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By Zaihan Mohamed Yusof
FOR a week, they trudged along desolate trails in mountainous terrain with their bare, blistered feet.
With just the clothes on their backs, Madam Zarwan, 31, and her two sons, made the perilous 80km journey from their village of Buner in the Swat Valley of north-west Pakistan to the town of Jalala.
What kept her going was the knowledge that each step was taking her further from the intense fighting between the Pakistani army and the Taleban.
Her husband and two daughters were killed by a mortar bomb.
In Jalala, Madam Zarwan hopes to seek food, shelter and refuge in an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp.
But for her and many other refugees from the Swat Valley, reaching an IDP camp does not mean the end of her problems.
After all, there are about three million displaced people facing the same hardships in the 26 IDP camps that dot Pakistan's north-west frontier.
They fled their homes to escape the fighting after the Pakistani army's attempt to wrest the Swat Valley back from the Taleban began on Apr 26.
The desperation is even greater for an estimated 70,000 pregnant women in these camps.
At the Sheikh Yassin camp in Mardan, 70km from Peshawar, one volunteer doctor said that all the expectant mothers who went to see her have pregnancy complications.
The camp has about 20,000 refugees, of whom half are women. There are more than 200 pregnant women there and many more in the district.
And they have only one gynaecologist to turn to - Dr Mariam Jameela, 35, a volunteer from Karachi.
She told The New Paper over the phone: 'Some mothers are lucky when they can find or afford transportation, while others walk 30km to 50km before they reach the IDP camps.
'Walking long distances could harm the foetus and lead to complications at childbirth.'
Sadly, most IDP camps are not equipped to deal with the pregnancies, said Dr Mariam.
She herself sees about 40 malnourished or exhausted pregnant mothers every day.
There are local midwives in the camp, but they are not trained to deal with complications such as anaemia, pregnancy-induced hypertension and respiratory problems.
Dr Mariam expects the situation to get worse if the conflict escalates.
She also worries what will happen in the Sheikh Yassin camp when she has to return to Karachi at the end of her month-long stint.
'When I leave, I don't know who will take over. In the meantime, we're looking for a replacement doctor.'
Inadequate
The only government obstetric facility in Mardan for the 1.5 million local population has only one operating theatre, two delivery rooms, a four-bed labour room and a small antenatal ward.
'This is inadequate as it is,' said Dr Iskandar Idris, 39, a Singaporean volunteer doctor from Mercy Relief, who has toured the IDP camps in the Mardan district.
'You can imagine the influx of the IDPs exacerbating this problem. We hear anecdotal reports of mothers being turned away at this facility due to the latter reaching maximum capacity.'
Mercy Relief had been informed by its local partner about the emerging problems.
Together with the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association, Mercy Relief distributed food, medicine and medical equipment worth about $20,000 to the IDPs with money from Singaporean donors.
Nine days ago, a new Maternal and Child Healthcare Centre was set up at Sheik Yassin camp.
In Singapore, Mercy Relief's chief executive, Mr Hassan Ahmad, said: 'The more important issue is to quickly set up the required maternity and neo-natal facility.
'The next challenge for these mothers - how to raise their babies in an unfamiliar environment, which is a stark difference from the natural beauty of the Swat Valley which they are used to.'
The centre now has a foetal monitoring machine, an ultrasound scanner and a set of laboratory microscopes.
It is also equipped with an operating theatre, delivery suites and a labour ward.
It is the only obstetrics and neo-natal care facility for IDPs in the whole of Mardan district.
Added Dr Iskandar: 'It is a small facility but a definite step in the right direction.'
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| Photo: Mercy Relief |
Aside from helping pregnant mothers, there are other pressing problems.
Overcrowding and lack of basic amenities like food and clean water have resulted in diarrhoea, skin diseases and respiratory tract infections.
The summer heat, hovering at 42deg C, is also taking a toll on the IDPs who come from the cool, mountainous Swat region and are 'not accustomed to such searing heat', said Dr Iskandar.
One Pakistani refugee, Mr Rahmanudin, 35, recounted how his family was unable to endure the heat.
But he quickly learned first-hand that sleeping outdoors could be dangerous.
His 7-year-old daughter, Sunbal, was hit by a stray bullet in the stomach when father and daughter were napping outside one night. Doctors saved her after an operation.
Whether the round was fired during a celebration or a dispute was uncertain, said the father.
The family had arrived in Jalala to find the camp grounds full.
Luckily, Mr Rahmanudin's extended family of 18 was offered shelter by a Pakistani family.
A growing number of Good Samaritans have opened their homes to their displaced countrymen.
But being poor themselves, the food they share cannot last forever.
Meanwhile, IDPs like Madam Zarwan are surviving on hope for a quick end to the fighting.
She said: 'I want to start a new life for myself and my sons. I just hope that I can survive this ordeal for the sake of my sons.'
How you can help refugees
SOME 22,000 Pakistani troops have been mobilised to dislodge the Taleban from the Swat Valley.
Caught in the middle are the local people who have been streaming south to escape the intense fighting.
The authorities usually give residents in the affected areas two hours to vacate their villages, say witnesses who have made it to camps in Mardan.
About 3 million have left, with a further 500,000 expected to leave the conflict zone in South Waziristan, United Nations aid chief John Holmes said.
He told Reuters that a slow response from international donors to the UN's appeal is putting 'the humanitarian response at risk, with some aid agencies saying they can only continue their operations for a few more weeks without further funding'.
WAYS TO DONATE:
1900 112 1010 (for a $10 donation)
1900 112 1050 (for a $50 donation)
Cross cheque to: 'Mercy Relief Limited' and indicate 'Pakistan Relief' on the reverse and send to 160, Lorong1, Toa Payoh, #01-1568, Singapore 310160.
ATM Transfer/ Internet Banking
To Mercy Relief's DBS Current Account 054-900493-6
Present it at 160, Lorong 1, Toa Payoh, #01-1568, Singapore 310160.
Mercy Relief's fund-raising for the crisis in Pakistan ends on Jun 21.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
Read also:
» Dad: I don't know why son fought & died
» Photos: Pain and sorrow in Pakistan
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