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Notes from the Field
Cars, Trains and Refugees
Blog by Thomas Schwarz of CARE Germany-Luxemburg Today I visited a place close to Mardan, where tens of thousands took refuge from the ongoing fighting in Dir, Buner and the village of Swat. Their overall situation is horrible. Alongside the national road, N45, more than 100 families are living without shelter in an area less than five kilometres. While there is a canal with dirty water running on one side of the route, there is a railway line and the N45 on the other. It is noisy and very hot. The refugees tell me that they cannot live in one of the camps since they do not want to leave their animals behind. They brought their cows, goats, sheep and chicken with them. In the camps, where already more than 10,000 people are living together in small tents, there is no room for the animals as well.Animals are drinking the dirty and hazy water of the canal. I observed a little girl sitting on top of a big black cow, washing it. Children are romping and playing close to her. They are washing themselves with the water of the canal – and they are also drinking this water. The refugees stay in between the canal with the dirty water on one side, the railway line and the national road on the other. This place has been the new home of Khan Zada, Menaz and Shahzad for the last couple of weeks. They are still waiting for tents to stay in. In a few days, CARE will supply them with a few so that they will have a protective shelter. “We only want to go home again” Somewhere on this route of poverty we meet Khan Zada and his three children. He is lovingly taking care of them. All three of them are very different. Menaz, an extremely beautiful girl, seems to be very confident of herself, in contrast to her brother Shahzad, who is a bit unsure, anxious and serious. After a short period of getting to know each other, he loosens up and starts joking around. Menaz holds the smallest daughter in her arms. “We just want to go back home,” Khan says. He prays for “everlasting peace” in order that he and his family can all go back to where they come from. They want to go on living as usual. “But only Allah knows when this will be.” While he is telling me his story, we are resting in his “new home.” It is a poorly-equipped hut without a roof. The bottom is a carpet of grass; one wall is totally missing. They protect themselves with blankets and fabrics. The noise in the street does not stop in the night. For the women, in particular, this dwelling constitutes a very vulnerable situation. In their tradition, the women rarely show themselves in public. Here on N45, there is hardly any privacy from the street. Therefore, when I went to visit the Khan family, Zada’s wife left to visit some female friends in another “home.” It is important that the familes have enough tents in order to be shielded from the extreme heat as well as from the street. First and foremost, the women have to be able to keep their intimacy and privacy. Daily life A farm without animals is the place where the family gets water to drink. Since there are not enough water containers, they have to go back and forth a lot. When I ask the children what they are doing the whole day, they act quite ashamed on this seemingly harmless question. It is not only that a white man is talking to them that makes them blush but, also, that they do not really know how and what to respond. “Well,” some of them say. “We are playing together.” Being curious I want to know about the games they play. “Well, playing,” they simply answer and smile. They giggle and leave. Most of the things they possessed before their flight they had to leave behind. This includes their school work, books and writing materials. “I would prefer going to school than staying here,” says a boy of maybe nine or 10 years old. “We also learn English and math at school.” A little girl adds: “and reading and writing.”
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