Success Story

Mumlikat Bibi, a courageous lady, Who lost her home and husband to monsoon floods of 2010 but not her hope and courage

Though i am a widow, but i will not lose courage" says Mumlikat Bibi who is a widow, living in village Namu Kuday of union council Mirza Dher in district Charsadda. Mumlikat Bibi not only lost her home to the monsoon floods of 2010, but also her spouse Javed Afzal, who supported the entire family.

 

The sentences uttered by Ms. Mumlikat are not just words, they have a history and reality behind them. Now you can feel the courage and confidence in the voice of this courageous lady. “When the floods hit our house we rushed out of the rooms, as we could feel that the structure of the house has started collapsing as the mud continued to disintegrate due to high water. My Husband Javed Afzal was anxious to take away our valuables from the rooms because we could take none of our valuables from the rooms while we rushed out. I asked to wait till something becomes certain, and all of a sudden the room collapsed. We all started removing rubble and remains of the room to get access to our valuable things. This was terrible, our house was no more there, we were moving here and there in a haphazard manner. I was about 20 meters away to look for our cattle, when I heard the scream of my husband “says Mumlikat bibi while tears flow down her cheeks. "When I ran toward my husband, I saw him in extreme pain as he was receiving electricity shocks from an electric wire from the remains of the room, in no time he was dead, and I was all alone to face the hardships of life. The villagers helped in his funeral, some humanitarian organizations provided me assistance with food etc but I had no place to live in. I experienced the hardest time of my life, as I have six kids, and they are too young. As a woman I didn't had all the options of earning open like men. Then these Girls (FRD Female Social Organizers) came to me and asked me to participate in the formation of the women committee of the flood affectees. All the women in the village knew my status, so after formation of the Committee (organization) all the women unanimously recommended me for assistance. As the responsibility of providing unskilled labour in this project was that of the beneficiaries and I didn't had any one who can provide these services. The people from this NGO (FRD) asked our neibghours to provide unskilled labour on voluntary basis. The neibghours too were cooperative and provided the unskilled labour in construction of my home. When my house was completed they also provided me Rs. 2500, which i will spend to run my kitchen for some time"

 

Mumlikat Bibi is a courageous woman she says "though I am widow but I am not going to give up my courage, I have to support my kids, I am thankful to FRD, they have helped us build our house, they have also guided us on collective planning for our village, our villagers are also so cooperative. In such situations this is not only about assistance, this is about the care and respect to keep our dignity, thank you all people who have supported us in our hard times".

 

This is not just a shelter like we had earlier, this is more strong than our previous home, and we will take care of it to make it withstand future disasters" adds Mumlikat Bibi