Bader ( her friends and family) and Lynda Martin of Skyscrape foundation.
posted by Nosheen Malik

Lets unite like the drops in the raging rivers

Ghazala Minallah
On behalf of a group of random citizens called the ‘civil society’ of Islamabad , I would like to pay tribute to the much larger random group of generous citizens from all over the country and abroad whose donations have enabled us to do what we are doing. We may be a few faces which the public sees, but we represent a much larger group of ‘real heroes’ without whose trust and generosity we would be nowhere. The idea of mobilizing people began during the military operation in Swat, when hundreds of thousands of people were fleeing Swat and other parts of the Malakand division to seek refuge in the countless camps, both official and non-official, in various parts of the former N.W.F.P. The campaign began with an SMS which we sent to all our contacts, asking them to forward it to their contacts. The response was amazing , because many of the donors were total strangers, and yet they trusted us with their money. A blog was created and was constantly updated along with photographs. This was not meant to be a cheap publicity stunt, rather it was our way of self accountability, which was extremely important for our credibility , as well as for the satisfaction of our donors.

Unfortunately our beautiful country is again crying out for help, and we could not cover our ears and pretend we could’nt hear them. The calamity we are facing as a result of these devastating floods will have far reaching consequences. It will take a good many years for us to get over the aftermath of this calamity and obviously that is going to require a colossal amount of funding. But as long as we receive donations from all our friends out there, we shall continue to do whatever we can.

The campaign this time began with a candlelight vigil and prayer for the victims of the Margalla air crash and the victims of the flood. This was organized by a group ofamazing young people known as the PYA or Pak Youth Alliance . After the ceremony an announcement was made regarding collection of funds for the flood victims. An SMS was sent out and soon the funds started coming in.

This time the disaster is too widespread , and so we decided to focus on Swat, particularly the areas where hardly any aid was reaching. The roads and bridges beyond Madyan have been washed away. The exact number of people stranded up there is not known, but it is known that the figure is a very large one .One of the main reasons why we chose Swat was that although our resources are limited, and we would not be able to access those areas ourselves, we knew people belonging to these areas .These are friends we made during the IDP crissrs, little realizing at the time how important a role they would be playing in the not too distant future.

One of our main contacts in Swat is Ziauddin Yousafzai, who is owner and principal of Khushaal Public School . We handed over the first lot of funds we had collected to him, with which he bought rations in Mingora and distributed them in the area around Mingora, which were badly effected by the floods.We sent a truck of rations for 100 families to Mingora , which were picked up by our contact in Bahrain and taken by helicopter. This contact is an amazing young lady called Ghazala Butt, who I met at a seminar in Islamabad a few months ago. She waited for 3 days before she could get a helicopter ride to Mingora. She works in a Child Protection Centre in Bahrain , belonging to Aurat Foundation. However, she is helping us get the goods to Bahrain in her private capacity. She insisted on coming to collect the goods herself, since she wanted to be sure that the deserving people got it. She was stranded in Mingora for 3 days due to bad weather. The biggest problem in that area is that there is no land access, and the helicopters are dependent on the weather. So it took more than a week for the stuff to get to Bahrain . Ghazala called yseterday to inform me that she was abe to distribute the food packs in her area.

We have transferred money to Ziauddin again ,and also to Zubair Torwali, who belongs to Bahrain Swat and manages the organization IBT . He writes in different newspapers,and is the one who wrote a letter titled ‘From Swat with no love’in 2008 . This was when Swat was being plundered by the Taliban, heads were being chopped off and schools were being burnt, yet Pakistanis were out on the streets protesting against the American attack on Palestine. His letter was a wake-up call for many of us, and made us realize that we were oblivious to the tragedy in our own back yard. Now he is a key figure in helping us get food to the starving people of that area.

I have tried to cover our activities so far as briefly as possible, and we will continue to keep you posted. Please join us in mobilizing your friends and relatives. Lets unite like the drops in the raging rivers to reach out and help our desperate fellow country men and women.


Distribution of 100 food packs for 100 families in Faizabad, Swat

Medical camp organised by GPC, Swat with our help in Shangla, Swat

Flood Relief Efforts of Civil Society Islamabad

Photo by Amjad Shahaab of Global Peace Council Swat

It is the most devastating monsoon season in Pakistan. We are experiencing some of the worst flooding Pakistan has seen in over 80 years. Entire villages have been swept away, causing death and destruction. With even more heavy rains predicted in the coming days, here are a handful of recent photographs of how we are coping with this latest disaster. We were there for the children in 'Crisis' during the devastating earthquake in 2005, the internally displaced from Swat and Buner in 2009 and now we will help as much as we can during this recent calamity. Although it is very different this time, there are large areas still inaccessable as the roads and bridges have been destroyed and swept away.

For our friends who helped Civil Society Islamabad in helping the flood victims, we would like to share the photographs of the distribution of flood relief and update all on how we have used the money so far.

Our donors are : Maham Ali, Amna Paracha, Tahira Abdullah's friends and family, Attaullah Shah, Gina Aziz, Marium Burki, Zahid Saeed, Fakhar Zia, Mrs.Nisar Haq,Nabeela Ahmad, Sara Mahmood, Nargis Ahmad, Mohsin and Madiha Qazi, Nuzhat Ahmad, Zarina Jamal, Mrs Umar Afridi and friends, Humaira Masihuddin and her friends and family ( Kulsum Khan, Fatimah,Tahira
Syed, Mr. S.M.Qureshi, Saifullah Quadri, Mujtaba Quadri, Uzma Jamal )Ali Faateh, Asad and Amna Shah, Through-Maham Ali, Fauzia Asad Haider, Shahida Shah, Zimmedar Shehri ( Islamabad) Nahid Pervez, Imran Agha, Jamila Shabnum, Ayesha, Shirin Ansari,, Mrs. Niazi and Mona Niazi, Zeba Mateen, Sofia and Ali Khan, Tahir and Tabu, Zara Ali.Mrs Salim ( Mother fo Farrukh Salim), Ali Bilgrami , Mona and Akbar , Jean Elise Lewthwaite, Teachers of Murree Convent.
While previously we were personally delivering the relief goods this time , considering the whole communication network ( roads/ bridges etc) is destroyed, we have decided to help our trusted friends in the affected areas. We have concentrated on the mountainous areas of Bahrain and Kalam cut off by the destruction of bridges. Ghazala Minallah contacted Ghazala Butt the Child Protection officer of Aurat Foundation in Bahrain after great difficulty. We also contacted Ziauddin Yousafzai in Mingora to contact her and also to distribute our relief goods through his organisation Global Peace Council, in Swat . Sofar we have sent money to:
Zubair Torwali of IBT-Idara Baraye Taleem-o-Taraqi or Center for Education and Development in Bahrain Swat Rs 200,000
Ziauddin Yousafzai of Global Peace Council Mingora. Rs 135, 500
Falaknaz Asfandyar Rs.160,000
Falaknaz was based in Mingora at that time and she personally distributed 50 food packs, for 50 families from a remote village in Marghazar valley which is cut off by the landslides, who were taking refuge in a Govt school. She chose Canteen General store as a distribution point where the distribution was done systematically through ID card numbers. She also distributed 20 family packs in a village called Faizabad, and helped Future Leaders of Pakistan in distribution of food packs in a village called Bangladesh.

Ghazala Minallah sent 100 family packs to Mingora. Young volunteers like Samad Khurram and Hamza accompanied the truck. They were stuck for one day in Mingora due to landslides and traffic jams. We have no photograhs to share of the activities of Ghazala Butt, Zubair Torwali and Ziauddin as there is no electricity no internet connection. We hope and wish they are safe!

This time it is different, it is more difficult!! But those who are not helping out in this calamity, Please wake up! Flood victims are crying for help. Forward this message and create a network. Every bit counts. We must unite like the drops in the raging rivers.

For those who would like to donate directly to us ( Ghazala Minallah, Fauzia Minallah, Falaknaz Asfandyar of CSI), our bank account details are as follows:
Account name: FUNKOR CHILD ART CENTRE
Account number. 144501010007007
SWIFT code MUCBPKKAA ( For some countries use MUCBPKKA with a single A )
Beneficiary Bank, MUSLIM COMMERCIAL BANK
Bank address, F 8, MARKAZ Branch , ISLAMABAD
For ONLINE transfer, you can go to any nearest branch of Muslim Commercial Bank which is ON LINE or Symbol Branch and can transfer money on account No. 144501010007007 Favouring FUNKOR CHILD ART CENTRE. If any problem you can contact Nosheen Malik 03454441173 or email us at funkor.childart@gmail.com

Those who would like to donate directly to Global Peace Council Pakistan Swat.
Account no: 61010100996-6
Askari Bank
Mingora Swat

For the affected districts of Sindh, the best organisation to support is led by Justice (Retd)Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, and an NGO named Aitemaad Pakistan Trust .
For further information please email direct at aitemaad@gmail.com or contact one of the following:
Nazim Haji (0321 822 0999) / Naeem Sadiq 0333 351 8539 / Zahid Ebrahim 0333 215 5840

Scenes from Mingora, Swat




Photos by Amjad Shahaab of Global Peace Council Swat

Relief Goods Delivery to Mingora photos taken by Samad Khurram.







Photos by Samad Khurram

Distribution of relief goods by Falaknaz Asfandyar in Mingora.





Photos by Falaknaz Asfandyar

Little Angels, the victims of a crazy war

Christmas Gifts for Jonathan.

Five year old Jonathan, is the only son of Maneka and Younas Masih. He was born after 7 years of marriage, after many prayers. His parents worked hard to send him to a good school. On that fateful day when a teenager blew himself up in front of Naval Complex, Younas had just picked up Jonathan from school and were walking towards the car. Maneka was waiting in the car when she heard a blast, she looked back and saw smoke from where both Jonathan and Younas were emerging. She rushed toward them and picked up Jonathan, only to find his face had partial paralysis. Her hand that was holding his head had blood all over. Jonathan had a head injury and had to go through several operations. Thank god he was saved, he is a bright lively boy, but the shrapnel is still lodged in his brain. The doctors have assured his parents that hopefully he will not have problems, even though it is deep in the brain. Jonathan is not going to school these days because he can not walk properly and his left hand is paralyzed. With his right hands he excitedly opened his gifts for Christmas. Thanks to Dr. Zeba Mateen, Aisha, and Waltraud Torrosian we gave Rs. 35000 to Jonathan’s family for his medical care, not a single organization has helped this family so far, only Geo Tv interviewed them.


Rabia the little Angel.

12 year old Rabia was accompanying her teacher to the city when the devastating suicide blast happened in Meena bazaar, Peshawar. Rabia was holding her teacher’s 8 months old baby, due to the blast the baby fell from her hands. She got up to look for the baby only to find out that she had lost a leg after which she collapsed. She was admitted in the hospital, for at least one week. Her mother was already mourning the death of Rabia’s father who died of cancer only 10 days ago. Now she had to see her child in excruciating pain after undergoing several operations she finally died of infection in her stomach that was caused by a shrapnel.

Thanks to Brigitte Neubacher we gave Rs. 11200/- and Thanks to Waltraud Torrosian we gave Rs 20,000 to her mother.

For those who say it's not our war & Appeal for Donations

Photos from BBC website
by
Ghazala Minallah
I cannot get the image of the young wounded soldier lying helplessly in the CMH out of my mind. His thin bullet-riddled body was covered with bandages, and his face was sad. He was 21 years old, my son's age, and when I prayed for his recovery he asked me to pray for Pakistan. 'Pakistan hai to hum hain'. Another young soldier said that the nation was not being told the truth. The casualties were far more than those being reported. His grievance? That precious lives were being sacrificed in a war which most political leaders said was not theirs. Not a single government representative has ever bothered to visit the troops to boost their morale.I fail to understand that if my countrymen and women are being massacred, if my children are being killed and maimed, if my soldiers are coming home in coffins, then how is it not my war? Who are the people in the videos, cutting the throats of innocent citizens? Who was spewing poison in the FM broadcasts in Swat? Who is training young impressionable minds to blow themselves up in the name of God? Who challenged the writ of the state after the peace deal? Is Hakimullah an American, or was Baitullah a Jew, or is Fazlullah an Indian? And does it make any difference whether they are or not? For the mother who weeps over the ravaged body of her child, does the identity of the culprit matter? Were Mir Jafar or Brutus outsiders? Is it the name Taliban which is causing the problem? Are we really that stupid and naïve to fall for that argument?I request those who are confused about whose war this is to visit the bullet-riddled soldiers, the three-year-old daughter of Pervez Masih, the recently widowed Nasreen bibi in Lal Kurti, the hospitals in Peshawar where injured children scream in agony, and the graveyards where families have buried the pieces of their loved ones. These are the victims of a split second of madness. Does it matter what these murderers call themselves? Whoever they are, and whoever is behind them, they are traitors and enemies of Pakistan and Islam. Unless we recognise the enemy within, we will end up in history books as a nation that once was.





Donations for Blast Victims in Rawal Pindi/Islamabad Please call Ghazala Minallah: 0300 527 0330.

Contact: Maham Ali at maham.ali.05@gmail.com
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Urgently required for IDP camps in D.I.K for schools there, donate pencils ( lead and coloured) erasers, sharpners , copies, school bags, please contact Quatrina Hussain 0301-828-6168.
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Appeal for Peshawar blast victims
from Noor Donations
Dear all,
Recently Peshawar which is the provincial capital of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan has been under the grip of one of the worst terror attacks of its history. The new wave of terrorism that started on September 26, 2009 has claimed 205 lives, injured over 400 besides causing colossal material loss to the people. Peshawar, once known as a city of flowers and a home to centuries old cultural and historical heritage has become a mayhem of death, destruction for the last few months. The death and destruction continue unabated.
On October 28, 2009 a car bomb exploded at Cherri Koban Road between the densely populated Meena Bazaar and Koochi Bazaar. The car-bomb played havoc with human lives, killing 122 people, maiming and injuring over 250. The two markets mainly deal with daily use items for women. This was the reason that 33 out of 120 people killed in the deadliest blast were women and 12 children. Over a dozen people, including two couples, are still missing and are believed to have been killed and their bodies completely blown to pieces.
The people of Peshawar are yet to come out of the shock of the deadliest bombing in the city despite the passage of time. Those who lost their loved-ones in the worst terror acts are still in shock and trauma. Those who got the bodies of the victims have at least resigned to fate but there are others who continue to sit at the site suspended between hope and despair that they might find bodies of their dear ones as the removal of rubble at the blast sites continues at a snail pace.
The Meena Bazaar blast deprived several families of their sole breadwinners. A host of people have lost shelters and/or a lone source of their living or income as the area hit by terrorists destroyed the buildings that were serving both as residential facilities and shops.
The families which lost their breadwinners in the blast are worried about their survivals while those injured or maimed in the blast are in need of assistance to undergo proper medical treatment.
Our government is trying to deal with the crisis but is faced with several other issues and cannot meet the challenge of terrorism alone. It is time for us all—the members of the Civil Society—to rise up to the occasion, as witnessed previously during displacement of the internally displaced people from Swat and during the earthquake, to reach out to the affected people.
Numerous households are devastated by the recent inhuman and barbaric acts and are in dire need of help. Contacting all of them might take some time, but the media are reporting cases which can serve as a starting point for relief work. A group of individuals have decided to help the affected families by raising donations or some other kind of support for the above mentioned. A committee has been constituted with representation from different sections of the society to spear head the drive and seek your support and generosity.
Please contact anyone of the people whose names are given in the list for your own convenience or for the mentioned areas.
Ms Zubaida Noor –Peshawar for donations.
Email address : noor.zubaida@gmail.com
Phone: 091-5704802, 5703209. Cell # 03455560018.
Ms Rukhshanda Naz - Islamabad for donations.
Email: rukhnaz@hotmail.com ;
Cell # 03038872001
Dr Muhammad Salahuddin - Peshawar for medical support and donations.
Email: drsalah63@gmail.com, Cell # 0333-9163615.
Sehrish Khan for time input and donations.
Email: khan8798@yahoo.com
Phone: 091-5704802. Cell # 0334-5661366
Aftab Ahmad for media highlight and appeals for support and donations.
Email: aftabthenews@yahoo.com
Cell # 0301-8837677.
Hamza Saranjam for overseas donations.
Email: hamzasaranjam@gmail.com
Cell # +61420224068
Rahim Ahmad Khan Bangash for sending moneygram.
Email: rahim_ahmad@hotmail.com
NET Official Email: meraghar@brain.net.pk
Cell # +92-345-5560020
We appeal to the larger public to come forward and extend any kind of help possible to support the affected families by donating cash, in kind (goods, items) or even voluntary time to visit and console the families and show solidarity.
You can contact any member of the above mentioned committee for pledging your support or obtaining further information.
Direct cash donation can be sent to the given account number or send money gram in the name of the given person and address;
Bank details.
Account Name : Noor Donations
Account Number: 0224-79002497-03
Bank :Habib Bank Limited
Bank Address: Cantt Branch Peshawar, Pakistan (0224)
Swift Code: HABBPKKA224
Routing Code: 026007809
Moneygram details.
Name: Rahim Ahmad Khan Bangash
Address: House10, Hadi lane, Old Bara Road, University town Peshawar.
NIC: 14101-1067195-7
Check out the link for photographs of Meena Bazar bomb blast at;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/2009/10/091028_pes_blast_pics_rh.shtml

UPDATE ON DONATIONS GIVEN BY US;

Rs 100,000 to Noor Foundation Courtesy Waltraud Torrorian 's friends in Austria for Rabia Shah

Rs. 30,000 Nasreen Bibi widow of Pindi Bank blast victim

Rs. 60,000 for 2 widows in Swat give to AIRRA

Rs. 30,000 Nusrat Jabeen, widow of the driver of Brigadier Moin Haider who was gunned down G 11, Islamabad

Thanks to Humaira Masihuddin, Mrs Nuzhat, Bushra Arbab, Rangez Shah, Farrah Ali, Faria and Abid Hassan, Helga Siddiqui & Bushra Shahid these donations were possible.