By Muhammad Sufiyan (YES 2018-2019, Pakistan, placed by AFS-USA, Portland OR)

As soon as the flash floods hit Pakistan this year, I felt the need to help out as much I could through a flood relief project. I started a campaign on social media for in-kind donations such as clothes, shoes, blankets, and bedsheets. I made a list of the most crucial items needed with the help of local volunteers. We began to purchase the necessary items and received many essential donations from the local community. We also purchased medicines to curb the widespread diseases caused by the flooding.

Despite the risks of rising water levels and road closures, we decided to travel to remote areas of Pakistan to distribute the donations. Considering the severity of the devastation, we prioritized reaching communities that hadn't received any kind of support. We handed out the clothes and established tents & mosquito nets. Local volunteers distributed tokens for ration bags and invited internally displaced people (IDPs) to their homes.

With the support from the local volunteers and doctors, we were able to determine the key health problems amidst the flooding like skin disease and Malaria. We bought essential medicines, drips, and creams for the targeted beneficiaries. While the patients were waiting for their medical check-ups, we informed them about the precautions to take to stay healthy. We also distributed soaps among families to encourage cleanliness and hygiene as the flood water has caused severe skin diseases among children.  

While carrying out this relief camp, we established five different medical camps and with the help of doctors and their teams we were able to provide treatment to 750 patients in the district of Jaffarabad in Balochistan.

My passion for community service stems from my volunteering experience in the U.S. The YES program taught me that "when the going gets tough, the tough gets going" and this is what encouraged me to execute this project. I also want to thank the Society for International Exchange, iEARN-Pakistan, and the YES program for helping me carry out this flood relief project.