FOLLOWING JEN’S SECURITY PROTOCOLS IN HEATED POLITICAL SCENARIOS AND MARKET SURVEY OF GOATS

Now a days there is boom in political activities in Pakistan as the historic election (smooth transition of democracy) is taking place for the first time in the history of Pakistan. The enthusiasm of the general public is worth seeing and all the political parties are having public meetings, gatherings, rallies while the terrorists are targeting these parties on regular basis. As the election is approaching it is becoming difficult to carry out field activities and most NGOs have confined their staffs to office work.

In the prevailing scenario JEN planned a market survey of goats in Punjab province which was of critical importance, yet JEN’s AIM office agreed to carry out this mission with some hesitancy due to potential security issues. Before departure, JEN staff were given a route map, and briefed about security protocols during the mission. The main protocols were to travel in daylight, keep in contact with JEN’s head office every 1 hour, stay in recommended hotels at night and adopt alternate routes if the primary route became blocked or any other issues arose.   



JEN staffs visited districtd of Punjab are Khanewal, Multan, Ahmed Pur Sharqi, Bahawalpur, Muzafar Garrh, Viharri and Choke Azam. Several farms and festivals of goats were visited where breed and prices of the goats were known.
This survey would help JEN to better implement the next livelihood recovery project for IDPs in Dera Ismail Khan. 

Distribution of Shelter Repair Kits to the Returnees of Central Kurram Agency (FATA)

Military operation against the militants in Central Kurram Agency initiated in 2009 which resulted in massive internal displacement. According to authorities it was the largest ever conflict in the valley that caused such a huge displacement of people. Independent sources claim that more than 1 million people were displaced. Most of the IDPs were provided accommodation by the host community in several districts of the KP and Punjab province. Lots of the sufferers were settled in the emergency relief camps. Govt of Pakistan (FDMA) requested to the humanitarian community to come forward to address the needs of IDPs particularly those related to shelters.



On request of Shelter cluster and FDMA, JEN initially agreed to provide 100 shelter repair kits and later extended to 145. The people, whose houses were partially or fully damaged, were not able to purchase and construct their houses provided Shelter Repair Kit. The project was sighing of relief to the people whose economic situation was not able to address their basic shelter needs.



The MoU signed with the beneficiaries it was stated that JEN will transport the material to commonly accessible points. And further JEN provided tractor cart to carry the shelter material to their door step. However it ensured that the material was provided to the nearest point of construction so that it did not cost them any money. JEN and the beneficiaries mutually agreed that both said cooperation will be endorsed to complete the project successfully and in timely manner.



Regular monitoring was carried out by project team in the field. The whole process was closely monitored by the Project Manager along with project team to ensure use of all provided shelter repair kits.

Humanitarian Situation Report Pakistan

Since mid-March, about 50,000 people have been displaced from the Maidan area in the Tirah Valley in Khyber Agency, FATA, due to escalation of hostilities between rival armed groups. Displaced people have moved to different locations in KP and FATA including New Durrai camp at Kurram Agency, Togh Sarai camp at district Hangu, Jalozai camp at district Nowshera and districts of Kohat & Peshawar.

Government officials estimate that up to 60,000 people (10,000 families) may leave the conflict-affected area in the near future and remain in displacement for up to six months due to security concerns.




There has been insecurity in FATA during the last decade, with displacements and returns occurring in parallel in different agencies of FATA since 2008. Humanitarian partners are providing assistance to 163,102 displaced families in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and FATA with an estimated population of 978,000 individuals, including 757,996 people who are already registered and those whose registration is under verification by the Government.

There are also 1.64 million Afghan refugees receiving humanitarian assistance, and more than 1.3 million people who have returned to FATA since 2009, who require humanitarian assistance.

Humanitarian partners are providing one-month food rations and relief items to IDPs in the existing camps and off-camp locations regardless of their registration status, as agreed by all humanitarian stakeholders. Humanitarian partners and government have distributed cooked food, ration, NFIs, transportation and healthcare.

JEN is one of the NGOs which are very active for IDP response. Since 2011 JEN is engaged in D I Khan with the IDPs of South Waziristan and providing them assistance according to JEN’s mandate of self reliance. In addition JEN is working in FATA for those communities who were IDPs and after the situation became positive they have returned to their places of origin but their situation is not good. 

JEN will continue supporting the displaced communities in the future.

Contraction of Humanitarian Corridors for NGOs in Pakistan

These days in Pakistan the humanitarian organizations and their workers are facing access problems to different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA.

Increased checks and restrictions on project NOC and new imposition of travel NOC for the local staffs have worsened the situation. Project NOC normally takes 35 days process by government while Travel NOC (a new addition) which was first supposed to take 6-8 weeks processing time but on the high voices from humanitarian community, its processing time is decreased to 5 working days although which is not practicable yet by the authorities.

Volatile security situation and to practice high security protocols then ever is also a significant barrier towards accessing project sites and the affected people. Increased number of incidents happening to humanitarian workers in terms of target killings and abduction is also among the barriers.   

Complex nature of the situation where military operation is ongoing in some areas while some areas are de-notified for return and time to time occurrence of natural disasters have multiplied the miseries of affected people and issues for humanitarian workers in the whole country.   

In such circumstances the humanitarian workers are not able to access the affected people timely while the affected people as well are not able to access humanitarian aid efficiently. However, JEN will keep working to support those people, seeking the way to improve current situation.

Voices from FATA

During the assessment for the new project and monitoring of the old project, village committee took JEN staff to Mr. Usman Gul’s house where he was living as Hamsaya (Rental house) as his own house was destroyed completely. 

I shocked when I saw 90 year old Usman Gul Paralysis patient since 2004 and he lost his CNIC during conflict when he was shifted by his son on his shoulder to Sadda Durrani IDP Camp and then to Peshawar for treatment but lack of financial resources he could not complete treatment.




When the conflict started in their areas, many families fled as soon as they felt the situation were going to be worsened but there were some families who didn’t want to leave their houses such easily and this family one of those families who didn’t give up such soon.
According to many families where we visited during project that leaving their houses due to war was one of the worst experiences of their lives and they will always feel unhappy because of this.
When we asked from the old man what is your most urgent need he told that his grandsons are brining water on head from very long distance. Drinking Water and shelter are the most urgent need .He became very happy that we judged from his smile when he knew that JEN is planning to implement WSS project in his village Dangar Godo in Central Kurram Agency.

Case Study

Introduction:
JEN NGO started a project to assist conflict affected families of Central Kurram Agency in FATA. The intervention was started in month of Dec2012 by launching assessment and beneficiaries’ selection. In first step of assessment coordination was made with FDMA, APA (Assistant Political Agent) and village committees and then with support of village committees, the selection of beneficiaries started.

At this point of time more than 145 families have been selected. With consent of committee a widow named Hanan was selected to be first beneficiary of JEN. Her family is identified as most vulnerable family of the area. Both APA representative and committees were of the view that if JEN have to construct only a single shelter then without any doubt she is the one to have it.  Below is case study of BIBI who has been in camp as internally displaced.

Identified Case:
When JEN field teams started assessment for selection of beneficiaries Hanan was the first one where JEN team was taken by committee. Hanan is a 57 years old widow born in 1956 in village Bakhshali of District Mardan. In year 1976 she got married with Mr. AGA JAN of Kurram agency. Her husband was a labor.
It was a shocking day when the news was told to Hanan that her husband died of heart attack. After death of her husband she lost her one and only source of income and came into very difficult situation. She got 8 children, one son and seven daughters. 2 daughters died before the crises while the only son is disabled.
After the crises started in the area she had to leave her home due to precarious security situation and migrated to Sadda with other family members.  Her family faced many challenges in IDP camp as it was very difficult to have an appropriate living place there and before displacement her family never experienced camp life.

During disaster she faced very difficult situation when her mud room given to her by her brother-in-law collapsed and she became shelter less. After the return she didn’t have any room and were sharing only room with her brother in law family.
JEN team assessed her house on priority basis and selected for construction of first shelter. It was a very emotional moment, which might not be possible to explain in words, when she was told by JEN field team that JEN will provide a one room shelter material kit.

 
Response: 
    
She said that she could not believe that someone like JEN would come into our lives and will provide an appropriate space for living to her family. She told JEN team that this is not just a room but it is means everything to her family because it saves her family from rain, snow and sun and above all now her family is no more dependent on her brother-in-law and his family.
She said she and whole community had very rough time. All the community around became conscious about their problems concern to shelters. In the beginning of this whole scenario she wept while she was telling her story and at the end when after completion she interviewed she was very emotional to have her own room and could not stop tears of happiness.
She was very thankful to JEN and people of Japan for their valuable assistance to her family and community.

Time to work in FATA

So the time has come to focus on returnees in Kurram Agency, FATA to ensure end to their protracted displacement. JEN has launched shelter project to provide “Roof Repair Kits” to 145 HHs in central Kurram Agency. These returnees were displaced from their homes due to the conflict. FATA and adjacent areas were directly affected with the situation after 9/11 and the war after those attacks and the community was in trouble. They had to move to the safer areas where they can save themselves and their loved ones. Those families have been residing in different parts of KP, FATA and in Camp organized by humanitarian community and government.

To address their early recovery needs; JEN adopted Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) approach to know their most urgent needs. Through PRA we did the research through participation of local community who knows much better than the external people. This generates a confidence in the community who suffered from the disasters and they know they are one of the stakeholders instead of just recipient. In this process we changed into learners and community as speakers which show respect to local intellectual and their analytical capabilities. It was easy for us to learn and understand the people's culture, habits and customs.

Around 55 village elders of 7 targeted villages were called upon and their needs were identified and prioritized through deep and systematic consultations. All village elders agreed on 4 most urgent needs as Peace, Shelter, Water supply and Health.

JEN further analyzed the situation and selected water supply component in addition to hygiene education based on returnee’s needs and JEN’s expertise.




Rapid assessment of water supply schemes was carried out, consulted with relevant government department and the idea was presented to wash cluster for recommendation. JEN is hopeful to assist returnees in terms of water supply schemes and hygiene education in the near future with the support of Japanese people and government. 

IDPS and Goats handling in winter season

With the beginning of winter season in plane areas like Dera Ismail khan the cold and fog starts which adversely affects the life of the people. The time period of winter season in Dera Ismail Khan is very small but the severity of the coldness exceeds specially when there is fog. During winter goats raising become comparatively tougher than the rest of the seasons because they need proper shelter and extra care to protect their livestock from the extreme cold. During the day when the sun shines the temperature comes very favorable for animals but at nights and during fog they require extra care because in shelter or room when they urinate the earth become wet and humid and all the animals but specially goats feel quite uncomfortable. The wet and humid environment leads to the microbial multiplication and the chance for disease outbreaks increases. Like all living things the water intake of livestock decreases which leads to a decrease in feed intake and hence low production. The IDPs in Dera Ismail Khan are basically from the cold area i.e. South Waziristan Agency therefore knows very well how deal the goats in such circumstances. It was a pleasant experience for all of us which we came across during follow up that how interestingly they have protected their goats from the extreme cold with no or very low incurring cost.

The IDPs of South Waziristan Agency try their best to protect their goats from the cold weather by practicing the below guidelines:

•IDPs prepared a separate room/shelter for their goats which is constructed in such a way that protects the animals from cold, direct wind and freezing rain. They also clean the shelter once daily.


•Most families arrange a thick soft bed made of wheat straw or any other dry fodder in a warm room at chilly nights.

•Most IDPs covers their goats with a warm wooly shawl or old used sweaters specially the baby goats which keeps them warm.




•IDPs Keeps their goats and baby goats indoors as much as possible in cold or when the climate is unfriendly.

•Some IDPs burn fire to protect goats from severe cold in shelter houses.

•Each and every Household tries to provide their goat with fresh water (the temperature of fresh water remain high than the stored one during winter) to drink in cold weather.

•Each family tries their maximum to get their goats outdoors at noon and graze them.


•They also protect their goats from external parasites by proper housing and medication if needed. Because there is many chances of external parasite infestation in winter season.

•Veterinary Assistants and LEWs also performing hoof trimming procedures for avoiding hoof abnormalities.

Mehsood IDPs- Recently Displaced from WANA South Waziristan Agency (FATA)

In October 2009, Military Operation was launched by security forces against militants in South Waziristan Agency mainly in Mahsood tribe’s area. All the Mahsood tribes left their homes and they took shelter in the adjacent settled/ FR areas of D.I.Khan, Tank, FR Tank, Wana and other areas.

During operation many Mahsood families migrated to Wazir tribe’s area named Wana in SWA. The Wazir Tribe warmly welcomed the Mahsood IDPs, helped and provided them financial and shelter support. The IDPs families started working in fruit orchards, markets and with contractors on daily wages for their livelihood. Many of them hired houses while some placed tents for sheltering in Wana Town. Those families who migrated to DI Khan and Tank were got registered by Govt. of Pakistan although more than 50% left unregistered but those (100%) who got refuge in Wana area remained un-registered as registration process wasn’t launched for them. Since October 2009 up till now, no efforts and relief activities from any government or non government organization taken place for the Mahsood IDPs at Wana in SWA.

The Mahsood IDPs in Wana faced many problems, however they were trying their level best to earn for their basic needs but in July 2011 the situation got tensed due to some unpleasant incidents. These incidents made the Security Personnel and Local Peace Committee of Wazir Tribe to take strict action against such type of activities. The Political Administration of SWA along with Pak Army with close coordination with Wazir Tribe Elders and Local Peace Committee conducted many Jirgas to cope the situation and activities caused the security situation worse and later in November 2012 the situation for Mehsood tribe became more terrible when the leader of the Local Peace Committee of Wazir Tribe was targeted by unknown people. This incident resulted fear among the communities of Wazir and Mahsood IDPs. The Local Peace Committee conducted a Jirga with Wazir Tribe Elders and decided to give ultimatum and warned Mehsood IDPs to leave the Wana and its surroundings areas till 5th of December 2012. This announcement once again put Mahsood IDPs in a very bad condition. The Mahsood IDPs in Wana once again displaced and they started searching for shelter and new safe places. Most of them reached District Tank and Dera Ismail Khan but these two cities were already abundant of Mahsood IDPs. So the recently arrived Mahsood IDPs have been facing many problems although the UNHCR in coordination with Govt. have started registration of the recently displaced Mahsood IDPs from Wana both in District Tank and Dera Ismail Khan.

【The newly arrived IDPs from Wana are being registered at registration point】



From the past many years this Mahsood IDPs are in very shocking conditions. These IDPs got displaced twice from their homeland and then from Wana resulted completely wiped-out their financial, cultural and traditional activities. To make them stand on their own feet, all

Monitoring of Pilot Project

In 2nd half of 2011, JEN implemented a livelihood recovery pilot project for the IDPs in D I Khan. 500 IDPs households were provided with Goats. 20 Livestock Extension Workers were provided with male goats and were trained on goat management for 10 days. The livestock extension workers were supposed to disseminate the knowledge of goat management to IDPs household. They were also supposed to monitor the assigned number of goats (for 1 livestock extension worker average 24 goats), provide first aid services when needed, do vaccination, de  worming, provide male goat to female goat for breeding and submit reports to JEN regularly.

They performed their duties well on time and the pilot project was successful in terms of achieving its objectives of livelihood recovery for the IDPs. To know further progress of the pilot project, JEN arranged a meeting with these livestock extension workers. The livestock extension workers were also supposed to monitor the beneficiaries after the project on regular basis. In the meeting they shared present condition of the goats, parturition record with JEN team and their individual contribution. From the reports submitted by LEWs it is evident that the goats are contributing towards the livelihood recovery of IDPs by producing milk and baby goats.

The IDPs in the pilot project used milk produced from goats for their own use and for selling in the market for income to cover their other daily life needs. More than 25% goats produced baby goats for the second time.  Some beneficiaries sold the baby goats to cover their emergency needs such as emergency hospitalization etc. Mostly beneficiaries raised these baby goats for larger benefit in the future.

After the distribution of goats in 2011

JEN conducted a survey of domestic refugees’ community which JEN gave goats in 2011 to see the effect of their support. This is a story of one family we heard during the survey.

When JEN visited Ms. Dwaidan’s house before our support in 2011,she took care of her two daughters by herself. When she was in South Waziristan, which was her hometown, she lived with her husband and two daughters. After refuge, she lost the means of livelihood and her husband went away to work in Karachi(The southern city of Pakistan).However, soon after they received goats from JEN, her husband came back from Karachi and her family could live together.

In the survey conducted in 2012, Ms. Dwaidan said, “My husband daily wages was very low and it was difficult to manage the minimum food cost before the support. Goats milk we received was plentiful even four of our family used daily, so we sold the excess milk(about 1.5 litter) in the neighborhood and we earned 122 rupee(About 103 yen)

After that, Ms. Dwaidan carefully saved the money which she earned by selling milk, and purchased a sawing machine. She used to live by needlework and weaving in her hometown. She made clothing by the sawing machine and sold them to her neighborhood. Ms. Dwaidan said “ One clothes is sold at 200 rupee(About 170 yen)
Now 10 clothes are sold a month and our family finances became more stable.

[Ms. Dwaidan’s two daughters and the sawing machine]

The reality about FATA

To the west of JEN’s operation site, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, lies a region bordering Afghanistan called FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas). In some parts of FATA, armed conflict between the Pakistani military and insurgents is continuing.

The tribal people of FATA have their own culture and norms. Many people living in other parts of our country and the world might call them brutal, cruel and illiterate and they might think that FATA is the center of regional problems. But I guarantee that once one visits FATA, their perception of FATA will change 100%.



They are not brutal but are loving and caring. They are not cruel but they are so kind with generosity, they are welcoming and hospitable. They are not illiterate but they are much educated in their inside. Their way of looking at the world is very positive. They are simple people and in fact it is difficult to find complicated people among the real people of FATA. 

FATA is not the center of problem, but it is the global political situation, different countries’ interests and greed that have made it dangerous. Because of the simplicity of the people of FATA, they are being used by the other powers easily.

Soon after our group arrived in FATA, our host was waiting for us. We were treated with traditional custom and provided with tea and dry fruits. Our host didn’t allow us to work on day 1 because he wanted us to see the beauty of that part of FATA. Maybe he didn’t want us to see the damages because he knows that ‘First impression is the last impression or first impression is the best impression’.

In FATA I saw the bluest sky, and big stars were very much visible at night.

Water was floating in the rivers like
chains that bind the communities living on opposite sides, and I could see a beautiful
panoramic mountain range.



Maple trees made a beautiful scenery in autumn.

If the situation in FATA becomes normal and the outsiders would live there peacefully instead of making troubles, then this area would be one of the best holiday destinations in Pakistan. People living in cities are fed up with the crowd, pollution and artificial things. They want a break in some places that purify their souls, and FATA is one of such places.

Azmat Ali, Head of Islamabad Office 

Coordination with Government Livestock Department

In the year 2010, Government of Pakistan established a Livestock Research Station in Union Council Band Korai, Tehsil Paharpur Dera Ismail Khan.

The entire staffs are comprised of 3 Senior Research Officers, 7 Research Officers and 1 Acting Director. This Research Center lies in JEN’s target area of the Livelihood Recovery project for IDPs. JEN is liable to coordinate its project activities with Government Livestock Department. JEN has shared it’s project activities and future planning with representatives of Government Livestock Department in the working group meetings of Food Security Cluster.
Representatives of Livestock Department regularly visits JEN’s warehouse during quarantine period of goats to share their technical expertise. They help JEN’s staff in vaccinating Goats against endemic diseases. After successful quarantine period of goats, Livestock Department issues “Good Health Status Certificate” to JEN which means that goats are now ready for distribution.

1 representative of Livestock Department regularly delivers sessions to JEN’s LEWS for 2 days in Goat Management Training. He covers the topics of Endemic diseases of goats and their prevention with practical demonstrations.   

JEN’s veterinary assistants coordinate with Senior Research Officers of the Livestock Research Station during follow up of goats and inculcate their inputs in treatment of goats and advising the beneficiaries.   
Representatives of Livestock department appreciate JEN’s endeavors for the Livelihood recovery of IDPs through provision of livestock. They appreciate strict measures adopted during quarantine period of goats at JEN warehouse. They see provision of Beetel Goats as “Genetic Improvement” in the target area. 

Eid ul-Adha

From 26th to 29th October, there was a big religious festival in Pakistan called “Eid ul-Adha”. This is one of the biggest holidays, and celebrated by all Muslim in all over the world. It is to commemorate (Prophet) Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son (Prophet) Ismael for Allah (God).

People who have capacity may sacrifice their livestock to ALLAH. Usually third part of meet will be distributed to people in poverty, other third part to neighbors or friends, and the rest third will be eaten by their own family. Of course, this event is important for their religion, but also we can say that this is a practice of kindness and mercy of Muslim religion.

The market price of cow, goat, and camel gets high. (Not the meet, animal itself). There are a especially for eid, big animal markets in every big city where farmers from different villages are bringing their livestock to sell for eid festival.

It is a good chance for them to earn some money, as people don’t much care about the rates in those days. Although bargaining works!

Many people go back to their village during the holidays, and spend this special holiday with their families. For these points, we can say that it is similar as the way we spend a New Year holiday in Japan. We can see cutting those animals in anywhere, but sure that the implication of this is a belief to Allah, and mercy for the people who needs this benefit.

A day of charity with whole Islamic believer, meaning billions of people participating is so heroic and proud. Of course, non-Muslim person do not have to join this event, but come over with respect and incense of this culture.
Eid Mubarak for all!



Pictures courtesy: Shehzad Khattak (ex JEN staff)

Distribution of Goats Thereafter

JEN has been providing support to displaced people who find refuge in UC Band Kurai of Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa　Province by distributing goats for their recovery of livelihood.
The project has been completed about 70% so far. In late September, JEN’s local staff visited community where goats had been distributed, and had a meeting with the people there to listen to their opinions about JEN and its project.




We would like to share with you some of the conversation from the meeting.



Mr. Abdul Ghani had no other choice like other displaced people but to leave all of his farm animals in South Waziristan. Before his escape, he had lived on the dairy product made from his farm animals. However, things can’t be done the same as only packaged milk is available in safe havens.
Mr. Ghani received goats with the support by JEN, and twin baby goats were born in the evening 23 days before the meeting. He told us he was happy because he has 1.5 liters of milk daily even excluding the milk for breast-feeding baby goats.
Nine-year-od  Habibullah who joined the meeting with his father brought a goat and its baby goat there. Habibullahsaid, “I’m happy to put the goats to graze near my place after coming back from school. I and a baby goat are good friends while playing. I will take a good care of it until it grows up.”

Mr. Loi khan told us about his lost-brother’s wife, Ms. Maryam Bibi. She received a nanny goat and her baby goat which had been born at JEN’s storage. The goat produces 1.7 liters of milk every day. She uses 0.7 liters of it as dietary, and sells the rest of it to her neighbors and gets 70 Pakistan Rupees per day as revenue. She is so happy now she can live an independent life.
54-year-old Mr. Ali Rehman lost his leg because of land mine explosion during the battle. Mr. Ali Rehman also received a nanny goat and its baby goat, and has 1.9 liters of milk every day. Mr. Ali Rehman consumes 0.5 liters of it at home. He sells 1.4 liters to his neighbors and uses the revenue for paying medical bills. The goat makes money for his treatment.

Conditions vary in each family even though they are from the same area. We learned that distributed goats are used based on each family’s needs.

An Event of Local Sports

Karwan Welfare Society Organization a local NGO organized an event of local sports in village Kokar, UC Mandra district D I Khan a couple of days back. Objectives of the event were to promote local games and players. One of the main objectives of the event was too, to provide an opportunity of amusement to local people who have suffered sectarian crises and terrorism for a long period.
3 different games were organized in the event.

1)Local Wrestling,





2)Weight Lifting



3)Rassa Kahi (Rope Pulling by opposite teams).



A large number of people gathered to watch the competition and enjoy it. Normally this event is organized every year but due to tense situation in D I Khan, the event was organized after 4 years.






Youngsters equally enjoyed this event and they also participated in the games.



At the end the organizers presented awards to the winners and cash prizes. The chief guest in his speech expressed that next year this event will be conducted on large scale and players will be included from other parts of the country as well.

Monsoon Season in Dera Ismail Khan

In local language of D I Khan i.e. Saraiki Monsoon is called “Sawanr”. Its tenure is from Mid-July to mid-September every year. Since 2010 the monsoon heavy rains has caused flash floods and has damaged infrastructure and agriculture sector. 2010 floods flashed the cities of KPK, sindh and some districts of Punjab & Baluchistan.

The major parts of D.I.khan were hit by 2010 flood which caused approximately 15 casualties and 80 injuries. Flood 2010 affected 800,000 populations of D.I.Khan and also 32,000 IDPs families of South Waziristan agency. The rehabilitation process is still incomplete in D.I.khan for flood affectees. Several families are still striving to rebuild their houses and start their lives normally.

Currently flood forecasting division, PDMA and weather forecasting department’s forecasts heavy rains which may cause flash floods in D I Khan and other parts of the country. According to UNOCHA report, D I Khan has experienced urban flooding in recent wave of monsoon rains. Although there were no human causalities but some houses and roads are damaged including a bridge which was completely washed away.

United Nations has prepared contingency plan with the help of I/NGOs to cope with any circumstances resulted by monsoon. Government authorities are monitoring the situation although they have no formal contingency plan.

A Hardworking Worker Mr. Hizbullah (Bukhari)

“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.”   
  (Colin Powell)

This is the story of a young 25 years old guy named “Hizbullah” who has been working from the Vendor side at JEN’s warehouse since September 2011 (Pilot Project). His nick name is Bukhari.

He belongs to a poor family of village Wanda Umer Khan, Tehsil Paharpur, district Dera Ismail Khan. Responsibility, punctuality, hard working and honesty, all these qualities are present in Mr. Hizbullah’s personality. He is an animal loving person indeed. He loves to stay with the animals and ties to care them. He has been trying to learn knowledge about animals and to get more know-how and expertise in this particular field he joined Dr. Saeed Ullah (A Local Veterinary Officer) in 2003 onward. He has been working with Dr. Saeed Ullah for last 10 years. Now he is well trained and has got good knowledge about animals and their management.

Due to his interest in animals and know-how about animals’ health and management tools, he is assigned as worker at JEN’s warehouse who oversees all the warehouse’s activities under the guiding directions of JEN Livestock Expert and Veterinary Assistants. He is honestly working very hard. He takes full participation in all warehouse’s activities like grazing the goat, cutting and chopping grass, cleanliness of warehouse, feeding and watering practices, helping Veterinary Assistants in vaccination and treatment of goats and arranging medicine from the market for goats on veterinary Doctor’s demand.

With the Veterinary Doctors advice, he also gives first aid to diseased goat.

According to Hizbullah, “The animals do not speak and do not walk like humans, doesn't mean they should be treated differently. In fact, they do not speak so they should be treated and looked after well”.  Once, one of the goats got anorexia (Loss of appetite) disease at JEN warehouse and couldn’t eat properly, although the goat was kept under observation by Veterinary Assistants as well but Mr. Bukhari even looked her after in awkward hours of the day and finally the goat became healthy enough to be distributed. The most interesting thing Mr. Bukhari does is to offer candies to warehouse staff when a goat gives birth to baby goat as it is in our culture to distribute sweets called Methai in neighborhood when a human baby is born.

Besides all these activities he performs so many other duties willingly. He treats the labors very politely. He ensures food availability to his staff daily and makes even breakfast, lunch and dinner for them. In case of any health problem to any of his co-worker, he takes him to the hospital and takes good care of him. In short, he has an ideal and adorable personality.

The importance of the research for the project for 2013 is ongoing

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Dera Ismail Khan district and FATA the number of internally displaced persons from combat between the government military forces and the anti-government military forces is about 730 thousand. (July 2012, UNHCR)
Because the situation in their birth place is not stable, there are a few internally displaced persons returning. JEN is going to continue our research for the project towards displaced persons next year as well.

JEN’s local staff from the D.I. Khan office have started the research for the project in 2013 while they continue ones for this year.

Since JEN has targeted some areas, JEN’s investigation team sees the extent of the needs of people by visiting the villages and inspecting their life environment and having conversations with the displaced persons and the social activists in the villages.

In this picture, the staff are making sure of the places where the displaced persons are from, from the picture drawn by the social activist who is familiar with the area.


This one is about listening to elderly people in an internally displaced persons’ community about the current problems they have.



In fact JEN has investigated the environment which the internally displaced persons live. Like the picture bellow suggests, some people stay at not so sturdy housing constructions made of mud and sand.



Based on the collected information from each area, JEN will select the area that needs the most support and decide the details of their activities.

Our Ex-Security Guard late Abdullah Noor

experience. We would call him by nickname ‘Mashar’ which means an elder person/senior. His jokes still sound in our ears. All these habits had made him unique to all the staff members. He joined JEN team last year and in a short time he started to live in He was punctual, dutiful, cooperative and friendly. He was beloved by everyone. He was honest to the extreme and used to advise us on different matters based on his everyone’s heart.




He would perform duty at JEN office in night shift. During quarantine period of goats we would send him to warehouse on special assignment because of his perfection in work.

He went to his home town on routine holidays on 30th June. Early in the morning, On 1st July he left for district Kohat voluntarily with a patient from his family on emergency basis. On the way to hospital, their vehicle unluckily had an accident with a truck from the opposite side. Because of no space inside the vehicle, he sat on the roof of it, which is normal in Pakistan. All his family members along with the patient received injuries. But the injuries of Abdullah Noor were deep and on his back head. He was instantly shifted to the hospital where he could not succumb to the injuries.

It was mountain heavy news for us, his family and his villagers. We all moved to his hometown and participated in his funeral prayers. He left 1 daughter, 4 sons, and a wife. He left this world but is alive in our thoughts. We remember him in special prayers. We feel him in the moments he shared with us; his jokes, his advises, on dining table and playing Ludo with us. May his soul be rest in peace!

MANGO THE SECOND LARGEST CROP OF D.I.KHAN

Mango is one the most famous fruit in Pakistan.
It is the second largest fruit crop of District Dera Ismail Khan, where JEN is currently working. In D.I. Khan there are approximately 1,500 mango orchards. It is one of the biggest sources of income of local farmers and many labors are earning from it in its season.

Mango is native fruit of Indian sub continent, Burma and Andaman Islands. Buddhist monks took mango plants and seeds to Malaya and eastern Asia in the 5th Century B.C. From there mango reach to Africa, Brazil, West Indies, Barbados and Jamaica.

Unlikely other tropical countries, mangoes in Pakistan are available in only one season (summer).

Different types of mangoes are grown in Dera Ismail khan with the local names which are difficult to pronounce in English i.e. Anwar Rathor , Langrra, Cheeta Choonsa, Fajiri, Doosiri, Samar Bahisht, Shan-e-khuda, Sindhri, 12 number Rathor, Golden, Malda and Local variety .




The mango takes about 3 months from the time of fruit set to mature and ripen. Some varieties may take 3 to 4 months. Fruits are plucked from the tree when they are still hard and green. When a few semi-ripe fruits fall from the tree, it is traditionally considered that the fruits are mature for harvest.




The mangoes are plucked in a very simple way through locally made net (shown in pictures) to reduce damages.




Two labors required in plucking of mangoes from one tree. The orchards are sold to local contractors normally for one season. The contractors normally hire 8 labors for an orchard of 6 acres.

During travel I have eaten mangoes of different countries, e.g Indonesia, Thailand, Haiti and Dominican Republic but for me the best ever and tasty mangoes are from Pakistan and it is cheapest here as compare in the other countries. We can buy 1 KG of mangoes on Rs. 80 (60 JPY) in the season.

First Half of the Distribution of Goats is Completed

JEN has been deploying the livelihood recovery project to 2,000 IPD families in D.I. Khan.
We have distributed goats to 1,000 out of 2,000 IDP families so far. People who received goats try to recover livelihood by breeding goats with the support from a pastoral coach who is also an IDP.

Recently D.I. Khan has been suffering from hot weather with more than 46℃. So the rest of the distribution is planned after the middle of August.
In the interim, JEN’s local staff and a pastoral coach visit the families who received goats, and check the health of goats and changes in people’s daily life.

We will continue the support for IPDs, watching out heat disorder in the ongoing intense heat.

Life at JEN in D I Khan

Working and living at JEN Office accommodation is based on cooperation, hard work, sincerity, and happiness. Simply, we call it the JEN Family.

We start our activities early at 4:30 in the morning by offering the morning prayer.



At 8:30, breakfast is ready and at 9:00, the office opens up. We have the same duty hours as the head office in Islamabad with an hour break for lunch and prayer. All staff go work on their tasks; Team 1 goes to the warehouse to monitor the quarantine of goats, Team 2 moves to the field for follow-up, Team 3 plans for distribution and security guards, and drivers and admin staff are there to assist the teams. By COB, all teams come back to the office and submit reports to their supervisors.





After 5:00, local staff take off while non-local staff stay at the accommodation. While living together for the past 2 years, we have become close friends. We know what the likes and dislikes of each other are, and we live with care, sense, and responsibility. We all share happy and sad moments, and eat and play together. We have strong competitors around the Ping Pong table, and the parties at night give us the opportunity for amusement. Praying together gives us relaxation and eating together teaches us respect.





Sometimes it feels strange to imagine a different life than one we have here.         

Goat Management at JEN Warehouse in D I Khan（ＰＡＲＴ２）

Feeding: Goats are fed green fodder and wheat straw two times a day i.e. morning and evening. First, green fodder is given to goats and then wheat straw is given two hours later. Goats are also grazed in the afternoon for additional feeding and some exercise.

Billy goats are grazed separately. Every Billy goat is given 0.5 kg Wanda (A Balance Diet) every day in the afternoon. After eating the Wanda, the Billy goats are not allowed to drink water for about two hours in order to avoid digestive problems (bloat/timpani).

Milking: The lactating goats are milked 2 times a day i.e. morning and afternoon. Goats are milked after half an hour of feeding.

Cleaning Environment: The shed and open yard are cleaned daily to keep the goats in a hygienic and healthy environment. Water traffs are cleaned early in the morning and refilled with fresh water.

Goat Management at JEN Warehouse in D I Khan

The current livelihood project may look easy from the surface but in reality it is very complicated and difficult. We have to watch out for a lot of things that can have adverse effects on health.

According to the JEN policy, Beetal goats are carried from various cities of Punjab to the JEN warehouses in Dera Ismail Khan. These goats are kept in quarantine for 7-10 days. Before the arrival of the goats, the warehouse is cleaned and disinfected under the supervision of a veterinary assistant to ensure an infection free environment.

The transportation process is very difficult because we can’t carry more than 45 goats in our transporting truck. These goats are pregnant and fight each other in the truck, so sometimes goats are injured by the time they arrive at the JEN warehouse. The injured goats need special treatment which is both time consuming and sensitive.

Vaccination: During the 7 days of Quarantine, the Goats (Nanny/Billy) are vaccinated against the diseases which prevail in Dera Ismail Khan (i.e. Pest despetitis Ruminants (PPR), Enterotoxaemia and Contagious Caprine pleura pneumonia (CCPP)) every other day.

Watering: During the seven days, animals are given soluble vitamins in their drinking water to avoid stress from transportation and vaccination. Nanny Goats are free to drink water at any time while Billy goats can drink three times a day.

Milk Festival (Doodh Maila)

Livestock plays an important role for the country’s economy as  it provides job opportunities to many  rural population.

Dera Ismail Khan is the south most District of KPK, this district is on the border of conflict area South Waziristan Agency. D.I. Khan was very popular for sustainable peace but it suffered a lot from the sectarian issues and war against terror. From last few years there was security unrest in District D.I. Khan, which badly affected the economy of the district.

There are many Government Departments working on livestock & dairy Development in D.I Khan.
On April 13, 2012 the Livestock Research and Development Station UC Phar Pur, District D.I. Khan organized Milk Festival locally called (Doodh Maila) for those farmers who have different kind of Goats, Lambs and cattle. The purposes of this festival were:

·To improve the knowledge of common farmer in livestock dairy development.
·To provide refreshment to the peoples disturbed from the disease of sectarianism and terrorism.
·To build their interest again in keeping different breeds of livestock.

In the milk festival different kinds of competitions were held between the animals. Weight lifting competition was held between the camels. The milk competition was held between the cows and buffalos, the bucks were competed in terms of weight, length & height.
It was also found that the buck provided by JEN to IDP of UC Begwani Shumali in Pilot Project named Naseeb Khan was in the list of top 3 winners/successors.
During the interview one of the livestock officers appreciated the initiative of JEN (i.e. provision of Beetle breeds to IDPs in D.I. Khan). 

Life in my village

My village name is Batakara situated in district Swabi. It lies at the right bank of river Indus KPK Pakistan surrounded by District Mardan, Buner and Hazara. Swabi is famous for agriculture and hospitality. The main source of income of the people is farming and livestock. Mainly people grow Wheat, maize, tobacco, sugarcane & vegetables and keep sheep, goats and buffalos.

The people of Swabi belong to Pathan tribe’s yousaf zai and utman zai and are famous for their culture and hospitality.

They warmly welcomed to a huge numbers of internally displaced people from Swat in 2009 due to military operation against Armed Opposition groups. They shared their homes and hujras (guest rooms) with these affected peoples and accommodate them till the settlement of dispute. Many NGOs including JEN worked in Swabi during that difficult period.

The people of Swabi are very social and polite and give honor to any one individual or organization working in their areas. They also support the development efforts made by organization in this area like water supply and sanitation schemes and infrastructure schemes.

The people of Swabi are mostly farmers and living with simple life. They keep livestock like Sheeps, cow, buffalo, and goats for their dairy product. They are using this dairy product in their food and also offer to guests.

The young generation of Swabi are mostly educated and doing jobs in different government and private organization. The education ratio of District Swabi is better than other areas of this province and the famous engineering university of Pakistan GIK is situated in Swabi. 



Some of JEN staffs are from Swabi and practice in social activities with different local community organization.

How are the IDPs now?

As long as the IDPs were living at origin before conflict their lives were worst at several aspects. Awareness of education in males was very less and that of female was totally zero. Their main sources of income were agriculture and livestock. Majority of them before displacement had no exposure to settled areas and cities. By nature they were narrow-minded and by culture they were conservative. Due to linguistic problems most of them would hesitate to go outside FATA. In a common case it would be a difficult job for an IDP to withdraw money from the bank using an ATM card. They had negative perceptions about humanitarian organizations.

After displacement most of them came to start living in D I Khan, Tank and some moved to Karachi. Humanitarian Organizations provided them shelter, food, NFIs and most importantly the high caliber staff dealt them with patience and politeness. Effective mobilization made them changing their minds and a hope to start recovers their lives.

Humanitarian organizations provided them capacity building trainings in terms of Health, Sanitation, Hygiene, Livelihood Recovery, Gender & Female Education and Protection etc. They interacted with the local people, who were more educated, patient, happy and bearing better social values.

Gradually they adjusted themselves with the local people. Their perception of biasedness reduced about other communities and tribes. They realized the importance of education and are more willing than ever to send their children to schools. They started interest in other sources of livelihood other than agriculture and livestock. They have come to know the role of humanitarian organizations. Now they know their rights as affected people and understand the law & justice system.

First Batch of Goats at JEN Warehouse in D I Khan

So it’s time to go for the distribution; a core activity of the Livelihood Recovery project for IDPs in D I Khan. But wait……. Just 1 week to 10 days (for IDPs). It’s a tough test for their patience but Goats have to go quarantined. It’s good both for the goats and IDPs. Goats will get healthy and the IDPs will get healthy goats.

190 female goats and 10 male goats are present at JEN warehouse. They came here after JEN Livestock expert gave them a final touch based on selection criteria in district Checha Watani, province Punjab. The selection criterion is interesting; typical roman nose, long flat ears, small or medium size horns, huge body, variable coat color and 3 to 4 months pregnant.



Goats are staying in a sweet home (warehouse/farmhouse). It can be called as a luxury house for them as the covered area is larger than number of goats stay there. It also has opened area which is quite larger for them and fence from all sides. The covered area is further divided in various pens (Partitions); goats with advance pregnancy, goats that are comparatively weak and diseased goats are kept in separate pens.

The goats are vaccinated against the endemic infectious diseases to provide immunity against the fatal infectious diseases. The warehouse has plenty of wooden menges (the section where goats eat food) and cemented water troughs to ensure good feeding and watering of the goats. The goats are fed with Barseem (crushed wheat straws) and wanda (feedstuff) is provided as additional balance feed to meet the energy requirements of the goats.

So the goats are being through test; Quarantine period of 1 week. Goats those pass the test will get to their destination i.e. their respective owners the IDPs and those fail in the test will be rejected completely or will be given another chance i.e. will be under consideration at warehouse under strict supervision of Livestock Expert to appear for the test next time.

Local Handicrafts

Pakistan has inherited a rich cultural heritage from the history. The different cities of Pakistan with wide verities of traditional and cultural handicrafts have much to offer. The Kashmiri Shawls, the Balochi and Sindhi embroidery work, the Peshawari Chappals and wooden handicrafts of Sargodha and Dera Ismail Khan are famous all over the world.
Wooden handicraft is one of the oldest businesses in D. I. Khan and many households run it as their first livelihood source from decades. It represents the glorious and historical culture of Pakistan in all over the world.

Nazir Hussain and his family are attached with this business for more than 100 years. His shop is one of the oldest handicraft centers situated in main Topanwala Bazaar, D. I. Khan. Each and every piece of his shop is a cultural heritage. The hand work done on wood pieces is called Jindry which is the specialty of Nazir Hussain. Jindry is a very time consuming work and requires high level expertise.

Nazir Hussain makes different samples of wooden handicrafts which range from the small show pieces to daily life stuff like Wooden Toys, Wooden Tables, Ashtrays, Tea Sets, Table Lamps, Wall Clocks, Wooden Urns, Wooden Flowers, Jewelry Boxes, Dressing Tables and Assmay-e-Hussna (99 Names of ALLAH and Muhammad (PBUH) to Loh-e-Qurani. He also makes different types of Wooden Logos, Shields on order.

Like other businesses of D. I. Khan, handicraft business is also suffered by the July 2010 flood and mainly due to armed conflict in South Waziristan Agency. Nazir Hussain says that the charms of Topanwala Bazaar have become dim and his business activities are also affected but he is hopeful and trying to bring more innovation in his work.

Gomal University

Pakistan is abundant in agriculture as 27% of the land is cultivated. It is ranked as the fourth largest milk producing country in the world due to the abundance of livestock such as buffalo, sheep, goat, and camel.

For this reason, agriculture and animal husbandry are important parts of the Pakistani economy and in order to continuously grow these fields, it is essential to develop specialists.

As a way to develop these specialists, there is a famous agricultural university called Gomal University in Dera Ismail Khan, where the JEN office is located.

Gomal University is ranked 12th among the universities in Pakistan with a high reputation and provides a wide range of lectures from undergraduate to graduate studies.

For the undergraduate program, there are 4 departments  (literature, agriculture, pharmacy, and science), which are split into a total of 29 courses.

(Picture: The Department of Agriculture)

In conjunction with Gomal University, Gomal College of Veterinary Sciences in Dera Ismail Khan has started a 5-year veterinary science doctorate program. Hundreds of students have graduated so far and are working in the animal husbandry field.

The animal specialist from the current JEN office in charge of animal husbandry instructor training is one of the graduates.

Gomal University not only accepts students from Pakistan, but also various countries like Afghanistan and Gulf countries. There are 30 to 40 students from Afghanistan every year that take doctorate program mentioned above.

The start of goat management training

The workshops for stockbreeding trainers being held in Dera Ismail Khan district are important part of the livelihood recovery project for internally displaced persons.

Based on the standards made by JEN, the field team will select stockbreeding trainers from the area the project will be based on. The members selected will all be young, educated, filled with the volunteer spirit and enthusiastic about learning.

The stockbreeding trainers will first participate in a 10-day goat management training course, then attend a supplementary training course, and take on a role to spread the knowledge about raising and managing goats to other displaced households.

In 2012, we split the 80 stockbreeding trainers into 4 groups of 20 and have held training sessions for each group in order.

 

On the first day of training for Group #1, which was held the other day, the stockbreeding trainers asked many questions regarding the objectives of the training and the benefits of attending the course. The livestock experts in charge of the training course listened with great interest to the concerns of the trainers.

The following are the comments from the stockbreeding trainers who participated in the training course.

- For us, livestock is the main source of income, but because the livestock was mainly consumed by our own family until now, the benefits thereof were limited.
Through this training course, I was able to learn in depth about the benefits through the use of livestock.

- We are receiving education, but at the refugee shelters all we do is waste time and there is nothing to do all day.
Thanks to this training course, I have acquired the skills needed to work and I am able to contribute to helpless communities that need our support.

- Due to the training course, I was able to learn about goat management methods, social mobilization, and enterprise development.
From now on, I have decided to change the use of livestock from personal consumption to business use.

- We, the community of the Massoud tribe have a reputation for our hospitality.
From the training course that we attended, I believe we can have the opportunity to help other people in an even better way.

Riaz’s Trauma

Both natural and man-made disasters will affect suffers’ lifestyles for a long time.
Riaz ad-Dīn’s trauma is one example.

In South Waziristan, where Riaz used to live, a battle occurred between an armed group and the government military. The battle got serious, using fighters, armed helicopters, machine guns battle planes and trench mortars, eventually forcing residents to evacuate. Riaz and his family took refuge, too.

Riaz’s house was devastated and many people were killed by bombing. He was mentally damaged by losing neighbors and loved ones, houses and assets and being forced to evacuate from his home.

Riaz’s father hospitalized Riaz in a mental hospital in Peshawar spending all the money he had, but Riaz has not got well.

Today, Riaz lives in a tent distributed by UNHC with his parents and his 7 brothers and sisters in Dera Ismail Khan. He is suffering from poverty.

His father and brothers work by the day. Their earnings are short for the family life and expensive Riaz’s medical cost.

When Riaz came to register for JEN’s support, JEN asked his father because he did not answer the interview himself.

His father said that Riaz takes prescribed tranquilizer due to frequent disturbance of consciousness.

I heard many people here suffer from mental disorder and sense of loss caused by conflicts like Riaz.

JEN will continue our support in order to support as many people with trauma as possible.

Self-introduction from Staff Member: Mian Hamad Asif

I am from Walai Village, a small village in Nowshera District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. I have been working as a project assistant for JEN more than a year.

I got a master's degree in International Relations at University of Peshawar in 2005. When I was a student, I designed and joined a lot of workshops and regional and international conferences.

After that, I took some expertise courses by private corporations including business development, communication and presentation, and negotiation. Then, I started to work in the development field.

For the first three years, I worked for Non-Governmental Organizations in and outside Pakistan. In Mansehra, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, affected by the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, I was engaged in the following:
1. Reconstruction program for community
2. Business skill development training for the living
3. Project for improvement of living and business development

Working for such projects, I communicated with people with a variety of background and learned how to keep good relationships with community and be flexible among people with different languages, cultures and religions. I also learned to consider genders and manage time.

After the projects were completed, I went back to Pakistan in July, 2010, when a new disaster occurred. Historical floods hit Pakistan, which brought great damages nationwide.

I was engaged in volunteer activities in my hometown for two months after the floods began. After that, in September, 2010, I joined JEN in order to expand my contribution.
My first project at JEN is market research at the stricken areas and support for suffers in Charsadda.

What I like JEN about are as below.

1.The managers take and respect new ideas from field staff.
2.They not only strengthen capability of staff members but instruct us to achieve project goals.
3.They offers friendly environment so we can relax to learn. They encourage and support the staff in spite of their busy schedule.
4.They are always considering how to bring the best result with less resource.
5.Every staff member works with ownership both at Headquarters and at local offices.

Brick factory at Dera Ismail Khan

The houses in cities of Pakistan including Dera Ismail Khan are built of bricks.
In Pakistan, bricks for roads and buildings are generally made from dirt and sand. This is because they are relatively reasonably priced and strong.

Bricks are made at factories called ‘Batai’ in Pashtun. There are about 80 Batais in Dera Ismail Kahn, and it is said that about 6000 people are working there.

Today, we would like to introduce a story from a man who is the manager of a Batai.

There are two kinds of Batai. One is run by the owner of the Batai who supervises the Battai workers directly. The other is run by has been run by a contractor who is under an annual contract with the owner.

Barth Muhammad living in Dera Ismail Kahn is a contractor who is under an annual contract with the owner.

The Batai managed by Mr. Muhammad has 80 workers.

In order to make strong bricks, it is important to use solid dirt.

First, at the Batai, the dirt is brought by a truck and then spaked,
　
mixed sand to prevent contracting and then fired in a special wood brick fire.

The bricks are then left to dry in the sun for seven days.

To increase the strength, after the bricks have dried, they are placed in a heating device for an additional 21 days.

About 350,000 bricks are made in each batch.

Finally, those bricks are loaded on truck and delivered to consumers.

The day and life of a Channa shop

Today we will introduce the story of a man who runs a channa restaurant who we met in Dera Isamil Khan.

His name is Shaukat Ali ***. For about 20 years in a market located in the center of Dera Ismail Khan, Shaukat has been selling dishes using beans called channa.

Channa dishes are cheap, spicy and high in nutrition and are popular among the locals. At Shaukat’s restaurant, the onion yogurt and spice are poured on to channa and rice in front of the customers and it looks really delicious!!

Actually, Shaukat was affected by the great flood in 2010 and his crops that he was growing in a small farmland were damaged.

“It is very difficult to go back to the lifestyle before the flood, but I believe if we continue to work hard, things will be back to normal again.” says Shaukat.

Shaukat is very busy serving customers, washing dishes and preparing the food from 7am in the morning when his shop opens to 4pm when he closes.

He has a wide range of customers including shop employees, families, and government employees, but most of them are students.

120 plates of 20-yen channa plates are served every day, which comes to 2,400 rupees (approximately 2304 yen) in sales.

After the shop closes, Shaukat buys ingredients (channa, rice, tomatoes, onions, yogurt, lemon, spices) for the next day on the way home, which cost 1,900 to 2,000 rupees (approx. 1824 to 1920 yen) per day, so after this is deducted from the sales, his day’s income is about 450 rupees (approx. 432 yen).

Shaukat lives together with his mother, wife, and 6 children in a small house. After he gets home, Shaukat prepares for the next day, which takes about 3 hours, but his family all help him, so Shaukat says he enjoys his job.

A Place for Relaxation in Dera Ismail Khan

In eastern Dera Ismail Khan, where JEN operates, the Indus River flows. The Indus River is the biggest river in Pakistan and the 21st biggest river in the world. In Dera Isamil Khan, the bank of this river is known for a place for relaxation.

Along the riverside of the Indus River, there is a park great for families and another park similar to an amusement park, which has a small Ferris wheel.

There is also a restaurant called “Midway” which is the most famous in Dera Ismail Khan. At “Midway”, you can enjoy not only Pakistani food, but also Chinese and Italian food. In addition, you can eat sobat, a dish made by pieces of bread cooked in a big pot shared with 4 to 6 people, which is a famous dish in Dera Ismail Khan.

Something that is locally a bit of a sightseeing spot is Ghazi, an old boat that is stranded along the riverside. Because the river’s water level descended, the boat became stranded on the riverside.

On the weekends, people have a good time by crossing the river on boats and swimming in the river. Especially on the weekend in the summertime, many people of various generations gather here and the area is crowded with lots of people. Along the riverside, street vendors are lined up selling types of food including ice cream, fried rice and fruits and are crowded with customers.

There are many other ways to spend time along the river. People who like to dance gather around and dance together and there are also young ones who enjoy sports like football, Frisbee, volleyball, and Kabaddi (a sport like wrestling). 

The Indus River is a great spot for fishing, so among the people who live on the riverside, there are those who make a living by fishing.

You can also see people who enjoy sports and walking along the river in Japan, just like the people in Dera Ismail Khan, so in that sense I think we can say there are similarities.

--Announcement--
We received an award by the Minister of Foreign Affairs for 2012.
We deeply thank all the supporters who contributed to JEN’s activities thus far.
For more information, click here ….

Baby goats

JEN has distributed goats to 470 IDP families since late September.

As we noted before, these goats are nanny goats at their three to four months pregnancy. Baby goats have already been born in 50 families out of those distributed.

Today, we will show you baby goats’ photos received from the scene.

A newborn baby goat is so small and light that even a little kid can hold it.

Also, there was a baby goat that had been born at JEN’s storehouse before the distribution.

So far, the probability of twinning has been more than one-fifth.

Pastoral advisors who were chosen from IDPs visit families in charge every week, and check the health condition of mother goats, breed status, and the condition of baby goats when they are born.

It is also one of the important tasks for pastoral advisors to check how much milk is expressed from post-delivery goats.

Currently, each of all 50 post-delivery goats has been producing 3 liter of milk per day as expected.

For IDPs, both mother goats and baby goats are precious property. Our support will be continued until they learn to be able to raise goats properly in the whole community.

Noor Malik’s Story

NGOs that work in Pakistan work closely with victims of conflict and disaster across the country and meet victims who live in various circumstances.

For this article, we would like to tell the story of Moor Malik’s family, who the JEN staff met in Dera Isamil Khan district, where the current JEN office is located.

Noor Malik and his wife do not have children. Malik is around 75 years old and his wife is turning 68.

The two used to live in a village called Kama Gourami of South Waziristan, an area that has received the greatest damage in conflict. Other than a small house and 4 goats that are a sole source of income, Mr. and Mrs. Malik had no possessions that they can call their own. Needless to say that is not enough to survive, but by receiving contributions from neighbors, they managed to somehow get by.

One day two years ago in the middle of the night, Mr. and Mrs. Malik as well as others from the village had to leave their homes and escape to Dera Ismail Khan. The army came to Malik’s village and called on the villagers to evacuate to a safe place. Seeing as war was imminent, it was no longer impossible for the two to go back to their home in South Waziristan.

The journey from their village to the evacuation area was extremely difficult. With no food, water and change of clothes, their only choice was to continue walking to Dera Ismail Khan. The two are old aged and are unable to walk for a long period. They had to leave behind their 4 goats, which were their sole source of income.

Like most internally displaced people, Mr. and Mrs. Malik could not make it in time to register as a refugee and as a result, they could not receive food aid from WFP (United Nations World Food Programme). Mr. and Mrs. Malik say they could not eat anything for days even after they arrived in Dera Ismail Khan.

Since then they two lived in a relatives house in Paharpur village located in the same district. Although they are relatives, it is a little uncomfortable living in someone else’s home, but they had no other choice says Malik. The two had no way of setting aside food for each day and they spent each day praying for a miracle.

However, in July of this year since the projects in Dera Ismail Khan have started, their lives have started to change.

Mr. and Mrs. Malik have now been registered to become eligible to receive aid and were able to get a pregnant goat. Shortly after they received the goat, a kid was born and they were able to milk the goat. They use the milk for their food every day, but because they can sell the extra milk that they do not need, they are now able to save some money.

JEN will continue to help those who need aid the most.

Beetal Goats

Goats are important for poor livestock farmers to make a living.

It is said that there are over 50 million goats in Pakistan. The species are various. Some species are good for meat or milk production. Beetal goats are famous for its milk production and meat.

JEN has a project that distributes pregnant beetal goats to IDPs, internal displaced persons, living in Dera Ismal Kahn. Compared with temporary distribution of NFIs, Non-Food Items, or coupon, beetal goat distribution is expected for sustainable financial and health effectiveness.

Let me tell you how beetal goats distribution affects to IDPs’ households.

1.Financial effectiveness

Rearing beetal goats enhances financial situation of IDPs. JEN supports Masud tribe evacuated from South Waziristan Kalusha, who originally earned from agriculture and livestock farming. JEN’s survey revealed that one household of Masud tribe consumes milk about two liters per day. If they hold a beetal goat, which produces 2-3 liters of milk every day, they can save spending for milk. JEN distributes pregnant goats, which means IDPs can either rear goats for breeding or produce milk productions.

2.Health effectiveness

IDPs can improve health by taking necessary nutrition from milk or meat from beetal goats. Milk contains vitamins and meat is a good resource of protein. Rearing goats are expected to lead to decrease the number of people with malnutrition. Children were not able to have a chance for education and have enough time at the evacuation site, but instead, they can take care of the goats, playing with them or taking them out for grazing.

Goats distribution will last until the end of October. The livestock instructors who have been trained by expertise will show IDPs how to manage and rear goats properly.

Habib-ur-Rehman, Supporter of IDPs

Mr. Habib-ur-Rheman lives in Dera Ismail Khan. He runs a farm and does fertilizer business. I would like to write about him. He is a strong supporter for IDPs, internal displaced persons and humanitarian support groups.

Habib is called Mohammad, the Islamic warrior. He is 46 years old while the average longevity in Afghanistan is 42*, and is very active. He is also a passionate social activist. He is known as Haji Sahib. Haji Sahib is a title given to those who go on a pilgrimage and should be respected.

He has lived in Sararogha in South Waziristan Kalusha and Mian Wada in Dera Ismail Khan province for the past 11 years. He used to be a “seasonal internal displaced person” which I have written on the blog. He lived in Dera Ismal Khan in severe cold winter and in South Waziristan, where it has better climate, in summer.

In summer 2009, when Pakistan government conducted mop-up operation against anti-government group, he was back in South Waziristan with his family. However, since the security there worsened about a month ago, he and his family evacuated to Dera Ismal Khan. Masud tribe, living in the same area, escaped without anything.

Habib says, “Among many issues of IDPs, I think especially big issue is the lack of accommodation and medical facilities.”

He also says, “I offer my own two houses (in Dera Ismal Khan) for the refugees from South Waziristan, but I feel uneasy and sad when I think about people who live in a house made of dried leaves of dates under unaccustomed heat wave.

He is supporting JEN’s activities while he is busy with other activities, so that misunderstandings to international non-governmental organizations that IDPs have can be erased. He just gives helping hands to those who need them the most in order to reconstruct the living.

One activity is that he opened a small temporary shop that sells coca tea at Paharpur market for some IDP. Poor people or people at a loss what to do for recovery can get a clue for reconstruction from one Habib’s action.

He received many letters of appreciation from some humanitarian groups for his contribution as well as he supported for JEN to confirm IDPs living far from the community. His efforts contributed to save many IDPs.

*Reference: WHO’s report 2010

Dera Ismail Khan, a city of Sohan Halwa

Dera Ismail Khan is a very beautiful city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

Bazaars in this city are centered in the area called “Chowgalla”.
“Chowgalla” means “the area that four roads begin”, and literally, there are four main streets; Topanwala Bazaar, Muslim Bazaar, Kalan Bazaar, and Bhatiya Bazaar.

Dera Ismail Khan is famous for dates as we reported before, and also for mangoes. Particularly, Langra Mango is popular Pakistan.

Furthermore, Dera Ismail Khan is famous for a traditional sweets “Sohan Halwa”. This sweets is popular in Pakistan and the Gulf Countries for its lip-smacking taste.

You will see Sohan Halwa shops everywhere in the city, but many of them are located in Topanwala Bazaar.
Many people in this city earn their living by selling Sohan Halwa.

Sohan Halwa is usually cooked with milk, sohni (ingredient made from flour), Maida flour, butter and sugar. This sweets is served to the guests at major festivals in Pakistan (like Eid).

You can see a variety of Sohan Halwa in Dera Ismail Khan. According to an owner of a Sohan Halwa shop in Topanwala Bazaar, 11 types of Sohan Halwa including with 8 different dried fruits, almonds, sugar-free, fat-free, etc. are sold.

Price is different depending on the type, and it ranges from 180 Pakistan Rupee (about 155 Japanese Yen) to 300 Pakistan Rupee (about 260 Japanese Yen) per kilo.

At bazaars, you can choose a type of packaging from cardboard box, tin box, and plastic box. Cardamom, coconuts, peanuts, almonds, walnuts, pistachio are used not only for flavor but also for decoration.

Many Pakistani deserts are very attractive and tasty. We cannot talk about “good food” without sweets like Kheer (rice pudding), Firni (custard), and of course Sohan Halwa.

As there is even an Urdu saying “Eat sweets first, work second”, sweets is very important in Pakistan.

IDPs and hot climate in Dera Ismail Khan

There are two types of IDPs who live in the suburbs of Dera Ismail Khan. Conflict-induced IDPs and seasonal IDPs.

Conflict-induced IDPs who live in this area are those who escaped from the battle between the Pakistan Army and extremists in South Waziristan Agency. These citizens escaped from the conflict take shelter in their relatives, host communities or leased houses, feeling timid and living in foul conditions.

On the other hand, seasonal IDPs in the same area originally have stable livelihood, and they run business by themselves or make a living by culminating their own land in most cases.

They come over to Dera Ismail Khan only in the winter season. They do so because the life back home in winter season is so hard with heavy snow and freezing temperature.

Then, when summer comes and the temperature goes unbearably hot in Dera Ismail Khan, they go back to their home village where the climate is comfortable by then.

However, the situation is not the same this year. There also has been a conflict in seasonal IDPs’ home area, so they cannot go back to their village in summer season. Besides, the temperature in Dera Ismail Khan has been around 40 degrees C during the final two months in summer season. It had usually been easier to weather out in this season.
Both conflict-induced IDPs and seasonal IDPs are not accustomed to live in such a hot climate.

Even so, seasonal IDPs can manage to weather out and live, because they have a stable livelihood.

By contrast, daily lives of conflict-induced IDPs have become harder in this sweltering hot weather because they are too poor to buy things.

Self introduction of a staff: Kaiser Khan

My name is Kaiser Khan. I’ m a general affairs and accounting assistant under the supervision of the international general affairs and accounting staff.

I was born in Bata Kara in 1983. Bata Kara is a small town in Swabi District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, and it is near one of the largest dams in Asia.

I went to a local public high school, and then went on to a university in Mardan District in 2001.

We had a big earthquake in 2005, and I started to work as a volunteer accounting assistant at a local humanitarian group that supported rural areas in Mansehra District.

After working one year at the group, I decided to go on to graduate school. I went into the University of Peshawar Postgraduate College, and earned my master’s degree in finance and accounting.

In 2008, the Pakistan Army began a military action against extremists in Swat District. Because of this, thousands of families sought refuge to host families in the central city of Peshawar, Mardan District and Swabi District. Some of those people found shelters in IDPs’ camps.

From there, I was determined to work in humanitarian sector again, and soon after that, I found a job in a local agency. As I had wanted to support people through NGO or International NGO, I worked for the agency for three years.

The agency was cooperating with other International NGO as a partner, so I got a very good practical experience while I was working there. Because of this experience, I became confident in working in any environment.
　
After completing the projects I had been in charge at the agency, I decided to work in an international organization to expand my knowledge and work in better environment. I found JEN’s classified on newspaper and applied for the job. I feel blessed to be able to work at JEN.

I am now working at JEN’s Islamabad office. All of the staff here are cooperative and friendly, so I feel this is a good work environment. I hope I can gain more experience and improve my skills in accounting and management jobs through working at JEN.

Ramadan 2011

Ramadan is in September in Islamic calendar. Muslims all over the world fast in Ramadan. Fasting for a whole month has a good influence on mental and physical health.

The interesting thing about Ramadan is that there is 10 days difference between Islamic and western calendar every year. Each year, the first day of Ramadan comes 10 days earlier than last year. For example, Ramadan began on August 10 in 2010 and on August 1 in 2011.

Last year, we fasted with flood victims in Kohat District. JEN distributed goods other than food in the first week of Ramadan for the first project in the area. The goal at that time was to support the most damaged and vulnerable victims in the environment in which the temperature had been 40 to 45 degrees every day.

It has been one year now since the flood occurred last year, and JEN is about to begin the occupational recovery support for IDPs in Dera Ismail Khan District.

The subject for the support this time is three villages in Paharpur in Dera Ismail Khan District. The project site is located at the roadside of Chashma Road, which connects Dera Ismail Khan District and Mianwali District. In Paharpur, there are fertile lands and drains that flow from the Indus River into various agricultural lands. All kinds of crops including wheat, corn, and vegetables grow there.

Especially dates are one of the most important products of Paharpur. The area called Dhakki in Paharpur is famous for delicious dates, and they are shipped out to other areas in Pakistan.
Dates and various kinds of mangoes grow well because it is hot during the whole year in Dera Ismail Khan District.

Dates are important food during the Ramadan period. Muslims bear the hunger while craving for dates and water, and take a break after 15 hours of fast each day.
JEN’s staff bought dates for Ramadan at the local market in Dera Ismail Khan for their family.

A New Project Site

JEN’s team visited Dera Ismail Khan District on July 17. JEN starts the support project for IDPs who fled for refuge from the conflict in South Waziristan Agency, and now live in Paharpur City that is situated in the northern part of Dera Ismail Khan District.

JEN will assist IDPs who live in three selected villages in Paharpur City. The location of a new project site is the village which is 50km far from the city of Dera Ismail Khan.

We checked some candidate buildings for office in our first visit to Dera Ismail Khan. It is quite difficult and needs to be careful to choose the location for office, because there is a public safety problem in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province area-wide where D. I. Khan resides.

There are several things we have to check before we make a final decision about the location for office. For example, it shouldn’t be in the highly-populated area where everyone can access easily. Also, it is not appropriate to open the office in easily-noticeable area where VIPs live and it is always at risk of terrorism.

Dera Ismail Khan District is famous for summer heat among other neighboring regions, and the temperature had been at 36 to 42 degrees C throughout our stay there. Although the rain had been forecasted in the northern part of the district, we didn’t have any rain in the whole week during our stay.

The Indus River runs through the eastern part of Dera Ismail Khan City. At the riverbank, there are good places for a picnic and some nice restaurants that serve freshwater fish cuisine. As darkness sets in, people who suffered from the extreme heat during daylight go to the river to enjoy the cold evening breeze and crossing the river in boats.

The city of Dera Ismail Khan is situated in the state borders of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Punjab Province and Balochistan Province, and the Indus Highway links Peshawar and Karachi through the city. These factors make Dera Ismail Khan a multicultural city.

The local language in Dera Ismail Khan District is Saraiki (similar with Punjab language). There are Pashtun people, Saraiki people, Panjab people, and Bloch people in Dera Ismail Khan City, so it is common to see people in various costumes on the street.

Finished Assistance for Flood Victims, Started Assistance for Conflict IDPs

JEN’s assistance project for flood victims has finished on July 10, 2011. The project started in August, 2010, when devastating floods hit significantly damaged Pakistan nationwide. JEN, an expertise of coping with states of emergency, was quick to go to Kohat district in the southern part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, hearing about the news. JEN distributed relief supplies except for foods such as tents, beds, blankets, heaters, sanitary goods and kitchen tools to the sufferers.

After that, we had conducted the reconstruction of shelters project for three months at Charsadda district located at 30-kilometer north-west from Peshawar. We distributed shelter building kits.

Since JEN’s assistance for the emergency went successfully, we shift our activity from shelter assistance to agricultural assistance, which is regarded as an activity in the emergent and recovery phase.

The agricultural assistance project for the living was designed for recovering income sources of farmers in Charsadda district who are suffering from the flood. We distributed necessities for agriculture and had provided trainings by experts for recultivating 2375 farmlands and grow and sell crops efficiently for seven months.

The project enabled farmers not only to feed family members but to sell at the market and store the harvest for the planting in the next season. The government authority and the elderly in the community highly appreciated our project, which was the end of the series of assistance for flood victims.

From now, JEN’s project in Pakistan is going to be relatively long lasting assistance for IDP, internal displaced persons. They are refugees from conflicts in South Waziristan Kalusha.

The new project will start in Dera Ismail Khan district which is located at around 280 kilometers from Peshawar and bordered with Punjab province. The project is designed for IDP to be able to get back their income resources and sufficient earning and to be self-sufficient through distributing goats and educating their rearing.

Success Story of a Victim of the Flood

Charsadda District is an area with affluent soils. Three rivers flow in the area and are important resources for irrigations. People grow various vegetables such as sugarcane, sugar beet, tobacco, wheat, corns, okra, tomatoes, cabbage, egg plants and spinach.

For the past five years, they especially produce a lot of balsam pears. Balsam pears are sold not only at the market in Pakistan but at the international market including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Afghanistan.

Gul Mast, 30, who has been a farmer for more than 20 years in Tajakay village is also producing a lot of balsam pears for business. He started to grow balsam pears using wooden frames with his brother in 2006. Using wooden frames enhances productivity.

The Gul family used to sell vegetables at local markets or to retailers in urban areas. Meanwhile, wholesalers come to the markets in Charsadda District and they shipped vegetables from the farmers for exporting. The wholesalers exported balsam pears to the United Arab Emirates. Gul had sold the vegetables to the wholesalers for a year, but started to think he wanted to launch a business and export balsam pears to all over the world. When Gul talked to his brother about his idea, they reached an agreement. They started to get necessary information for the exporting business such as license and requirement and finally launched their business. In 2009, they started importing balsam pears.

Gul and his brother collected balsam pears from the whole area as the other wholesalers did. They let 10 or 15 of their employees collect and package vegetables and Gul and his brother do the ratings.

However, Gul said that the flood last year devastated lands of Gul’s family and other partners, which he was hardly able to earn his living. Under such situation, he said that JEN’s assistance made the land recover to the level of growing vegetables and that he was able to get seeds of vegetables he had originally grown. Moreover, he said he appreciated JEN’s agricultural training of before and after harvest which led him to cut drastically ineffectiveness of production.

Gul started exporting in June 2011. Up until June 19, he wholesaled 3,150 kilograms of balsam pears and exported 21,550 kilograms to Dubai. He said that the export and wholesale at the local markets would last until October this year. He hopes that the business year will be much better than before and he plans to build a storage and a cabin for ratings.

Peshawar, the “City of Flowers”

Peshawar, one of places of JEN’s projects, has prospered as an important transportation and business hub, a gateway to the South and Central Asia. The history goes back to the era of the Kingdom of Gandhara, the 6th century BC.

Now the population is around 3,000,000. Peshawar is an important place for distribution with roads connected east to Islamabad and Lahore and south to Karachi. The famous Jamrod Road is connected to Afghanistan.

Peshawar had been known as a lot of flowers until ten years ago. It is the capital of the Province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, located in the north-west of Pakistan. Many people visited Peshawar for secondary education or treatment for the diseases. In parks, a lot of people relaxed after work or spent with their families or their friends.

Peshawar is also known for its hospitality. In the late 1970s, when the Afghanistan War occurred, many refugees had to escape to Pakistan. Many of them evacuated to refugee camps or their relative’s house or their friend’s in Peshawar. They chose Peshawar because the cultural background is of Peshawar is very similar to that of Kabul and other cities in Afghanistan.

In 2009, when conflicts occurred in Swat Valley and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), many residents evacuated to Peshawar.

However, as terrorist attacks often occur, Peshawar is now called “City of War” or “City of Bombing”. Today, precious lives are lost by terrorist attacks almost every day. Some countries restrict on visit to Peshawar because of the security.

Even under such situation, people in Peshawar opt for staying their hometown and go to school or work. Every time terrorist attacks of incidents occur, they support rescue work and donate blood. They believe the era of war and terrorism will be over some day.

People in Peshawar believe that the city will have a lot of flowers and many tourists from all over the world visit to enjoy good and old townscape and Pashtun culture again in the near future.

Harvest training in Tajakay Village, UC Nisatta

An agriculture specialist is instructing the safe harvesting procedure.

Farmers harvest loofahs after the training.

Field assistants conduct sessions in rural areas to teach how to select and pack vegetables.

Agricultural trainers go down to the field and instruct how to select bitter gourds appropriately.

Farmers can pack bitter gourds much better now.

Farmers holding packed bitter gourds, after the harvest management session.

Report of JEN’s Field Reconstruction Project: Effort and Reward

Pakistan has the 6th largest population in the world. 67 percent of the population lives in agricultural areas and most people make their living by agriculture. 32 percent of the total population lives under the level of poverty and the GDP growth relies on agricultural productions.

Mr. Mazullah is one of the sufferers of the flood on July 29, 2010. His field was devastated by the flood and he was forced to stop the agriculture. When he was at a loss for the construction of his field, he met our assessment team. We visited there right after the flood hit the area.

His field was recovered by the project team and JEN provided vegetable seeds, agricultural chemicals and agricultural tools. Mr. Mazullah joined the training for harvest and did seeding under the instruction of JEN’s experts.

Although knowing higher productivity makes more profit, not everyone can make it possible. They need to think about good conditions and possible problems before starting growing vegetables. The same things will happen when they sell their products to the market. Marketing knowledge directly affects sales.

JEN’s experts teach harvesting, wrapping and rating vegetables. Mr.Mazullah joined the training and then harvested and wrapped his okra with the new knowledge.

While conventionally wrapped okra was sold at 150 rupees, or approximately 150 yen, per 5-kilo bag at the local market, Mr.Mazullah’s okra was sold at 220 rupees.

He now grows about 45 kilograms of okra per day. Today he is glad to have order of 50 bags of okra from a shop. “I appreciate JEN, which gave me an opportunity to resume agriculture”, he says.

Cracked Field by Flood will be Recovered and Harvest will Come Soon.

Mr. Inyatullah is one of the sufferers of devastating flood that hit Pakistan last year. He lives in Khelbela village which is located at the riverside of Khayali. It is in the Charsadda, the most damaged district.

He made a living by growing sugar canes and wheat in the field of one acre, or 0.4 hectare, with his wife and four sons. He had a good relationship with his landlord. He paid for seeds, agricultural chemicals and agricultural tools and halved profit with his landlord.

The flood, which hit Kherbela in July 29, 2010, derived all the assets including sugar cane fields. Inyatullah family was forced to live at the relative’s. After that, Mr. Inyatullah lent money from relatives and rebuilt his house.



The field after the flood was so dry and crack that we couldn’t cultivate. A huge amount of money was necessary to recover the land. The assessment team from JEN visited there soon after the flood occurred and talked with the local farmers association. Then Mr. Inyatullah was chosen to be supported under the JEN’s reconstruction project.

The field of Mr. Inyatullah was recovered and JEN provided seeds, agricultural chemicals and tools.



Finishing seeding, pumpkins and okra are growing well. We will be able to harvest crops soon.

Distribution of supplies in Samad Qila, Charsadda District

Below are some photos from March 21st when we distributed supplies in Samad Qila in Charsadda District.

The beneficiaries are waiting to receive agriculture tool kit under the tent.

JEN staff in the field check the beneficiary’s ID card and token to make sure the person is registered.

A beneficiary taking his agriculture tool kit on his shoulder. He will receive bags of fertilizer before heading home. The bags of fertilizer are carried by the workers in wheelbarrows.

The beneficiary is following the worker carrying his fertilizer in a wheelbarrow towards the gate.

The constable checks people entering the distribution point.

The distribution point.

A worker before the distribution of supplies.

Farmers from Samad Qila loading their agriculture tool kit on a Suzuki vehicle.

A Message from JEN's team in Pakistan

We have received a warm message from one of our stakeholders in Pakistan.
This message is dedicating to the People whom JEN supports.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *


Regarding the incident happened in Japan, being a Pakistani on behalf of my all Pakistani people, i would like to say that we all are feeling very sorry for all our Japanese brothers and sisters ,and for those who died due to this incident, i would like to express that we all “Wish May their Gentle Souls rest in Peace” Amen.



Being a Human being, i would like to make a donation for my Japanese brothers and sisters,

We all wish that God Bless all the effected people.

Take care of your self,

Regards
M.Qadir Khattak

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

*JEN's projects are being implemented in Pakistan since 2004. Today, we support flood affected peoplein KPK.

More information about the program in Pakistan , Click here.

Donation by credit card is possible via our English website:
DONATE HERE:

The status of germination in Nisatta, Charsadda District

An agriculture specialist visited Khyber Korona Village on 25 of February in 2011 to check the status of germination.

Bitter melon seeds were planted on 2 of February in 2011, and will be replanted in the middle of March on the farmland JEN cultivated. For intercropping, seeds of bitter melons and gourds should be planted on 10 of February and then transplanted at the end of March.

Termites:
The biggest problem in Nisatta was termites. Before the harvest and in the trainings for maintenance, trainers had taught farmers that they could control termites with water. There had been clouds of termites in Khyber Korona village. When we visited there for checking germination, farmers were using water, not harmful spray, to control termites. Farmers said they appreciated to learn the easy way to keep crops from termites.

Distribution of seeds and agricultural tools for reconstruction

I will write about the first distribution of seeds and agricultural tools for reconstruction in Shah Pasand Kalay, Nissata, Charsada.

These are the packages of seeds and vinyl for seedbed.




Local staff put down the packages while counting.

Local staff putting down the packages.

Local staff are putting down the package while JEN team members are counting the packages and observe the staff.

An old man is holding agricultural tools on his shoulder and a staff member is carrying compost.

The entrance of the place the agricultural kits are distributed. The staff is checking coupons and IDs.

A farmer are taking seeds and agricultural tools. A staff member is carrying compost.

If a farmer lives close each other, they use a cattle to bring the kits home.

Farmers are sitting and waiting in line for kits distributed.




A staff member is handing out the package to a local farmer.

A staff member is helping a farmer with carrying agricultural tools.

Thus the distribution was completed.

Damage of the flood and work for reconstruction

The damages by the flood last year are still visible in many farms.

We talked with Mr. Nisal Khan and his children in Kalbera village. He runs a farm and his land is still covered with mud and grass.

Under such situation, JEN staff started to instruct for reconstruction of farms in the village. In order to reconstruct the land, rake the mud by a tractor and recover the ground for cultivation.





We conducted agricultural trainings in Sher Khan Kalay village and Kabalai Koroona village. In the training, the trainer started from noxious of agricultural chemicals and how to make compost. Then, Yonas Khan, one of the participants, talked about the traditional agriculture; how to cultivate the land and important points when you plant different vegetable seeds in one field.

The participants also have opportunities to practice reconstruction work and farm preparation on site.

Survey and Restoration of Agricultural Land in Progress!

 

Agricultural land survey is conducted in Tajakay Village;
A farmer, Mr. Gul Taseer, is explaining about the land for intercropping to JEN’s staff team while showing it.

The look of land restoration in Tajakay Village.

JEN’s staff team is discussing with the farmer whose agricultural land will be restored.

Unnecessary soil and weeds are being gotten rid of with tractor blades.

JEN’s team is observing the 50% restored agricultural land with farmers.

The agricultural land restoration project has been in progress.

News of JEN ‘s supportive activities in Pakistan

JEN started supportive activities for farming.

In District Charsadda UC Nisatta where JEN is doing supportive activities, People live on the income which they earn by exporting bitter gourds to Dubai.

JEN is going to assist the local people to support themselves again by way of distributing the seeds of bitter gourds. 
 



Views of bitter gourd farm in Shah Pasand village

This photo shows the lot  where the damage from a flood was  small.

　
  Makers of corrugated cartons in d Shah Pasand Kalay village .

Bitter gourds are exported packed in these corrugated cartons.

Mr. Ibral sitting with his colleagues（left）.

They export bitter gourds from the district of Nisatta

　

 

They make the frameworks for cultivating bitter gourds using wooden sticks and wires.

Farmer Younas Khan is explaining how to make the frameworks for cultivating bitter gourds in
the district of NIsatta.

The frameworks for cultivating bitter gourds are being made for the next season
in Shah Pasand Kalay village.

Procurement of distribution materials

We visited a local contractor in Islamabad that will be supplying us with shelter kits (construction materials and building tools), to do some product sample checks.


This company mainly sells relief items. They had already received orders from UN organizations, USAID and other NGOs, as stocks of the materials were stacked up, and the staff were very busy packing them.

According to the CEO of the company, the prices have gone up by about 30~40% after the flood. The tents made domestically could not meet the demand that the company had to import some from Dubai.

The power of the flood

 
These kinds of images are common in village Pirno, UC Utmanzai, showing the aftermath of the flood.
The most destructive flood in the last 80 years that brought massive devastation to all aspects of life.


A group photo with local committee for flood affected people. Majority of the people of Utmanzai are educated, very cooperative .they provided all the necessary information and guided us throughout our visit.
 

This picture was taken during our first visit of UC Utmanzai, village Gharai Charsadda on 21st September.
The destruction level can be seen in this photo as the flood water rushed inside the houses, touching the roof tops. We hardly observed any house unaffected in the whole village.  People have started to gather debris of their damaged or collapsed houses for possible rehabilitation.

Life is worth living

Ｒahman Gul from UC Gumbat lost his two daughters and had his house severely damaged by the flood. The irreparable loss caused him a mountain of sorrow that was unbearable for him, and he thought that that would be the end of him and his family. He now has to bear the loss of his two daughters, reconstruct the house, and find a means to earn his living.

JEN was by far the only and first organization that sympathized with his sorrows, convinced him that life is worth living, and provided him with the foundations to restart his life with enthusiasm through the provision of non-food items. Now he has moved on to continue earning his living at the local market by loading and unloading cargos from vehicles, thereby providing his remaining children with a beacon of life.

When resuming life was a dream

Ｊａnas Khan and Shah Nawaz are brothers who live in UC Gumbat with five and four children, respectively. Both brothers earn their living through transporting daily necessities on a horse carriage from a market in Gumbat to their neighbouring villages.
One night, when the brothers were sleeping with their children, water suddenly rushed into their house at two in the morning. They all woke up only to discover that their house had been inundated. Their only option then was to evacuate the house to go to a safe area. It was extremely difficult for the brothers to take their nine children to a safe place while the house was being inundated by the rapidly rushing water. While they were struggling to escape, some of their children got injured, but fortunately, they successfully reached a safe area.

Early morning the next day, when they returned to their house, there was nothing but wreckage, and their house had been completely destroyed. The relentless water also washed away their horse, which was their only source of income. They therefore not only had their house completely demolished but also lost their only means of income. It was the most difficult time for the family. They lost all hope and could not imagine restoring their life again, being a big family.


No one from the government or humanitarian organizations came to assist them; only their neighbours assisted them with food. It was JEN’s assessment team that visited their house to ask what their needs were. In two days, JEN provided them with a package of non-food items, which allowed them to live their life in dignity again. Now that they acquired the necessary items for living, they are able to plan for reconstructing their house and continue earning their living.     

[Flash Report] The Scars Left Behind by the Flood

Assessment report arrived from the field today.
These pictures are from Charsadda, one of the regions where the damage was most severe.

   

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[Flash Report] Distribution continues

Distribution of goods is running very smoothly in Kohat.

We have completed distribution to 202 households by the 25th. 93 houses were completely destroyed, and 109 were partially destroyed by this flood, out of which 16 are temporarily sheltering in a local high school in Kohat.

Kohat neighbors areas where conflict is still ongoing, so we are paying utmost attention to security matters. Distribution is carried out in a walled place with an entrance. Security guards and local police accompany the distribution.

In addition, we began assessing another badly affected area, Charsadda.

[Flash Report] Distribution commences!

We finally began distribution yesterday.

We are targeting 60 households in Gumbat. Today, we distributed the remaining goods to the 60 households we distributed yesterday, as well as another 15 additional households, which should complete the distribution for this area. Otherwise, one staff joined our team today, and tomorrow we will implement assessment in Charsadda, where the severest destruction is seen. To continue our assistance in Pakistan, we urgently need your assistance.

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Please indicate Pakistan in the message column

When I lost my 2 precious gifts

Rahman Gul lives in Town Gumbat with his family -  his wife, four daughters and two sons. One night when he was sleeping in the only room in his house with his family, he felt that  water rushing into the room. He sprung up to comprehend the chaotic situation and tried to  somehow get out of the room.  Then, he realized that his house was full of water.  He was desperate to secure his family, when the boundary walls of the house fell down. He immediately woke up his fourteen-year-old son to get some help from the neighbor, but saw that the neighbor’s house was already broken. When they returned to secure their family, the room was almost full of water. It was too late.

Her wife, at the same time, tried her best and sat her two daughters and one son  over the cupboard. She tightly held her two younger daughters (one and half, and three years old) in her lap when a part of the roof came down over them. With the heavy weight of the roof on top of herself, she lost hold of her daughters; they slipped from her hands and disappeared in the fast flowing water.

Next day, with the help of the neighbors they found their daughters lying outside their house in a stream. and Rahman Gul lost his two precious gifts given by God to him. This was an unbearable loss for him and his family.

Now, people come to visit his house daily for condolence. Rahman Gul is a laborer,  loading and unloading commodities  in the Town market. Rahman Gul not only lost his two daughters but also his house, which was severely damaged . He is completely lost, whether to reconstruct his house or go to the market to earn food for his remaining family. Fortunately, his neighbors are supportive and they have accommodated his family for the time being. They also share their food with his family. But it will take him long to recover from the loss of his two daughters, while working hard to save up money for reconstruction of his house. So far, he has not received any assistance, neither from the government nor from any humanitarian organization.

Rahman Gul with his remaining family in Town Gumbat, district Kohat

Place where 2 daughters of Rahman Gul slipped from the hands of his wife and disappeared in t

We welcome emergency assistance donation:
In order to implement rapid assistance, your support is essential.
By credit card visa homepage
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Select Pakistan
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[Flash Report] Photo Archive #1

Photos arrived from the site today.
Photos below show the conditions of destruction, taken in Gumbat and Shakardarra, on the 16th and the 17th.

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In order to implement rapid assistance, your support is essential.
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[Flash Report] Current situation, and slow assistance

The two local staff, split into two groups, are continuing with assessment of houses in Gumbat and　Shakardarra. Meanwhile, personnel for research and distribution are being employed, and preparation for goods distribution, such as selection of warehouses, is run in parallel.

On the 17th, we participated in coordination meeting at Serena Hotel in Islamabad. Humanitarian Coordination Center of the UN was established in this Hotel, where we can obtain useful information such as maps of the affected areas.

On the 16th, there was a heavy downpour, and JEN’s backyard was submerged yet again.

In all of Pakistan, approximately 20% of the country was submerged, even though this is not attracting media attention. Affected area is extremely vast. International community’s assistance is yet to meet the demand adequately.

Shunsuke Narita, Program Officer

We welcome emergency assistance donation:
In order to implement rapid assistance, your support is essential.
By credit card visa homepage
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[Flash Report] Departing to assess the site

Local staff Tufail and Naveed, left for Kohat today from Islamabad.
Originally, they were supposed to go to Gumbat today, about forty minutes from central Kohat. But since arrival to Kohat was delayed, tomorrow they will split into two teams, one for Gumbat and another for Shakardarra. They will assess the affected area to plan our next assistance.

We welcome emergency assistance donation:
In order to implement rapid assistance, your support is essential.
By credit card visa homepage
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[Flash Report] Distribution Goods Finalized

Today was the Independence Day in Pakistan. However, since nearly 10% of the population was affected by the flood, no elaborate ceremony was held this year.

On a lighter note, distribution goods were finalized today. For 300 houses that are completely destroyed, tents, hygiene kits, beds, mattresses, and gas cylinders will be distributed. For another 300 houses that are partially destroyed, plastic sheets, hygiene kits and plastic mats will be distributed.

Local staffs, Tufail (left) and Naveed (right), preparing the distribution of goods at the office

However, market prices of these goods are rising rapidly due to the massive jump in demand for these goods. In particular, the demand for plastic sheets is especially high, so it is possible that in the end we won’t be able to procure them.

We are doing our best to make progress with procurement and distribution, to reach as many people as possible, and as rapidly as possible.

We welcome emergency assistance donation:
In order to implement rapid assistance, your support is essential.
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[Flash Report] Daily Necessities, To Be Distributed

We have just received some photos of distribution goods from Pakistan.
We are considering distributing daily goods essential for living.

Hygiene kit

Daily necessities such as kitchen utensils and cutlery

We strive to arrange the procurement and distribution of these goods, as rapidly as possible, and to as many people as possible.

We welcome emergency assistance donation:
In order to implement rapid assistance, your support is essential.
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[Flash Report] Destroyed houses

Below are photos we received today from the site.

Water is now drained out of Kohat district, but damages remain.

Trees, houses, walls. Everything seems to be washed away.
JEN will continue with the assessment of the damage, and plans to distribute emergency goods that are in dire need.
Latest news from the country will be informed either via our homepage or mail magazine extra issues.

We are open to emergency assistance donation:
In order to implement rapid assistance, your support is essential.
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Flash Report] North-west Pakistan Flood Emergency Assistance

Below are photos of the site that we received today.

The photos were taken in Muslimabad village in Kohat district, located 50km south of Peshawar.

Latest news from the country will be informed either via our homepage or mail magazine extra issues.

We are open to emergency assistance donation:
In order to implement rapid assistance, your support is essential.
By credit card visa homepage
→
http://www.jen-npo.org/en/involved/donate1.php?country=s-pak&select1=0
Select Pakistan
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00170-2-538657. Account name: JEN
Please indicate Pakistan in the message column

[Flash Report] JEN Staff Gone on Assessment in Pakistan

August 4th, 2010
[Flash Report] JEN Staff Gone on Assessment in Pakistan

JEN sent one staff based in Islamabad to the areas affected by the flood from July 25th to August 2nd, namely Swat and Shangla districts in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province (previously North-Western Frontier Province) in the North-western part of the region. JEN is currently researching the conditions of the area.

By August 3rd, the number of the affected people is said to have reached 2,500,000. Villages are still being submerged under the continuing rain, and further damage is anticipated. 

JEN will continue to assess the area. Latest news from the country will be informed either via our homepage or mail magazine extra issues.

We are open to emergency assistance donation:
In order to implement rapid assistance, your support is essential.
By credit card visa homepage
→
http://www.jen-npo.org/en/involved/donate1.php?country=s-pak&select1=0
Select Pakistan
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Blossom for the future

  300 schools are completely destroyed in the valley of Swat due to the recent war. It shows the same image as the Kashmir and NWFP earthquake in 2005.

  This time it is not because of earthquake, but it is done intentionally by human being. Students of Swat are very intelligent and brilliant in their studies, what is the reason why currently Large number of Swat people have a  position in civil services. Swat is located in NWFP where is not such favourable for the female education, because of cultural and religious restrictions. But, still the ratio of male and female students is almost the equal.

  The school buildings of Swat were very nice. Students and teachers were taking much care of school gardens and flowers. We saw nice flowers in the lawns of almost every destroyed school which make us sad, there are no students and no building but flowers are still there. People are hoping that good time will come again when there will be a new school building with the same flowers in the lawn and their children will take care of those flowers.

  In Swat, education sector needs a big support from every one.

A new house where no one lived

    Recently JEN staff completed a rapid needs assessment in the beautiful Swat valley. It was unbelievable to see such a lot of damages in this once peaceful area.

  JEN staff had visited here 2.5 years ago with his family and found every one lived happily in the valley. People were running their businesses, children were going to the schools, females were going to the markets for shopping etc.

  Today, everything has been changed drastically, due to the war. People have a fear that any incidents can happen anytime, so they prefer to stay at home, instead of going out.

  JEN staff met a person whose newly constructed house was totally destroyed. The house owner said that he sold his farming land to build this house and they were planning for their son's marriage, but unfortunately the security situation became worst and everything changed suddenly. They had to leave their house with all the belongings inside the house, and became IDP. After 2 months, when they returned to their house, not only they couldn’t see it at all, but just a ground with a huge amount of Debris. He lost everything he made for his family to live happily. His old mother became unconscious due to the shock.

  Life treated him and his family badly, now he doesn’t have land to sell anymore, and will start reconstructing his house. He doesn’t know if it is possible for him to recover fully from this incident, but he is still hoping best for him and his family.   

Fifth Ramzan

  It’s true that time flies so fast. It was Four years ago during Ramzan 2005 (month of fasting), when the huge earthquake hit the Kashmir region.

  Thousands of people died and thousands of families lost their houses and living spaces. JEN had started to work since the holy month of Ramzan that year in Kashmir. The tireless efforts of JEN International and local staffs supported the affected people of disaster and left the inerasable memories in the local people’s mind.

  In the second year’s Ramzan 2006, JEN was still working intensely in Kashmir and was busy in the reconstruction of permanent schools and provision of water supply schemes to 249 schools in the mountains of Kashmir. JEN staffs and partners on construction site didn’t care of their hunger and thirst. They were remaining busy to work for the affected people.

  The third year’s Ramzan 2007 was the most rainy Ramzan in the region, JEN staff were busy in distribution of school furniture, reinforcement of school tents and provision of disaster preparedness education to the school children, their parents and teachers.

  The fourth Ramzan in 2008 was the last year of JEN activities in Kashmir. It was very sad moment for all JEN staffs to finally leave Kashmir where we worked for 3 continuous years. JEN was again busy in construction of semi permanent shelter schools, Children’s sports activities project and hygiene education project in the remote areas of Kashmir.

  The fifth Ramzan brought JEN staff to NWFP. The security situation in NWFP was very bad due to the  bomb blasts occured every week in different cities. JEN provided support to the displaced people of conflict areas in two different districts of NWFP. Now almost all the IDPs has returned back to their hometowns and trying to start their normal lives.

Equality for all

  During implementation of emergency relief project for the IDP’s(Internally Displaced Persons) of Swat and Buner, Government were providing support and registering just those IDPs who had their ID cards available, the same criteria was for every organization including JEN.

  But during the assessment, JEN staff observed that there are many IDP families who aren’t registered because they didn’t have ID cards available with them. One such kind of special case was seen in UC Panj Pir when a woman approached to JEN office in Swabi.

  Security guard stopped her to enter the office and informed JEN staff about her. JEN staff met her and she said that she has a family of 5 children herself and her old father in law. She said that her husband died due to sickness a few years ago.

  None of them had ID card because they belonged to far flange area of Swat. She didn’t realize that ID card is such important for her, that’s why she didn’t go to ID card office in Swat, which is 2 hours far from her house in Mengora city. Her father in law has ID card but he couldn’t bring it from Swat because of emergency evacuation. JEN staff discussed the matter in office meeting next day and decided to ask about her from Union Council Nazim, who was responsible for the IDPs matters.

  Next day Nazim and JEN staff went for assessment and found the family really vulnerable. She was living in worst condition with a host family in one small room made by mud. JEN provided support to her next day and raised the point in the coordination meeting next week. JEN staff told clearly that JEN will provide support not only to Registered IDPs but to those vulnerable unregistered IDPs also, who couldn’t bring their documents because of some reasons.

  For JEN every one is equal if he is registered or unregistered.   

Feelings on Independence Day

  Pakistan came into being on 14th August 1947. Pakistani nation celebrate this day with great pomp and shown every year. People of Pakistan wait very anxiously for the celebration of Independence Day.

  Being patriotic citizens of Pakistan people of Swat also celebrate this day with great enthusiasm. But this year people of some of Swat people were out of Swat because of war between security forces and militants. They moved to other parts of the country to secure their children, women and aged people from war.

  On Independence Day JEN staff visited field while some IDP’s of Swat were returning to their hometown. Meanwhile JEN staff talked to some people from Swat regarding their returning and Independence Day. They said that “we are celebrating double independence, because one is for Pakistan independence and the second is that we are going back to our hometown. Because after clearance of our areas we fell very happy that war is over and now we can spend same secure life as we were spending before the war.” Their eyes were full of tears but this time these tears were not because of fear and worries but because of happiness.

For the future of returnees

  Internally Displaced People (IDPs) from Swat received relief items from many humanitarian organizations while they were spending life in camps or with host families.

  After the clearance of some areas in Swat, IDP has been started to return to their hometown. During this period, JEN's staff interviewed some people from Swat who were about to go back to their origin. One of them told us that

“Many organizations supported us when we were facing terrible situation and were in need of help. We are very satisfied by the packages because these items have almost fulfilled our needs. Now we are going back with hope to our new life. However, in our hometown, there are some destroyed places such as houses, schools, hospitals, water system caused by the conflict.

Our children may not have enough places for studying. Some tents are provided by army on temporary base in the schools.

Winter season in Swat starts early as it is mountainous area. Children get traumatized during conflict which badly impacts their studies. Now we are looking for children studying in schools with fully recharged."

Hospitality of Pashtun People

The old Pashtuns were very famous for their hospitality.

This was an important element of their culture. Many books and articles are available on Pashtuns culture and habits which clearly mention their love and care with the guests.

Some critics says that from last few years their habit of hospitality has been changed because the world is changing and people don’t take much care of their traditions and cultures, but last 4 months has proved those critics wrong when the world saw the greatest example of hospitality in NWFP.

Host families opened their doors for the IDPs guests of Buner and Swat. They shared their food, accommodation, toilets, and beds, cooking pans and many other things with the guests who couldn't bring anything with them because of sudden emergency in their areas.

During the interviews and meetings with the IDPs many of them said that they are feeling the host families as their personal families. JEN staff saw a host family who gave their only Electric Pedestal fan to an IDP family which have 5 children and they were suffering with the hot weather. During the IDPs stay in the various cities of NWFP, we saw the tremendous spirit of hospitality. 

After JEN provided beds, fans, gas cylinders, kitchen and hygiene sets to the IDP families, many of those families returned the items to the host families with a lot of thanks.

Traffic Jam

The IDPs are returning to their villages after the peace in their regions.  They just passed the worst time of their lives. The hot weather of Mardan and Swabi was too difficult for those IDPs who belong to the areas of Swat and Upper Buner, where they use blankets to sleep in the month of July. They used to drink fresh springs water daily which was naturally clean and hygienic. Those people had to drink the water carried by water tankers from the different government water tanks in the cities.

Even though IDPs are grateful for these support, no one knows if that water was clean enough for drinking or not.Some of them couldn’t acclimatize with the harsh weather of Swabi and Mardan, that's why JEN staff saw many IDP children with skin diseases.

Main road to Malakand which is also going to JEN's targeted Union Council in Mardan is always busy with the heavy traffic every day. The traffic is jam for hours. Hundreds of cars, busses and trucks are going back to Swat every day. People who brought their livestock with them are hiring pickups and trucks to carry their livestock. Due to this traffic jam JEN staff is always late to reach for assessment and distribution, but as the days are long so staff successfully finish their work before evening and return to Swabi, which is 75 KM far from the site in Mardan.

Welcome Back Home

   At last, Government and Pakistan Army announced that some areas of Swat are clear and IDPs(Internally Displaced People) should return to their origin. Soon after the announcement, hundreds of families started to pack their luggage and hired the vehicles for their return. IDPs in camps have facility to use the Buses and Trucks provided by the Government.

  Many IDPs living outside camps hired their own public transport to go back as soon as possible, they didn’t even wait for their areas to be cleared by Army. Army in Swat sent many families back to Mardan and Swabi, because their areas were not safe to return. Government has made the policy of their return which is based on the security situation of their areas. IDPs whose houses are in the dangerous and unclear area are not allowed to go back yet, but they are also waiting desperately to go back to their homes and start to live in their houses.

  JEN has provided the support to the IDPs living in the host families and schools buildings. JEN Staff went for monitoring to a school building, where one of those families living, have received support 3 weeks ago, but they were ready to go back, we could see the smiley faces of children, old people and women who were ready to go.

  However, many families who fled from their home town have not been able to go back to their home yet. Many families didn’t have the enough necessary items to use in their temporary spaces. Not enough kitchen items, beds and nothing for their hygiene, but after JEN provided them the support, at least some families said they were able to live normally in the school rooms and with the host families.

   Nobody is sure about the future, but all of them are hoping a normal life in their areas.

=== Emergency Assistance in NWFP ===

JEN has started its emergency assistance in the area of NWFP,

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=======  For People in Pakistan  =======

Hope for the next spring

  Nobody in Swat knew in the beginning of previous spring season that the big disaster is on their doorsteps.

  All the farmers ploughed their farms and prepared land to cultivate wheat and onions. Wheat is the main crop of this area while peach is the main fruit. Peaches blossom in the beginning of spring season.

  During the interviews every person said

“Last spring season was ideal for agriculture as the rains were raining properly through out spring and beginning of summer and it was perfect for our crops and fruits farms. They said “We were happy that this year we will be able to save some money from their farming and will use this money to repair their old houses, children’s education, daughter’s marriages or for their families medical treatment.”

  But unfortunately none of their wish completed due to the worst conflict in their areas. Their crops and fruits were ready but there was no one to harvest it.

  Many of the farmers fled their houses and living far from their villages. They said

“Every day when we think about their beautiful crops which are spoiled now and fertile lands, we become frustrated but when we think that another spring will be coming next year and we will work harder so it make us happy again.”

  A new life is waiting for them in their own region.

=== Emergency Assistance in NWFP ===

JEN has started its emergency assistance in the area of NWFP,

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=======  For People in Pakistan  =======

An episode with a family from Swat

  Identification of sad stories is continued in our daily working hours in Mardan and Swabi Districts, where thousands of IDP families are living in. Many families are living with a lack of food, basic necessary daily life items, water and basic sanitation facilities. 

  Last week we entered in a house where we saw a lady with 10 children. Children were crying and quarrelling with each others. We came to know that those children and their mother didn’t eat dinner the night before nor breakfast this morning. We have ever heard such kind of stories of hunger in other continents, but it is too sad to see same condition of hunger in our country Pakistan, which is very famous for its agriculture and fertile land.

  We checked the kitchen where we couldn’t find any kind of food item at all. Just saw a glass and old jug filled with water, which wasn’t cold. Children were asking for food but her mother didn’t have any food available. They had a couple of beds and an old mattress on which they were sleeping.

  Same as many IDP families, this family also couldn’t register themselves with the Government. It was just because there isn’t any adult male and all the children were small to register by themselves.  

  JEN has been providing NFI support to the IDP families in the area and trying to improve their situations. Other organization supposes to cover all the IDPs for food distribution, but it is always impossible in such kind of emergencies to cover the entire area 100%.

  JEN staff came back to the office and discussed the issue with each others. Next day, JEN staff provided NFI set to that family and in addition to this, all of our colleagues here contributed their own money and bought some food items and toys for the children.

=== Emergency Assistance in NWFP ===

JEN has started its emergency assistance in the area of NWFP,

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=======  For People in Pakistan  =======

In the Shadow of the same Sun

  During the assessment in UC Panj Pir in Swabi District, JEN staff visited a house and started to interview a lady, during the interview an old man entered the room, and he was not feeling well and upset at that time. We asked him that why he is upset.

  He replied that “it is my second day that I am going to IDPs registration point to register my family to receive food and other support. However, there are thousands of people waiting in the queues for registration. Old people and women have problems to register themselves because the weather is too hot and we have to stand and wait in the sun for many hours but still our turn is not coming. There is no rain and the weather is extremely hot.  Many people became unconscious due to hot weather. “

  Those people belong to the cold areas of Swat, Buner and Kalam. Thousands of tourists were going to those areas in summer holidays because there were a lot of picnic spots and the weather was always very pleasant in summer.

  Old man said that “I was working in his fields back in Swat for many hours under the same sun, but I didn’t feel hot. Now, environment around us is different from past time. We don’t have enough food to eat, beds to sleep on, and pans to cook food. We don’t have fresh water of our springs and we don’t have our sun which isn’t hot.

  I am sure that I will not be registered and I will not receive any support from Government and Organizations. “

  JEN staffs who were doing assessment felt that he would be supported by distributing supplies even if they were not registered with the government.

=== Emergency Assistance in NWFP ===

JEN has started its emergency assistance in the area of NWFP,

DONATE NOW!

=======  For People in Pakistan  =======

Brave Lady of Swat

I started to work with JEN as one of field assistants from last week. I am from Swabi and before I was working with a local organization. I found it very interesting to work with JEN, because I have chance to talk with community directly and I can know about their problems directly. During the assessment in UC Narai in District Mardan , I visited a school where a few IDP families were living in the school building; the situation there seemed getting worse. They told us that they feel us like angels, which will be supporting them in the future.

There I met a woman who leaded her family. She said that she has 7 children and her husband is disable who can’t earn enough money. They had a shop in Swat where the center of the conflict.  That shop was the only source of their income and after becoming IDPs, no more income for them.
She told me her good experience after coming in Mardan. “When I realized the life condition which was getting worse in Mardan, I thought to start some work to support my family, but I didn’t have any resources to start work. I contacted the local families. One lady asked me if I could sew women’s clothes. I replied yes, so the lady from the host family gave me her personal sewing machine, threads and needles. I started to make the clothes of local women and they paid me enough money. I am very happy because many ladies in the village are contacting me to make their clothes. Now I can buy food for my family and medicine for my husband. It is all because of the kindness of local families, who helped me a lot. Without their help, I was unable to use my skills to earn money. “

=== Emergency Assistance in NWFP ===

JEN has started its emergency assistance in the area of NWFP,

DONATE NOW!

=======  For People in Pakistan  =======

This River is coming from my home

  The conflict between militants and Pakistani army is ongoing in NWFP of Pakistan. Swat is one of the battlefields.

  The people of Swat who grown up with enjoy drinking fresh and cold springs and glacier water. They were eating balanced diet in Swat which contains fruit, milk, meat and other important items. It is one of the reasons that their average quality of life is richer than the people living in the cities or downhill areas. 

  Swat is high altitude area, so it is always pleasant in the summer. Thousand of tourists from the other cities of Pakistan were coming with their families to enjoy the wonderful weather, long glaciers, beautiful lakes and vast green valleys.

  There are several rivers and streams in Swat, which extend the beauty of this area. The water of those rivers and streams is coming down to Mardan and Swabi , where JEN has started the support, and it is used by the people of Mardan and Swabi for farming and drinking.

  An old IDP man who lives along the river said

“whenever I see this river, it makes me sad and happy.”

He also said

“This branch of river is starting out from the glaciers of Kalam (swat) which is my hometown. People were using this water for farming, drinking and taking bath in our hometown, I miss my hometown. However, I am happy because I can still use this water here in Mardan although it is 100 Kilo Meters far from my hometown. It is not clean for drinking, but still my children and other people can use the same river to take a bath and at the same time it irrigates thousands of acres of fertile soil of Mardan and Swabi.

=== Emergency Assistance in NWFP ===

JEN has started its emergency assistance in the area of NWFP,

DONATE NOW!

=======  For People in Pakistan  =======

No Boundary Between Countries

   I have been working in JEN Islamabad office for 3 months. It is the longest duration of my work here in the office. While it is nice to work together with office colleagues in the beautiful office, at the same time I miss that time of my field work.

  With JEN I spent my time as a field staff srrounded by the mountains, valleys and rivers of Kashmir and in the rugged areas of Baluchistan. Our previous field team reached to 25 people at one time for the peak period, when we had several different projects going on in Kashmir.

  We had both International and National staff, always working together. The atmosphere was always very nice, no matter how hard to deal with the projects. We were learning from each others, we were eating together and we were always joking with each others in night time.

  Sometimes, our other colleagues from Tokyo Headquarters had come to the field. That was a precious experience to work together with people from different back ground : TOKYO HQ international staff, Japanese International Staff in Pakistan, Pakistani national staff, and Kashmiri local Staff in the field.

   It was very encouraging to work in field together with the colleagues from Tokyo HQ and International staff in Pakistan. However, today, it is getting harder and harder for international staff to come to the field in Pakistan, due to the current volatile situation across the nation.

I miss at that time of working with my colleagues from Japan, Pakistan and Kashmir. Then, I hope to work together in the field again in the near future.

Concern of a mother

  Many people in FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) fled their homes and came to the safe cities of NWFP.

  Topics of conversation among people who live in an IDP (Internal Displaced People) camp in NWFP, where JEN has assessed potential needs, are about their health, security, and future jobs. Education for children seems serious concern particularly for their mothers. Due to a shortage of schools for children, not all children are able to go to school.

  When JEN assessed needs there, JEN staff met a woman who lost her husband and has 2 sons and 3 daughters. She said “In addition to a lack of schools, some societies are not supporting girl’s education. However, my sons and 2 daughters luckily go to school although one of my daughters doesn’t do so because of her age. When my daughters could not go to school yet, they were quite envious of other girls going to schools.

  Then I wanted to let them go to school.” She also mentioned “I lost my only house and am not living in my village now. However, the thing I am concerning most is that my children cannot continue their studies in their school due to the unstablity here.”

Victims of Bajaur

  The conflict between militants and Government Security Forces started in Bajaur Agency and some areas of Mohmand Agency in 2008. Both the parties are justifying themselves as they are winning, in connection with defeating opponents from each side, but what should be kept in mind is that the majority of people affected physically and economically in fact are the poor innocent villagers.  The local Jirga (tribal assembly of elders which takes decisions by compromise) has been resolving their internal issues, and the decision has been happily acceptable by both the parties.

  Those agencies are situated in FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) of northwestern Pakistan. FATA has an exceptional administrative and political status from the British times since 1849.  The people have lived with their traditions and internal independence. This unique system is activating even today.

  But the recent conflict has brought many changes in the areas. Many people fled their homes and came to the safe cities of NWFP. Some people are living in the IDP(Internal Displaced People) camps but much of that displaced population are living outside the camps with their relatives or in rented houses.

  JEN in Pakistan has assessed the potencial needs in NWFP, and seen a bit of reality of the people living in this area. In the camps they have the tents which are lack of rainproof. It looks they are short of medical facilities and schools for their children’s studies. Although some organizations and Government are working hard to implement the support, but still there are many gaps to be covered.

  An old man whom I met in an IDP camp said “Summer is approaching and people don’t have fans, enough water to take a bath or cold water to drink. It will be the worst summer of their life.”

  He said that he will not return to his village until he will be 100% sure about the safe and peace in the area.

  No one knows what is the future of those displaced people come along? JEN is going to continue needs assessment in this area.

Victims of Bajaur

  The conflict between militants and Government Security Forces started in Bajaur Agency and some areas of Mohmand Agency in 2008. Both the parties are justifying themselves as they are winning, in connection with defeating opponents from each side, but what should be kept in mind is that the majority of people affected physically and economically in fact are the poor innocent villagers.  The local Jirga (tribal assembly of elders which takes decisions by compromise) has been resolving their internal issues, and the decision has been happily acceptable by both the parties.

  Those agencies are situated in FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) of northwestern Pakistan. FATA has an exceptional administrative and political status from the British times since 1849.  The people have lived with their traditions and internal independence. This unique system is activating even today.

  But the recent conflict has brought many changes in the areas. Many people fled their homes and came to the safe cities of NWFP. Some people are living in the IDP(Internal Displaced People) camps but much of that displaced population are living outside the camps with their relatives or in rented houses.

  JEN in Pakistan has assessed the potencial needs in NWFP, and seen a bit of reality of the people living in this area. In the camps they have the tents which are lack of rainproof. It looks they are short of medical facilities and schools for their children’s studies. Although some organizations and Government are working hard to implement the support, but still there are many gaps to be covered.

  An old man whom I met in an IDP camp said “Summer is approaching and people don’t have fans, enough water to take a bath or cold water to drink. It will be the worst summer of their life.”

  He said that he will not return to his village until he will be 100% sure about the safe and peace in the area.

  No one knows what is the future of those displaced people come along? JEN is going to continue needs assessment in this area.

Marriage after disaster

  The marriages in Baluchistan are very interesting. People are doing a lot of arrangements for this event.

  Groom’s family, relatives and friends are preparing for the event one month before. Females and children are wearing new clothes and they start to celebrate the marriage almost 3 days before. The women are gathering in the Groom’s and bride’s house at night and singing together with the beat of drums, although this area is considered to be a conservative Muslim area, but still they show their joy and happiness in that way. The food for the marriage is rice with the sheep’s meet and curry.

  As the other regions, here in Baluchistan also Groom and bride can see each others after they agree verbally, that they accept each others as a couple in presences of Molvi (a religious teacher) and two or three witnesses. Bride and groom are mainly selected within the family or tribe.

  There are a few cases of love marriages, but it is highly dislike by the parents and elder community. The divorce rate is too low.

  In many villages, men are celebrating the marriage with traditional dance called ATTAN, which is national dance of Afghanistan and very common in Pashtun tribes of Pakistan. The dancers which are friends of groom and some professional dancers move in circles while clapping their hands to the rhythm and spinning around.

  All those information I got from the local people while working in those areas, but in my presence I saw two marriages, one was in Quetta and other was in Ziarat. I didn’t see any ATTAN dance or other celebration in the marriage at Ziarat; it was due to the sorrow of earthquake. People said they are happy but they can’t show their happiness in the way of dancing and singing, because they remember the people who were killed by the earthquake a few months ago and they remember their houses which were destroyed in the same earthquake. Now they are living in the shelters and tents provided by the humanitarian agencies.

  It is sad that the people can’t celebrate their weddings in their traditional ways due to the disaster, but at the same time it is encouraging seeing that they didn’t stop the marriage ceremonies and still doing that social and spiritual union of individual; even they don’t have proper rooms for living, but they use JEN tent as a room for this good purpose.

Apples of Balochistan

  The sweeping valley of Ziarat district in southwest Pakistan, hit last year in October by a powerful earthquake, is famous for its Cherry and Apple production. All the orchards filled with golden and green apples.

  But the 6.4-magnitude tremor that destroyed homes and killed up to 300 people also felled many trees, robbing local apple industry workers of their livelihoods at a time when the sought-after crop was nearly ripe for harvest.

  Ziarat region is the largest apple and Cherry producer in Pakistan. It is the biggest source of income of the local people for the whole year. 

  Farm owners are hiring local poor people as a labor for those farms; most of those labors are JEN beneficiaries. They are working in the farms through out the year for different purposes. In January, they plough the fields. In February and March, they are spreading locally prepared animal dung in the farms as a urea.

  This process continues until the blossoms appear in the trees. The farmers are saying that, this is the most difficult stage for them. They are praying for the good weather. If it will be raining heavily and windy, it will break the blossoms, if there is no rain and a little rain, it also causes problem for the upcoming crops. There is always been shortage of water in Balochistan. The farming totally depends on the rain water. If there is no rain, it means the water will be short in the locally made dams. Once the blossoms will changed into fruits, the labors regularly put some chemical spray on the apples.

  When the apples are ready in the month of August, they are plucking it from the trees and packing it in the wooden cartons. Another team of labor is loading it in the in the trucks. This plucking, packing and loading process is continuing until December.

  Pakistan is one of the largest apple producing countries in the world and production of Apples in Balochistan covers 70% of the whole production of Pakistan. District Ziarat and District Pishin are the main areas of this production.

  The earthquake has destroyed many orchards in the affected region and rendered many people jobless and deprived their owners of their earnings. All the organizations worked hard to provide the basic necessary items to the affected population, but it will take time to gain, what they have lost.

Innocent Hussein

   Jackets Distribution for the children in affected areas of Baluchistan is over. We couldn’t do the distribution as we planned, because of various reasons. We planned with the teachers that JEN will give the jackets just to the school going children, because we knew that they are suffering from cold. The jackets will not only keep them safe from cold, but it will make them encourage going to the schools after that big earthquake.

  All the things were organized for the distribution in the school. We realized that the number of students were more then the lists. We saw many children who are not registered at School, but they were sitting in the queue to receive the jackets. It was a big problem for us at that time.

  While we were asking the teachers “why the extra students are there? We don’t have enough jackets to distribute. We have to distribute it to the other schools as well”; we didn’t realize that a little boy Hussein was standing besides us. He said that he will also come to study at school soon. We asked him “are you sure about it? And what is the reason of it”? He said “yes I will ask my father to admit me in the school tomorrow, because my friends can have such nice gifts in the school. If I come to the school I will also have such nice gifts”.

  All the JEN team mates discussed the issue with each others, if we will ignore many children like Hussein, of course they will feel bad and maybe they will loose their interest in the school and studies.
We also discussed about the other students who will not receive the jackets because of the children like Hussein.

  At last, we decided to skip the schools which are located in the villages, where JEN had already distributed relief items during emergency phase, we were lucky that we haven’t announced the distribution to the children of the skipped schools yet.

  We gave the jackets to happy Hussein and other children who will join the schools from April this year.
To face this kind of problems are common in the field and sometimes it is very difficult to decide what to do.

  Maybe Hussein or one of his friends will be Doctor in the future…………

Rooster Flying, not fighting

   Nowadays we are conducting interviews to children and communities for the upcoming projects. We see some interesting things every day.

  There are a few questions about children’s entertainment and sports activities in our interview sheet. We have received the same answer from every child. They say "No proper playground, No sports items". After receiving those answers, we urge them to tell us the proper answer, because it is impossible to see that all the children in one village will be living without any entertainment or sports activities.

  In the end, children who were gathering around our vehicle brought us somewhere. What we saw was... a little far behind their houses, where many children gathered in a plain small ground and some of them were playing marbles (small balls made by glasses). There were some competitions going on among the children. Every one was playing with concentration, it was encouraging to see that earthquake didn’t affect the children mentally and they are still enjoying their free time.

  At the other corner of the ground, we saw some children playing wtih a strange game. They were throwing something weird... We know that rooster fighting was an popular entertainment in the ancient time of Indus Valley Civilization by 2000 BC and still popular in many Asian countries and some Latin American countries. But, the sport in District Pishin was not what I know, we moved forward to the children and saw naughty game I have never seen. It was Rooster’s long jumping competition. Have you heard of it?

  Many children were standing in line holding their roosters. They look serious. Moreover they were throwing their roosters in the air after the whistle, and the winner is..... the rooster which touched ground the farthest. How cruel is it!?! Children were enjoying it a lot, same as we were enjoying the ancient sport. I asked an older boy if their parents know about it? He said "Of course NOT! We are catching our roosters in the evening before they go back to the home. And coming to this ground to play with it." I asked how they thought about this cruel game. He said they don’t have foot balls, cricket, balls, volley balls, that’s why they are playing with this. They made a compromise in their way. I asked if they have foot ball, bats and balls, will they stop to playing this game or not? The boy replied "Yes! we stop to play this rooster jumping."

  Later I was thinking, Whether or not, Let them play or make them play with the so called proper toys, that is the question..

It is difficult to decide.

Look forward to hear your opinion at info@je-npo.org,

Thank you.

Importance of winter clothes

  While we were busy in the distribution of Non Food Items and erection of the tents in District Ziarat and Pishin, we came to know that JEN’s donors in Japan provide some more funds for the neglected people who are the earthquake victims in Baluchistan. We had to research and decide in the field at the point - almost, that what would be the best usage of that fund.

  After looking around and monitoring the situation for almost 15 days, we observed that there is a huge need of winter clothing for the people, especially women and children. People are very poor in the area and they didn’t have good warm clothes even before the earthquake. But their houses were livable before the earthquake, so they could manage the cold weather without winter jackets. The earthquake made the things worst for them; they not only loosed their houses but also their beddings, clothing and kitchen items.

  Many Organizations are working in the area but no one thought about the importance of providing the winter jackets to the children. They gave priority to provide the shelters and foods to the affected people, which are of course the basic need after any disaster, but at the same time we should not forget the importance of winter clothes. The weather in the earthquake affected areas will remain cold until April and the people don’t have proper clothing to fight with the cold. It is making their lives more difficult.

  Thanks to our supporters and JEN Tokyo HQ who took the initiative to provide winter jackets to the children. The winter jackets will not only keep the children safe from the disease which cause due to cold, but also they will wear it for their schools, which will open in the first week of March. It will be nice to see the children wearing Jackets.

The Certificate; Completion and Success

  When we arrived to the earthquake affected areas for the first time, we saw the situation was very bad due to the desaster. People were panicking and running towards relief trucks here and there. Many organizations were distributing their relief items and tents on the main roads. But those items were not enough to meet their needs, because 1) the weather was already too cold and 2) the tents which they were receiving were not well equipped for the winter. But as it was an emergency, NGOs were distributing the available items stocked in their warehouses as soon as possible.

  JEN started the distribution mission from the village Choongi Bala. Houses were damaged; people were living in the normal tents, children were shivering with cold at night. After JEN distributed NFIs and erected Winterized tents, people relived that they will have some normal place to live at least, in the coming winter season. After we completed the first distribution, the villagers had prepared their traditional lunch of Laanday (Dry meat of sheep) for JEN staff. At that time, as it was soon after the earthquake the people were in deep trouble and we didn’t feel good to eat lunch there, but we were compelled to eat as per their tradition.

  After 2 and half months when we completed the last phase of distribution (wheel barrows) in the same village, the villagers again prepared lunch for JEN staff, the food items were the same but our feelings and beneficiaries feelings were different then the last time. Our feelings were nice because we could see that villagers are now in their normal life. They are still living in the winterized tents and shelters, but they are comfortable at night, their children don’t get sick anymore due to cold. In many villages the supply of Electricity and Natural gas has repaired, and where ever the supplies are still not working, they have the heating and lighting facilities provided by JEN.

   When we were leaving the village, an old man stopped our vehicle. He smiled, thanked and prayed for us. I discussed with my colleagues that the smile of this old man is the certificate of our project completion and success.

Balochi Traditional Dresses

Balochistan is very famous for its traditional items, like Shawls, Bugti Shawlar and Kamiz, many kinds of Balochi Shoes and traditional decorated caps. All those items are hand made and showing the rich Balochi culture.

Traditionally, female member of family are doing embroidery on shawls at home. After the completion, sold to the big markets. It is a source of their income. The best available shawls are worth Rupees 2000/- which is equal to 25 USD.

Bugti Shalwar and Kamiz is the dress of Baloch tribe. All the people here are wearing it. Bugti is also the name of a famous Baloch Tribe. It needs a lot more amount of fabric to make this Shalwar and Kamiz, compares to common Shalwar and Kamiz of Pakistan, Baloch people also wear big turbans on their heads with this dress.

Balochi Caps are also one of the main components. Rich people matches the color of the cap with the color of their clothes. It applys very beautiful embroidery on the cap with the small pieces of glass. Those are available in the market and the rate is between 320 Rupees (4 USD) to 1500 Rupees (19 USD).

The main interesting outfit for men is Balochi Shoes, which are available in many designs and colors. It is indeed very comfortable and stunning. There is a big market for these locally made shoes in Quetta. People are making the shoes in their shops after measure the size of customer's foot.

There are also many ready-made shoes, but they are not as comfortable as made on order according to the size of foot. Soles of the shoes is made by strong rubber tyre, and other part is made by Sheep’s leather. Because of its strength, it is ideal to walk on the tough terrains and mountains.

JEN staff is using these shoes for the field by all means. 

My 3 years with JEN, Part II

  I am enjoying my work with JEN, because all of my officers listen to our suggestions and opinions, and they try to share with us everything they know. We are free to use our own ideas for the project. If we make some mistakes during the implementation of project, instead of getting upset, they give us suggestions on how to improve our skills and how to avoid from those mistakes again. In my opinion, it is the best way to learn something.

Although, sometimes it is tough to work because of the difficult areas, less sleep, no food etc, it is kind of sacrifice for the people in need, so we put aside our personal problems. This spirit motivates us to work harder and harder.

Currently, we are working in Baluchistan for the earthquake affected people. This area is totally different from Kashmir in terms of culture and living style. Kashmir was close to Indian Border but it was ceasefire with India, so no worries about any war within. Also, people in Kashmir were not such conservative like those who in Baluchistan. For example, there were no walls around the houses in Kashmir, and the operational area in Kashmir was not so far from our residence. But in Baluchistan, things are totally opposite. The operational area is located near Afghan border, which is always in a tense, which causes us to take extra caution. On top of that, the project area is 110 km away from our residence, it means that we have to travel 220 km back and forth every day. The people here are very religious and conservative. They have big walls around their houses.

We mobilized and respect the community's culture, rules, and regulations in our mind. This way, we'd be accepted and appreciated by the community. And that was perhaps the reason why JEN was the first INGO which was allowed to enter the area by the community in the early days of earthquake. Not only that, we were even invited to take the photographs of inside their houses.

Community participation with JEN looks quite good, too. Our work seems to  be appreciated by not only the local people, but also local Government authorities. DCO (District Coordination Officer) invited JEN staff for lunch at his residence, the other day. As a result, our project in Baluchistan was featured by several Urdu newspapers.

I would like to thank our supporters and hope all of our projects around the grobe in the future will run smoothly, same like the project in Baluchistan. 

My 3 years with JEN

I am Azmat Ali from Pakistan. I started to work with JEN since October 15th 2005, after the massive earthquake in Pakistan. Previously I was working with international organizations. At the time I joined JEN, I just completed my one and half year diploma course in Japanese language.

After the earthquake, I wanted to go to Kashmir or NWFP as a volunteer for rescue work. Then, I got a phone call from my friend who was working with JEN already as an interpreter that JEN is seeking for the staff. I thought it is the best and organized way to work for the people in need. So, I contacted JEN and went for interview, and then JEN selected me for the post of field officer.

I was so much impressed in Kashmir, after spending 1 week of work with JEN. The scope and environment of work were totally different from the other organizations, which were working in the same area for emergency relief. The international staff with whom I was working was very professional and hard working. They didn’t care about the time, food, nor weather, but their mission was very clear that just to provide assistance to the people in need as soon as possible.

I was working with the field staff, but at the same time I was also in touch with the Staff working in Islamabad office. I was wondering if the Japanese female staffs in Islamabad were working until 3 am or not!!! So, after experiencing all those things, I also tried to work like them. I don’t know if I am succeeded or not... But I am still trying my best.

to be continued...

Children of Baluchistan

During our mission in Baluchistan, we observed that many children of our beneficiaries help their fathers in their businesses, especially in the shops, in the public transport and for taking care of their apple farms.

We met Shakeel Khan. He is helping his father's fruit shop. He said that it is the only shop his father owns and the only source of their income. He is the eldest son of his father, age of 11 and he has 2 sisters and 1 brother.

Every day after he returns from the school, he goes to the shop to help his father for selling the fruits. He said his father wakes up very early in the morning and goes to the fruit market to buy fruits to sell for the day. Father definitely needs some rest in the afternoon, so he sells fruits on behalf of him from the afternoon till the evening.

We asked him about his studies and homework. He said he brings text books with him to the shop, so that when there is no customer, he can study and do the homework. He said that he loves sports and he likes cricket by all means, but he doesn’t have a time to play because of the shop. Instead of playing sports, he said that he enjoys his work in the shop. On Sunday and other holidays are the exceptions.　He enjoys playing cricket with his friends in the morning time.

Shakeel said that his house and his school were both damaged by the earthquake, but he is not so scared of it. Although his brother, 2 sisters and mother are sleeping in the tent provided by JEN, his father and himself are sleeping inside the partially damaged room due to the earthquake. However, in order to rest well, they keep the door open and sleeping near to the door, this way, even though another earthquake occurs, or increase the scale of earthquake, they can run outside immediately.

Best use of Sheep

  People here in Balochistan are eating dried meat in the winters. According to them, this meat can keep them warm during the cold weather. The process of drying the meat is very interesting. (pix:  Drying the Laanday meat of sheep)

1. First they slaughter the sheep and then they remove the skin with so much care.
2.  They remove all the organs from the body. They make pieces of the meet, fats and bones and paste a lot of salt on it.
3. They hang the peaces in the sun light. In the night they put some clothes and Plastic sheet on the meat to keep it dry from the due. They are keeping it in the sun light for at least 3 months. When it becomes crispy it means it is now eatable.(pix:  Drying the fats part of sheep)
4.  They cook some meat in the winters after every 2 days. And if they have any guests they cook that Laanday meat for them. People in this area are so much hospitable. The important thing is that they don’t use cooking oil or Ghee to cook this food; they cook this dish in the dried fats of the sheep. It tastes fantastic. When JEN staff is going for assessment or distribution to the villages, a lot of villagers are insisting to present cooked Laanday meat for us. But it is very difficult to eat it every day, because it needs a very strong stomach to digest this strong meat. (pix: Cooked Laanday food)

Laanday is their traditional food in the winters. They don’t eat this food in the summer, because it is very heavy and hot.(pix: Local made Jerry can made by sheep leather (Mashkeeza))

The removed skin of sheep is also very useful for them. They stitch all the holes of the removed skin except the hole of throat with strong thread. When it is ready to use, the women are bringing it to the springs and wells to fill the water in it. It keeps the water cold in the summer and keeping it warm in the winters. The water doesn’t freeze inside in it in the minus degrees temperature. (pix: Local made Jerry can made by sheep leather full of water (Mashkeeza) )

Emergency Assistance for the Balochistan earthquake started.

   JEN confirmed the necessity of emergency assistance and started to conduct the aid on November 11th.
　
JEN has sent its local staff members to the devastated areas to support the victims of the Magnitude 6.4 earthquake that hit Balochistan region on October 29th.

JEN operated investigations and needs assessments for understanding the current situation and needs for the damages in order to operate aid activities in the region.

At the same time, JEN's staff also participated in conferences together with related organizations and conducted information gathering.

The victims who live in destroyed houses in the devastated areas have been forced to spend hard times outside in the bitter cold, even below freezing at night.

There will be areas where cannot be accessible due to the weather in winter and JEN confirmed that the assistance are needed as soon as possible for the victims who wait for emergency aid.    

This emergency assistance with the support by Japan Platform (JPF) and the individual donors will conduct distribution of tents and living wares over winter for 500 house units in the devastated region of Balochistan. JEN also plans to distribute tools with which the victims can fix their houses by themselves and sanitary kits.

We look forward to your support. Click here for donations made by credit cards.

We appreciate your support.

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BREAKING NEWS: JEN has started first investigations on the earthquake.

Staff members of JEN Pakistan have arrived in the earthquake affected area and have started first investigations.

The results will be reported sometime next week.

（Photo：Staff members in gathering information atJEN's Islamabad office）

BREAKING NEWS: Huge Earthquake Hit in the western Pakistan

The local office of JEN, in Islamabad, Pakistan has been operating to gathering and analyzing the information and evaluating the possiblities of the necessary support.

The huge earthquake hit in mountain areas in the western part of Pakistan in the morning of October 29th. 

There are expected to be the large number of victims in the devastated sites of the earthquake center.

JEN (both Pakista and HQ in Tokyo) has been gathering and analyzing the information in case that  local emergency assistance are desparately needed.

A Unique Pakistani liquid

Since October, Pakistan has been celebrating a holiday called “Eid”, which represents the end of Ramadan. Instead of talking about the JEN project in Pakistan, today I would like to introduce you to the unique liquid that is drunken during Ramadan. The bottle shown in the picture is called “Roohafzaa” (Soul Refresher), and it a juice of a mix of many concentrated fruits. The box next to it is called “Ispaghol” which is an extract of traditional herbs. People usually drink this with water when they have a stomachache.

The JEN staff made me the “Roohafzaa” juice on Iftar (the dinner after the sunset of the day during Ramadan). It is simply a mix of “Roohafzaa” with water, and has a lot of “Ispaghol” on the top, as a garnish or more likely a finish touch. I knew “Ispaghol” as a medicine for the stomach, so first, I thought it must be taken like medication; however, this was the usual way of drinking “Ispaghol”.

There are many people who have a stomachache after Ramadan starts. It is possible that this original drink may be drunk and developed over a long period from the experiences of their lives.

School Construction/ Furniture Distribution is now Complete

Thanks to the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, other organizations and individual supporters. JEN has completed construction of 6 schools in UC Kalamura, Haveli County, Bagh Province.

These schools are built to resist against earthquakes using light steel structure. In addition, with the contribution from Feliccimo Corporation and BOOK MAGIC participants, JEN distributed school furniture such as desks, chairs and black board sets.

After the local Education Authority permitted to start the schools, there were many children that burst into new and clean classrooms. The representative from the Education Authority came to visit schools, and spoke to children about using schools cleanly. Then, senior students have guided younger ones to not do graffiti on the school wall.

The project provides children with education in a comfortable environment without being affected by monsoons, rains, winds, severe winters, snow or earthquakes. JEN appreciates wholeheartedly those who have continuously supported the project.

Kashmir’s MOTTAINAI (Don’t Waste) Spirit

JEN’s motto is to support those who are in the hardest to reach, or live in the most inaccessible areas.
Haveli in Bagh District, located in a remote area which can only be reached after passing many mountains of Kashmir (AJK) and unpaved rough roads, is an example of a region that needs support to recover from the earthquake.

Most of the cars you can see in Haveli are trucks such as jeeps and 4WD.
Among the types of passenger cars, the 1974 model of the Toyota Collora is especially prominent, as seen in the photo.

This car is exhibited in an automobile museum in Japan as a classic car; however, people in Kashmir still use it with the same body but they change the engine into diesel which is economically better for gas-consumption.
It still runs smoothly and strongly on the roads of Kashmir. Isn’t it wonderful of Kashmir people to keep using the same cars for 30 years?

What about the JEN Pakistan team?
JEN moves through the mountain roads in a 4 WD instead of Toyota Collora, continuing to bring support from Japan.

In Order To Provide A Better Educational Environment

Thanks for the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, organizations and individual supporters, JEN is constructing 6 schools in UC Kalamula, Haveli county, Bagh district. These schools are reinforced to resist earthquakes with light steel structure. One school can accommodate 40 students.

Students are forced to study outside even though it's raining, snowing or severely windy. After the completion of the construction, all 240 students can get education under a safer and more comfortable environment.

All the schools are located in the middle of mountains far from the main roads. As a result of this, JEN has to work hard to separate all the parts of the school building into pieces, and bring them to the construction sites piece by piece, then putting them back together.

JEN looks forward to welcoming children to start going to these schools as soon as possible, and continues to provide assistance for a better educational environment in the earthquake-affected area.

Do Kashmir boys like Make-up?

JEN conducts hygiene and sanitation education projects in Haveli, Bagh.
In order to prepare for this project, JEN is now interviewing teachers and students.
Based on the result of these interviews, JEN is going to reform the content of training about hygiene and sanitation education for teachers and the content of the workshop for the children.

With this, JEN found an interesting things about Pakistani culture.
The boy in the picture wears eye-liner below his eyes.
This is called “ Solma” in which he wears special black stone powder around his eyes.
This is effective to have a better eye sight, and also by wearing it while sleeping, it reduces the pain from having red eyes.
You can’t see this much in the capital city of Islamabad; however, it still exists in a place like Haveli which is located in high altitudes under the severe sunshine. 

Close to 60% Pakistani children’s cause of death is due to unsanitary water.
We hope that through the spread of knowledge by hygiene and sanitation education, JEN will make a tremendous contribution to the community.

School Support through BOOK MAGIC

Thank you so much for those who contributed to the BOOK MAGIC program. Thanks to your support, we were able to provide Pakistani children with floor mattresses for their school. As a result, 6380children at 54 schools can now continue their education in a better environment.

Because the project zone, Bagh, barely has any desks and chairs for the students, children sit on the ground directly to study. Especially during the severe winter time, it is hard for children to concentrate on studying, moreover, many children became sick because of the coldness.

JEN provided mattresses to an Islam school, which gets hardly any support from other organizations, and other schools mainly schools locating closer to the border. Some of them never got support before other than JEN, and therefore not only the teachers and students but also residents of the region also thanked this contribution deeply. JEN would appreciate your continuous support for BOOK MAGIC in the future.

When in Pakistan, do as the Pakistani do

The season for mangoes has arrived once again here in Pakistan. The mango season in Pakistan is from May – September, and you can see mango sellers in all part of Islamabad. There are about 150 different types of mangoes in Pakistan, and any one of them is said to be the ‘best in the world’.

During the season, when you visit the house of our staff, you will be presented with a mountain of mango. ‘It is polite to eat all the mangoes on the plate!’ I was told by the local JEN Staff member, and therefore I ate mangoes every day until I was full.

In Pakistan, it is possible to buy mangoes from only JPY20. In comparison, the cheapest mango you can buy in Japan is about JPY300. For those who love mango, this country is a paradise!

The 3rd Earthquake-Proof School Now Complete

Thanks to the contribution of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, World Conference on Religion and Peace Japanese Committee, and other organizations and individuals, JEN has completed the building of the third earthquake-proof school in Haveli, Bagh. JEN had the handing-over ceremony inviting the school teachers and the now 110 excited children who will get an education in the new classrooms.
 
JEN’s projects, not only the ones that concern the construction of schools, are always done through the cooperation of so many different supporters. Especially in this project, JEN got the greatest support from Tobishima Corporation. Cooperation from local people and teachers were of great importance as well. As the construction of the schools were completed, we received a letter of appreciation from the local government. 

JEN would like to continue our projects to provide a safer and more comfortable environment for children to receive an education.

Education for Children Affected by the Earthquake has Begun

Thanks to the contribution of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, other organizations and individuals, JEN will start a new project to support improvement of education in Bagh. The project began as JEN signed the contract in the Japanese embassy in Pakistan on May 30th. This news was broadcasted on the Pakistani national newspaper and on the internet.

Through this project, JEN will build 6 light-steel structured schools and provide hygiene and sanitation education in Haveli, Bagh, especially in the areas where there is poor accessibility. We will conduct this construction under the great cooperation of the local people, parents and teachers. In addition, we will encourage them to manage the maintenance of the schools themselves after the completion of the project. For hygiene and sanitation education, JEN places importance on psychological care as well. JEN would like to utilize group discussions and plays to make learning more enjoyable. 

JEN will continue to provide assistance to the local children in Bagh who are suffering from the earthquake by supporting an education in a safer and more comfortable environment.

Meaning behind of Distribution

Recently, the Field office in Kashmir, Pakistan received requests from schools. That is a request for helping them install tents.

Reconstruction of schools in Bagh district has been late severely, so as a temporary measure other organizations distributed tents kit which can be used as class rooms in the fiscal year 2008.

The students have received the new tents, however they do not know what to do with them even though they have an instruction paper in one hand, because they have never set such large sized tents by themselves.

JEN also distributed tents for schools from January to April in 2006, as an emergency assistance just after the earthquake hit in the area in Oct 2005. JEN set the tents in cooperation with the villagers and JEN has been periodically monitoring afterwards and doing repairs.

This time the tents are not the ones which JEN distributed, however JEN has been helping the
villagers to set the tents together by the request from the school.
　
One may image “Distribution” is just to “give objects”. However the distribution of JEN is not just “carrying objects”.  JEN always cares the feelings of receivers or users when purchasing or distributing.

And JEN considers that distributed objects can encourage local people's independence.

A Winter Holiday in Kashmir!

In schools located high in the mountains, there is a long winter holiday, for about three months, as it snows continually. JEN’s project site has also been covered by snow since January, but now the snow has finally started to thaw.

One day, I peeked into a student’s house, and saw a group of girls gathered there. Upon asking, ‘What do always do during the holidays?’ they responded in unison, ‘we study, of course!’ However, neither pens nor notebooks were to be seen. Instead, there were a few small pebbles. I asked again, ‘I promise not to tell your teacher, so what do you really do?’ They answered, ‘play with beanbags and play hide and seek!’

The children of Kashmir play with small pebbles as if they were beanbags. Watching them, I felt that this was a game possible only for children that have been raised in a place surrounded by nature that can be used as the resource for their games. At the same time, I noted that in practice the games played by children in Pakistan are not unlike those played by children in Japan.

Note: The school in Haveli county of Bagh city will have winter holidays from December 15th to March 1st.

（PICTURE (Upper Left)：Our project site covered in snow、PICTURE (Lower Right)：Beanbags with small pebbles.）

The Reconstruction of the Third School

After a holiday known as the Festival of Sacrifice, New Year is approaching Pakistan on December 21st, slightly earlier than the Japanese New Year. It is the coldest season of the year and the mountains in Kashmir are covered in snow as usual.

Supported by the Foreign Ministry and our supporters, JEN has been reconstructing schools that collapsed following the earthquakes in Haveri, Bagh. During these freezing days, JEN has managed to complete the reconstruction of two schools.  This school will be the third school reconstructed as earthquake-proof.

JEN is currently laying the foundations of the building, which is essential for sustaining an earthquake-proof design. Unlike the two schools that have already been reconstructed, this school is located in the middle of the mountains and therefore will be functioning under very difficult conditions. We are proceeding with the project so that the children are able to go back to school as soon as possible.

Finally Completed Using Three Pillars

It has started to snow on the project site in Pakistan again this year. It has been the third winter for the province of Bagh in Haveli County since the earthquake. The project that JEN has been carrying out was introduced in a local newspaper. In the article, appreciation for JEN was mentioned for carrying out the project immediately after the earthquake. It also described how the education environment for children had dramatically improved as a result of water and hygiene projects within schools supported by JEN.

Finally, the water and hygiene projects for 120 schools have been completed. The projects are executed under the guidelines of three pillars; first, temporary toilets, next, improvement and maintenance of water supply systems and finally, hygiene education. The children used to drink water and wash their hands at a distant river or a spring near the school. However, they are now able to have lessons without interruption by such inconveniences. In addition, due to the hygiene education provided alongside the installation of toilets and water supplies, the health condition of the children has been improved.  For instance, the number of children suffering from diarrhea symptom has significantly decreased.

Disaster Prevention Education Workshop

   Supported by the Foreign Ministry and by our supporters, JEN is carrying out disaster prevention education workshops in Haveli County, in the Province of Bagh. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) supplied textbooks for disaster prevention education for this project.

These textbooks are cute picture books written in Urdu. The content is easy to understand, even for little children.

JEN has been carrying out seminars for teachers about school disaster prevention in Haveli County in light of the earthquake.  This project includes instructions of some evacuation drill methods and first-aid skills, making the contents more practical. In addition, not only the teachers, but also the students and local people participate in this seminar. It aims to spread disaster prevention knowledge.

The future dreams of the young

　Supported by UNICEF and you, we are developing water and hygiene projects to the 120 schools in Haveri, Bagh.　Up until now, 80% of the water supply facilities have been built and it is only a few more steps to complete the project. After the project completion, approximately 13,000 children will be able to study in the safe and hygienically clean environment.

　The top three professions the children in Haveri want to become are: For boys, doctor (1st), engineer (2nd) and pilot (3rd). For girls, doctor (1st), school teacher (2nd) and nurse (3rd).

　The first important thing to make these dreams to come true is to provide right education to the children at schools. JEN will continue to support to provide right educational environment to Pakistan.    

3:00 AM in Bagh

Ramadan finally ended after a full month. Project site visits during Ramadan were quite impressive.

All the staffs in the project field in Pakistan eat and sleep together. During Ramadan, our local staff could not eat during day.　 So, instead, they woke up at 3am in the morning to have breakfast, then went back to sleep. During daytime, they visited and observed the project sites and after the sunset around 6pm they ate Iftar (the food for after Ramadan). 

The most popular and frequent topic among the staff during this period was “where to have Iftar”. Many people at the project sites invited the staff to their houses for Iftar. Staff could enjoy very nice Iftar at a school principal’s, at the landlord’s, a different place, every day.   　

During Ramadan, it is prohibited to drink even water during the day. We provided clean water to schools and saw the children drinking water but we had to endure the thirst! At the same time, it was a very good experience to help us appreciate the situation of having water running from taps all the time.  　

2 years after the earthquake

It has been 2 years since the earthquake on October 8, 2005. JEN has been continuously providing educational support in Haveri, Bagh. All the people in Haveri know about JEN as we provide support everywhere including the rural areas where ordinary support faces difficulty to reach.   

We are very happy when we see JEN’s support positively and consistently reaching all the people who need it. For example, “JEN’s School Bag”, which was distributed to the children and enabled children to go back to school immediately after the earthquake, is still carried to schools every day by the children.

The memory of the earthquake in Kashmir, Pakistan is gradually fading away. However, the lives of the victims are still hard and require continuous support. JEN will continuously provide support required by the local people.

Autumn Appetites - Apples -

  Summer temperatures of over 40℃ are finally over and autumn has arrived in Pakistan. In grocery stores, autumn fruits such as apples, grapes and pomegranates replace summer fruits such as mangos and peaches.

Chanjal, Haveri, where JEN will start a new project to rebuild schools is famous for its apples. When we visited the project site, children gave fresh apples to us.

But the autumn is very short. Winter is right around the corner once it is November. Although this is the third winter since the earthquake, due to the significant delay in the reconstruction projects, children are still studying outdoors, in tents or temporary shelters.   　

JEN continuously supports children, including supplying sweaters for the winter.

A life saved by sports

A life saved by sports

We hosted a sports festival for the children affected by the earthquake in Bedhi, Haveri. This was the first sports festival since the earthquake and was well attended.

The last sports festival in the Bedhi area was on October 7, 2005, the day before the earthquake. The sport was volleyball, same as in this sport festival. The winner in 2005 was Mori Maidan High School. This high school decided to make October 8th a holiday to celebrate their victory, by coincidence, the earthquake happened on that very day. The first shake completely destroyed the school building, but fortunately, no one was hurt thanks to this holiday. Therefore, the sports festival in 2005 really saved so many people’s lives. 　

Below is a message from the Principal of Mori Maidan High School after the 2007 sports festival: 　

“Since the earthquake, we were too depressed to do class or sports. And today’s festival brought back to us the joy and importance of sports. We will train everyday and prepare for the next sports festival.”   

The day JEN’s support reached Bedhi

Supported by The World Conference for Religions for Peace Japan Committee and all of you, we are conducting educational support projects for the child victims of the earthquake in Bedhi, Haveri.

Bedhi is one of the most severely destroyed areas by the earthquake. However, due to the difficult accessibility, no organization other than JEN provided educational support to this area.

The way to Bedhi is very steep and it takes about 4-5 hours by car from JEN’s local field office. Between December and March, the route is blocked by snow so there is no access to Bedhi. It also rains hard throughout the year, which causes mudslides frequently. The steep road becomes very slippery and we can only approach Bedhi very slowly using a very experienced driver.

In Bedhi, so called “extremely remote area”, we aim to improve the educational environment for the earthquake victim children and provide:

1. Mental care workshop　
2. Educational / sports goods supply　
3. Sports festival

The project comes with various difficulties. For example, during heavy rain we sometimes get stuck in the middle of the road on the way to Bedhi. However, due to the warm welcome by the local people, we are able to efficiently implement the project during the very short summer. 　

The aftermaths of the school tents

On May 31st, the Assistance for Reforming the Educational Environment was completed thanks to the support of Japan Platform, individual donors and NGOs.

Today, we would like to pass on to you the local people's messages.
The children expressed that "the reinforced tents protected us against rain and strong winds. Thank you!"

The Teachers also expressed that "Thanks to the desks, chairs and reinforced tents the children were able to study in a better environment than that of the open air and sitting on logs"

"We were also shown how to reinforce the tents and we feel confident we can fix them when necessary"

"With the training about disaster prevention, we also learned how to cope with the stresses the children face after an earthquake"

JEN has distributed desks, chairs, and reinforced tents, and conducted disaster prevention courses for teachers at 64 primary education schools in Havaili, Bagh Province. Around 11,247 students and teachers benefited from these reforms of the Educational Environment.

A Message from a Student

　The Girl’s Primary School Luyan Karsan was completely destroyed by the recent earthquake; however, thanks to JEN’s efforts to rebuild the school, now one teacher and 87 girls can resume their education again.

This school is located on the top of a steep hill, and it can be reached after climbing a rocky mountain for 20 minutes far from the main road.  Although you must climb this steep mountain n order to meet these girls, these cheerful girls are always there to welcome you.

Here is the message from Anisa Ata, 10 years old, who goes to this school. “When I recall the earthquake, I feel too sad to talk about it. I like the Urdu class the best. I love the school JEN built for us because it keeps us warm during winter, and we can keep on studying on rainy days as well.”

Haveli has lots of rain throughout a year, and there is also heavy snow along with severe weather in the winter.In order to receive an education, it is necessary for children to have places with a roof. JEN will keep on working on future projects in Pakistan, including rebuilding schools.

A Food Story

When talking about Pakistani food many Japanese people tend to think of curry. However, since there are several ethnic groups in Pakistan, food varies from region to region.  For example in the North Western region, where the Pashtun (Pathan) group live, the food is not spicy and includes stewed mutton and tomato.  Whereas in the South Eastern region, where the Punjab people live, the food has plenty of spices and is very hot, like Kema curry well known by Japanese people.

Here in Havaili where Jen’s office is (Kashmir State - Bagh Province), the food is mainly spicy, similar to Punjab food. However, unlike the menu you see at restaurants, beans and taro potatoes are the main ingredient because people do not really eat meat here.

For Muslim people, serving a meal to their guests is a matter of great importance. When working in the field, local people sometimes serve us food. When we are very busy we try to refuse their invitation by saying, “I really appreciate it but I must get going to the next place….” to which they reply “never mind, come!”, so we are forced to give in to their invitation! This is just another demonstration of their warm hospitality.

Teamwork

My first spring has come here in Haveli, Kashmir after a long and severe winter.  Snow has melted in the mountain except on its summit and there is green sprouting all over the region.  It is so warm these days that I need an electric fan in the night.  Yet, it continues to rain often this April. 

Rain has been falling everyday from mid February to the end of March and this has hindered our projects.  Nonetheless, we have continued the projects, step by step, in strong collaboration with the local communities in the marginalized mountainous area in the devastated province of Bagh.  Local people and school children, even small girls have helped JEN’s staff carry desks for two-kilometres, on a pathway away from the road, in the rain, to the tent that we installed as a school.   

People survived the second winter after the disaster independently and they seem to have become more and more peaceful and confident.

Winter Clothes for Children

JEN distributed winter clothes to 254 schoolchildren in the village of Bringbun, Heveli in the Province of Bagh last October.  The Mitsui Sumitomo Smile Hart Club and the Japan Knitting Association kindly contributed all of the woollen knits for the children, such as, sweaters, vests, scarves and caps. 

Memoona Batool, an 8-years-old girl says:

“I got a chestnut sweater.  I am happy with my favourite colour.  I wore it on the Eid holiday (an Islamic feast day).  It is very cold in the winter, but I am fine as I wear the sweater everyday.  Thank you Japan for the sweater.”

Three pillars

  In Haberi, only 23% of schools have sanitary accommodations available and only 28% can provide clean and safe water to drink for children.

Shortage of these may cause the spread of diseases like cholera or Delhi belly among the children. And even if schools have these facilitates, if the children do not know how to use them, sanitary conditions would not be improved.

JEN had Three pillars: temporary lavatory, water supply system, health education, assortment of hard version and soft version activities. We will provide safe and clean education environment for 13,000 children through these activities.

Different Forms of Recycling

    Pakistan, and in particular Islamabad, is a heavily littered place. Garbage is omnipresent, with all kinds of trash clogging up empty areas and rivers. Such trash has clogged up the small river in front of the JEN office, leading to increased amounts of water, which in turn has resulted in the mass generation of mosquitoes. There is not yet any system to recycle glass bottles, cans, paper, and batteries as they do in Japan, it seems.

    An interesting incident happened the other day, however. As I went to a major printing ink store clutching an empty cartridge-for recycling purposes-I was looked at in a queer way. In Pakistan, they do not recycle the cartridge itself as in Japan, but reuse it by filling it up again with ink, they say. A surprise it was, but a pleasant one.

Past through the Mountains...

    More than 6 months have passed since the mighty earthquake hit. Mohammed (male, 56 yrs old), a victim of the disaster, told us what it was like when the quake first struck.

    "I was taking a bath at the time the earthquake hit, it was a little before 9 in the morning. The ground suddenly shook, and I scrambled out of the bath through the bathroom window.

    After making sure each family member was safe, I rushed to school where my children were. But since we have many children, enrolled in different schools-boys/girls schools, elementary school/junior high-I decided to start by looking for my youngest son, and hurried my way up the mountainous paths.

    Although some had minor injuries, all my children were safe. I believe it was Allah that saved us."

The 249 Classroom Tents

    On the 30th of April, we held a small party with the local staff to celebrate the successful completion of our mission in Bagh.

    From January to the end of April, we assessed the damage of 198 schools, and put up 249 school tents. It felt as though those 4 months came and went with the wind.

    The harsh weather of the winter, heavy snowfall, rain, hail, landslides occurring from melted snow, fear of rock falls, and last but not the least, the precipitous mountain paths...The "198 schools, 249 tents" is a milestone achieved against the severe weather by all of the JEN staff. It was not an easy path.

    The laughter of the children whom returned to school, the villagers' broad smiles and words of appreciation-nothing can be a better reward for us.

Landslide

The rainy season has set in.  Heavy rains have been hitting everyday over the JEN’s Field Office in the Province of Bagh.  The rainfalls bring frequent landslides and hinder access to mountainous areas.  JEN’s staff removed together with local people a large mass of soil that had blocked roads to our operational field.

To see the situation, the staff took a five-hours drive to an isolated camp of victims of last earthquake.  A landslide deprived twelve lives including children in the camp.  Witness says that a huge flood of earth erupted and swallowed the camp violently.  Rocks and earth avalanched in the village as high as more than one-meter.  Facing the rage of the nature, the staff could do nothing but pray for the souls of the dead. 

Seasonal Foods

   The markets in Pakistan are overflowing with all kinds of in-season vegetables and fruits. Cucumbers, okra, melons, and watermelons can all be bought at reasonable prices.

    Freshwater fish that local children caught in hope of extra pocket money, can also be seen as a "summer food" in the markets.

    In Bagh, where our projects are ongoing, we enjoy such fresh foods as noted above-all curry flavored. Even sweetfish, which in Japan would be broiled with salt, then have some lemon and soy sauce sprinkled over it, in Pakistan they are simply fried-curry flavored.

    The spice and oiliness are, at times, a little too much for the Japanese stomach, but it is such foods that help us survive the 50℃ heat.

JEN Jackets-the latest craze?!

  One March day, as we were putting up a classroom tent at a public all male high school in Kalamula village, we found ourselves surrounded by the village children. We recognized a few of them wearing familiar looking jackets.

    They were jackets distributed by JEN to the children for the winter, as a part of JEN's post disaster education support program. It is hard to see in the photo, but there is a tag that has "JEN" on the side of the sleeves.

    There are 2 sizes; one for 6～10 year olds, and another for 11～14 year olds; and come in 4 colors; green, blue, red, and orange. We passed many more children wearing the JEN jackets on the way back as well.

Who knows, perhaps they may create a new trend?!

The Beginning of School Reconstruction

  From January through April, JEN distributed 249 classroom type tents for children who had lost their schools and were being forced to study outdoors in the harsh, winter air.
From the 1st of May, we began reconstructing 2 public elementary schools in the Bedhal union council of Haveli tehsil. The new school buildings are earthquake resistant.

    Many children believe that the earthquake happened for religious reasons, and the fear that has been so deeply planted in them remain, leaving behind great scars yet to begin healing. JEN, by giving correct information about earthquakes to these children, aims to lessen their psychological pain.

    "I was in the classroom when the quake hit. Suddenly, the ground started violently shaking. All the students were in a panic and rushing to the door; it took time for me to get even near it from my seat at the back. Just then, a part of the wall caved in, and the entire building swayed towards one side. As I was slipping my way through the door, it shut on my leg and thus I became unable to move. I still have that scar today.

    After about 30 minutes in that situation, I heard the voices of villagers, and myself as well as the other students that had been locked up inside the classroom were finally helped out."
－Dhara Khas village　Aziz (11 years old)

Falling Rocks and Landslides

In the city of Palangi of Bagh district, where JEN is currently conducting several projects, there are frequent landslides and falling rocks after continuous days of raining. The land made loose from the past earthquake has only made matters worse.
The other day, we were caught in a traffic jam that had occurred as a result of a fallen rock completely blocking the road.

Three workers hired by the government, working nearby to widen numerous roads, were brought out to clear the rocks. “Clearing the rocks”—striking the rocks with hammers, carrying the broken pieces with their hands, then hauling them over the cliff—was work that demanded much time and patience.
After a while some villagers began helping out, and we, as JEN staff, whose mission is emergency support, joined in as well. One by one, the drivers and passengers of the stopped buses and trucks also began climbing out, and all began to help remove the debris.

What would have taken at least 4 to 5 hours had there only been 3 people, was finished in a matter of 30 minutes. Automobiles were free to go to and fro once again.
A big round of applause to the locals’ teamwork for saving everybody’s day.