Swat Relief Programme Update

With the devastating floods that have affected more than 20 million people, the Heritage Foundation, has been collecting items for immediate relief. The appeal was met with very generous contributions from both individuals and organizations.

Donations received were both monetary and in kind. With the resources collected, HF has been able to distribute 250 packages to different families, bringing the effort to the half way mark. We hope that further donations will help us achieve the distribution of goods amongst the families identified through our network in the region.

The Heritage Foundation with the help of its various partners hopes to meet the target of helping 500 families in the area of Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in not only providing immediate relief but in the long term rehabilitation goal. The undertaking of such a task requires the continual support of various groups and volunteers.

The second phase of The Swat Relief Programme will begin once the water has begun to recede. A survey and experimentation process is being carried out to develop a module for incremental housing that will be constructed in bamboo, stone and matting. The initial 10’x 15’ room will be built under the supervision and guidance of The Heritage Foundation, with the anticipation that this simple building methodology will be easily understood and adopted by the people of the affected areas and therefore implemented in additional rooms.

The third phase for rehabilitation envisages long term development with emphasis on livelihood for women. The focus will be on traditional crafts as well as agro-based products, e.g. organic farming, rain water harvesting, fish farms, mushroom growing etc. The methodology will be similar to the strategy that has been adopted for community development in HF’s programme area in the Siran Valley, Hazara.