New videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tukwwCpVG0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdd1W2kr0xo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMqGEa8ihDQ
UPDATE:
They may be homeless and stranded without possessions, but their integrity is intact. They made it very clear they weren't beggars. It was out of sheer desperation they were asking for help. They had little food and almost no possessions. Most of their cattle and productive capital got washed away with the flood, their land unusable for years.
It was extremely difficult to get them to agree to be in a photo so that their story was conveyed to the rest of the world. Most of their women hid their faces, out of sheer embarrassment.
"We don't want any media attention, we don't want to be seen on TV, we don't want to be disgraced". These were the remarks of a young mother in her mid-30s as my cousin requested to take their photo.
The men of the group are mostly farmers, used to a hard day's labour. Sitting idly, doing nothing is hurting their pride. They don't want handouts. They want to be able to go back to work again. Most realise they are powerless against the forces of nature, lucky even to survive.
The photo below taken (attached) in my garage is the only picture they allowed my cousin to take after much negotiation. Most of the men and women dispersed and hid themselves, wanting not to be a part of the picture. I wonder what lies behind the smiles of these two young kids seen at the forefront. Will they ever see a home again?
This is their temporary shelter/home, their possessions are few. Their sleeping arrangements are very simple. A simple charpai/palang (a simple portable bed woven of reed), one fan, use of a kitchen and two bathrooms between the whole group. The younger girls are sleeping with my mother in her room. The resources are few and far between. And it is very hot out there.
Two of the girls staying at our house are in Year 9. They spend most of their time studying. Year 10 is the all important Matriculation (GCSE equivalent) year in Pakistan. I am not sure if they will have a school to go to?
My mother tells me that Ban Ki-Moon the UN Secretary General visited the flood victims in my area (Multan) a few days ago. According to the BBC he has never seen anything like it before. Government schools and local mosques have become make shift homes, with newly set-up relief camps in the area.
The Shias (in their thousands) of Muzzafargarh and Alipur are really badly hit, the local Hussainias and Imam Barghas in the city of Multan have become their temporary shelters. Some of them went back to assess the damage to their homes. Such is the devastation it was impossible for them to even identify where their houses used to be.
Everyone has chipped in a little a bit. Will it be enough?
Just to let you know that it costs roughly £4000 to even build a normal standard house in rural Pakistan.
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2 trawlers full of flood victims (about 80 people), mostly women and children turned up at my home in Multan couple of days ago, they are staying at my house in the garage/verandah. Most of them have had their homes totally destroyed, 10ft under water, no possessions left. They will be there for a good few months. Through Ramadhan and Eid.
Most people are without food, clean drinking water and shelter, with a risk of disease. The story is the same across Pakistan. Although a lot of aid has been given by charities BUT officials have stolen most of the good things, to even get hold of the bad stuff they need to know people in the government, aid distribution is really poorly managed.
A lot of the villages in my area (Multan), near Muzafargarh and the southern part of Punjab are Shia populations, millions have been left homeless and swathes of people have turned up in the area where I live. The local mosques and Hussainias have become temporary homes.
Any donations are welcome, I assure you the money will go directly to the people, my mother is already in the process of delivering and gathering aid.
