Wednesday 02-4-2014: (Day 12)

Last Day of HF Food Distribution

Today is our last day with the people of Tharparkar and the time spent with the drought affected
population will be a memorable time throughout our lives.

Writing this last report within a very relaxed and stress free mood as by the grace of Allah we have
accomplished our assigned target and this is the great achievement of Hashoo Foundation that at the
time of need the foundation had stand with the deprived families of Tharparkar. Today we have realized
that the Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and in the thrill of creative effort. And certainly there is
no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something, and we have delivered at
our best.

The day was started in a bit relaxed mood and everyone was happy that he had successfully completed
his assigned job. In the internal coordination meeting it was briefed that all the left beneficiaries had been
contacted and asked them to collect their food ration.

As I have discussed in yesterday report that we have distributed ration to 468 selected deprived
beneficiaries and about 32 has been left. Those who are left do not belongs to a same village or area so
it was decided that they would be called and will be requested to collect their food ration till today.
Team member shortlisted all the left beneficiaries and then called them. The response was outstanding
and many of them were not aware that the distribution process had started; some of them stated that
they were busy somewhere and missed the distribution day. All of the beneficiaries were very obliged
and happy that the team had contacted them; they were given the time of 1:00 pm at food ration
distribution point. The team members were present there and almost 35 beneficiaries came on the given
time to collect food ration. After the whole verification process those left beneficiaries were given the
food ration, in the end one beneficiary was left behind and again she was called by the team. She replied
that there is no one in her home to come and collect the food ration as she is unable to come because
she is a disabled. So the team decided to take food ration bags to her home, so the food ration was
delivered to her on her doorstep and she was very thankful and pleased.

Our food supplier/vender also received his payment today and he was very happy. In fact he is a
traditional wholesaler shopkeeper and avoids selling goods on credit to strangers, so this was a very
difficult decision by him to give goods on credit on such a big quantity. But in the end we were able to
gain his confidence and he gave all the goods on credit. He also visited our rest house and thanked the
HF team on fulfilling the promise. He is also given the purchase order for procurement of 5000 water
bottles that would be distributed by our mobile health unit.
The HF Mobile Health Unit (MHU) project has been operating successfully for the last four days. Based
on the health needs and priorities, the MHU was launched to provide primary and basic health care
facilities to people living in three Tehsils of district Tharparkar. People in these Tehsils had to travel
quite a distance to access primary healthcare services. The MHU visits a particular location of a village
regularly on a pre-scheduled day and time. All these parameters have been mutually discussed and
agreed upon between MHU team and the communities.
MHU provides basic and primary health facilities (consultation with the doctor and provision of
prescribed medicines) free of cost to people of the three Tehsil. It is operated by a dedicated team
comprising an MBBS doctor, a certified pharmacist, a community health mobilizer, a lady health visitor
attendant and a driver-cum-patient registration facilitator.
The MHU ambulance, with a fulltime driver, visits two villages daily as per a predetermined visit
schedule. A number of health awareness and promotion sessions were delivered the MHU team.
The MHU stops at mutually agreed and identified locations to facilitate maximum patient access. The
locations have been identified by taking into account the population cluster of the village, accessibility for
the vehicle as well as people during all seasons, and adequate parking space.
The MHU treated 131 patients today who include 65% women, 35% male and it also includes 15%
children.





During the whole field visit and stay in Tharparkar we have realized many key issues that need to be
resolved for the betterment of this area. It is evident that this area has been seriously ignored by the
government and no concentration had been given to improve socioeconomic status of the people. Being
the member of HF team we have realized that there is a great potential in the people of this area. If
proper consideration is made they can definitely work for the betterment of their lives. The areas is rich
of natural resources, similarly it is having a great potential of livestock management, honeybee and dairy
farming. If government and NGOs properly concentrate on this region, these areas can become the
source of earning and livelihood for them.

Similarly the local women are also having great art of embroidery and handicraft. If the concept of Shop
for Cause is implemented for this area this would be very beneficial for the uplift of the local people.
On the same side this area is very backward in education, literacy rate is very low and people do not
have any inclination towards education. If HF made some arrangements for facilitating the basic
education facilities for the children and especially educational arrangements for girls, this would be very
helpful in educating the community.
The journey that was started two weeks ago comes to an end today, while coming to this affected area
we all were very uncertain about the whole selection and distribution scenario and mechanism, but with
the help and support of team members and all the staff members at core office and regions we were
able to accomplish this goal.

Team was very inspired and bucked up by the positive replies and appreciations from the Chair Person,
Country Director, Directors, Managers and all other staff members who daily read the Thar Diary and
responded with positive suggestions and feedback which was a source of learning and energy for all of
us. The world can be a better place if we work together and here we proved that Together we have
made a difference.