We work with amazing people to bring about positive and lasting change in some of the world's poorest places.
Pakistan Floods
In late July 2010 news started arriving in from northern Pakistan of flooding. The Indus River had burst its banks, overpowering villages and forcing people to flee with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
Soon, Pakistan was facing an emergency like nothing it had ever seen before. Twenty million people – five times the population of Ireland – were forced from their homes, most with nowhere to go. As the flooding continued south, an area the size of Italy was soon underwater.
It was a disaster on an epic scale, with more people affected than the Asian tsunami of 2005 and the Haitian earthquake of 2010 combined.
In August 2010, we launched an emergency appeal for Pakistan. The people of Ireland opened their hearts to victims of the floods and donated €8m to help with the enormous relief effort.
We've used that money to fund three stages of the relief and recovery operation: rescuing people from the floods, rehousing them until flood waters receded, rebuilding homes and communities. Through this, we've achieve stunning successes in Pakistan:
- 20,000 people rescued from flood-affected areas
- 135,000 people supplied with tents, food and other essential items
- 4,000 children given access to education and recreation through our Child Friendly Spaces
Almost two years on, the focus is now on rebuilding communities. Our focus is on helping people to begin farming and fishing again, through the rehabilitation of farming land and reconstruction of irrigation infrastructure. As well as distributing agricultural inputs, such as seeds and fertiliser, and repairing fishing boats, Trócaire is also rebuilding community infrastructure, including water pumps and walkways.
On behalf of the people who have benefitted from your donations: thank you for your incredible response!
BLOGS
'Rebuilding our lives with Trócaire's help’
Ghulam clutches his bag of cotton seed and knows he is holding his future. The seeds, distributed by Trócaire using money donated by the Irish public, are the key to the 22-year-old rebuilding his life following the devastating floods that struck Pakistan one year ago.
Ghulam needs a house, but to get a house he needs money; to get money, he needs a crop; to get a crop, he needs the seeds.
