Nadia's story

Charlotte Strong interviews Nadia and her family.

Millions in Pakistan are facing a future with no home, provisions or income, unless they receive considerable support. Recently a member of our Communications team, Charlotte Strong visited Pakistan and while there met one family who are facing the reality of what lies ahead.

Walking onto Nadia's property from the main road, I sidestep muddy puddles and fallen trees to enter the main compound. Broken furniture is strewn over the yard, which is partly covered by a tent where Nadia's sister lives with her family, now that their house has been completely destroyed. Nadia was slightly more fortunate – her house is still standing, though the doors now hang off the hinges and the rotten smell of dampness fills the small rooms inside. She points to a spot about halfway up the doorframe. “This is where the water came up to” she tells me.

Nadia and her family escaped with their lives, and returned after 27 days of homelessness to find their property and future in tatters. As subsistence farmers with very little income, before the flood they survived on the food they grew and the animals they kept. Like most subsistence farmers in this area, they harvested wheat from their rented land and stored it to feed the family until the next harvest. This year's wheat stores, only three months old, have been completely destroyed by the flood.

Nadia looks at me with tears in her eyes. "The crops are destroyed, and all our stored food is destroyed. The only food we have now is the food that we are given. We also need water – we have four handpumps on our property but the water is no longer safe to drink. We also need to buy medicines for the children".

This mother is right. The children have developed scabies, and look malnourished. They haven’t eaten properly in over a month. Flies gather around their eyes and mosquitoes born from the stagnant flood water are a constant health threat. I can only imagine how distressing it would be to have a child in such bad health and not be able to do anything about it.

Despite her grave concerns over the future for her children, Nadia lights up when I ask her about their education. "After Eid," she explains, "the water may be gone, and then the children can return to school. All their books have been damaged or lost, but we will cope." She pulls some dirty notebooks out of a small backpack. “This is my daughter’s homework. It’s been ruined by the water, but she will go back to school.”

As I walk back up to the main road, I look back at Nadia and think about what her situation will be in two weeks, three months, one year – I hope that it’s better than what she has now, and that somehow, she's managed to rebuild her life.

Read more about the current situation in Pakistan and our response