Gift of Water

It’s too easy to forget every single day what a miracle water is. In developed countries, clean, safe and drinkable water is so plentiful and easily available that people simply take it for granted. Access to clean water is a fundamental human right. Yet around the world including Pakistan, billions of poor people are still facing the daily challenge of accessing safe water sources, spending countless hours queuing or trekking long distances, and coping with the health impacts of using contaminated water.

Millions get sick or die every day because they are forced to go without these most basic services. Diseases from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kill more people each year than all forms of violence, making this one of the world’s most urgent issues.

Water is central to almost every aspect of IR Pakistan’s work: our humanitarian responses, our campaigns, our long-term initiatives to help families improve their incomes and reduce their vulnerability to disasters.

In areas where water is scarce and climate change continuously changing the landscape, we are coming up with viable and sustainable solutions. Our water conservation initiatives in Balochistan are enabling local communities to shape their destinies.

Reversing the Water Crisis

In the arid cliffs of Washuk, Balochistan, is a village called Kambar. The village has 70 households, grappled with water scarcity, leading to multiple migrations. Groundwater in the village contained high levels of contaminants, posing health risks to those reliant on bore-well water. The Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) level reached an alarming 15,000, rendering the water undrinkable and harmful as per WHO standards.

Residents, facing the dire consequences of using this unsafe water, were compelled to fetch clean water from a bore-well located 100 kilometers away. The water crisis not only affected the villagers’ health but also impacted their livestock, leading to a decline in milk production, a vital source of income for the community. This challenging situation forced many to leave their hometowns in search of areas with accessible water facilities.

Saima and her family standing infront of the water filtration plant

The people of Kambar found a permanent home in Washuk, when Islamic Relief Pakistan installed a Reverse Osmosis (RO) water filtration plant. After the installation, the TDS levels dropped significantly from 15000 to a safer count of 450.

The water facility near homes transformed the lives of Kambar’s residents, promising a future with improved healthcare and economic opportunities.

“Having clean water to drink makes everyone in the village happy. We don’t have to move to another village now,”

shared Saima, a 9-year-old resident.

Our work means ensuring equitable access to water in both quantity and quality, which prevents disease and sustains lives and livelihoods; reducing environmental health risks by managing sanitation safely and with dignity; and, involving women and men in managing water and sanitation resources and safe hygiene practices to maximize the benefits for their communities.

Cleanliness, Half the Faith

Devastating floods have left families without homes and struggling with hygiene, leading to health issues. Nadia Bibi, a mother of 10 young children, lives in this challenging situation in DI Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Her husband, the family’s sole breadwinner, works as a labourer, making ends meet with a limited income.

Faced with financial constraints, Nadia and her husband compromise on their hygiene to ensure their children’s basic needs are met.

“We try our best to fulfill our children’s needs. My kids bathe every other day due to the hot weather, while my husband and I manage once a week to save water, shampoo, and soap for the children.”

Islamic Relief provided Nadia and her family with a hygiene kit. With resources scarce, the family had been compromising on showers. The hygiene kit brought joy and Nadia finally enjoyed a refreshing shower with shampoo and soap.

“It felt really good taking a nice bath after a very long time. I feel so clean and like a new person.”

With water sources depleting continuously, water resource management is also a key focus area for us. We are advocating for the reuse of waste water alongside conserving rain water in AJ&K, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Growing Income with Kitchen Garden

Bibi Fatima, a 52-year-old resident of Shadani village in Quetta district, has faced her fair share of challenges. After her husband passed away due to cancer, she found herself shouldering the responsibility of providing for her two sons. Despite having hearing and eyesight impairments, she’s been a pillar of strength for her family.

“My livelihood was dependent on agriculture and livestock before but the water scarcity affected both, my land and my source of income.”

Islamic Relief Pakistan introduced Bibi Fatima to kitchen gardening and installed protective netting, creating a secure boundary around her garden as the children and livestock often disrupted vegetable cultivation.

“My income has significantly increased, I now buy more seeds for my kitchen garden with my savings. I am able to send my grandchildren to school with my income generated through the kitchen garden.”

For us, tackling the root causes of poverty often means addressing the water-related inequality. We’re carrying out long-term projects with sustainable solutions to provide safe water and sanitation and to address water insecurity through fairer and more efficient management and distribution of water resources.

Connecting Communities Through Water

Abdul Waqeel, a 38-year-old farmer from Killi Randozai, Quetta, faces challenges due to limited job opportunities and water scarcity. The community relies on aging water sources, affecting both agriculture and daily needs.

 “I am a farmer, but our livelihood depends on a variety of sources. I depend on agriculture, as well as work as a labourer, and pursue different professions in different cities to make ends meet.”

The tank, constructed way back in 1830, now has severe leakage problems, resulting in a significant wastage of water making it difficult for the community to fulfil the water requirement for both agriculture and daily use.

Islamic Relief constructed a Water Pond structure in Abdul Waqeel’s area. The water pond has facilitated Waqeel and his community and is a big support for agriculture practices.

The water pond not only stores water efficiently, but the water stored is also clean and drinkable.

“We now harvest good amount of wheat, and various vegetables like onions, tomatoes, ladyfingers, pumpkins, and eggplants. Then we sell them in the market, which provides us with a decent income.”

Islamic Relief Pakistan strongly believes that clean water and a clean environment shouldn’t be a luxury. We have to make safe water and sanitation available to everyone, regardless of who they are or where they live. We simply can’t end poverty without it.