Bile Haider is a sixty year old resident of Charsadda, Khyber, Pakistan. Before the floods, Bile was the breadwinner for his wife, 3 sons, 6 daughters, and his widow mother. He ran a small Kebab shop and lived in a local landowner’s house by working on his land for free. On top of the family’s daily struggle to provide, they also struggled to afford medicine for their ten year old son, Ehtisham, who suffered from epilepsy. Since they were unable to afford regular medical treatment, Ehtisham was only sent to a doctor in severe instances.

 The 2010 floods, which destroyed the family’s house, belongings and kebab shop, brought yet another test for the family. They searched for a safer location to stay, and had no choice but to become dependent on donations and food provisions by relatives. Moreover, Bile became ill and was forced to stop working. In order to support his family, Mohsen, the oldest son dropped out of Middle School to begin selling Kebab in the streets with his mother. The arrangement provided the family PKR 250-350 per day, but required a great sacrifice from Mohsin.

With support from the German Government and Caritas Germany, ICMC has been able to assist flood affected communities through the provision of grants to extremely vulnerable families, like the Haider’s, with seed packages, poultry packages, cash for work, infrastructure, and livestock assistance.

The Haider’s were selected for training on livestock management and were subsequently provided with a cow. The cow is 7 months pregnant and in a few months milk production will begin, which will become a sustainable source of income. Mohsen collects fodder for the cow during day time when he is free, while his mother and sisters help him to manage the feed and water.

They will be able to use 25% of the milk for their own food consumption and can sell the remaining milk for PKR 500-700 daily to fulfill their other living requirements. Mohsen’s mother is now more hopeful that she will be able to save money to provide a permanent room and better treatment of Ehtisham from a qualified doctor.

Through this initiative ICMC was able to improve the life of the Haider’s, and many other flood affected families. By giving them the means to become financially independent and get a regular income, we were able to bring hope to these families and inspire change for a better future.