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Case Study of Earthquake affectee- Pervaz
Mr. Pervaz a 37 years old resident of village Kandow, Union Council Shahpur, District Shangla was one of the victims of October 08 EQ disaster. He was working in his fields when the disaster took place.
Next to the place he was working was 12 feet high wall made of heavy stones. At the time of the disaster he tried to leave the place of work immediately but the intensity was so high that Pervaz could not escape. The wall to the back of him straightly grasped him in its lap and he got his legs paralyzed. He could not walk and was psychologically traumatized. Referred to HWH established by EPS in collaboration with CARE International. EPS volunteers brought him to the hospital where he was provided necessary medication as first aid. |
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Later on when MoUs were signed with various national and international medical teams, Pervaz was shifted to emergency unit of the hospital established by EPS. As there was no physiotherapist in civil hospital Besham so EPS team had to look for alternatives. The only option we had was Chinese Doctor Lisa. She was our only hope. She was expert in acupuncture therapy and was also working with EPS team in HWH. Dr. Lisa started taking care of Pervaz and provided regular acupuncture therapy to him. At first we had no hope to save Pervaz but thanks to God, Dr. Lisa and particularly to EPS who made all this possible. After three weeks he was well enough to walk with his own legs and was discharged from hospital.
Treatment and necessary medication cost was Rs. 19,950 but Dr. Lisa took nothing. During field follow ups a visit was also made to Pervaz house where he was asked about his health. He was feeling quite comfortable. He also visited the HWH after recovery for thanks.
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Successful Case Study of Microcredit
Habib ur Rehman is around 75 years of age and lives in Pir Khel Mut Khel in Amankot, Swat. He supports his 3 sons, 4 daughters, a drug addict son-in-law and his 3 children. Habid ur Rehman was unfortunate to marry his daughters off to persons who turned out to be drug addicts.
In the 70’s Habib ur Rehman had started his business with an investment of Rs. 35,000 and had a roaring business, having direct dealings with large suppliers in the Punjab province. Due to his domestic problems, his business gradually deteriorated and left at a size of Rs. 800 only.
Habib ur Rahman started educating his children only when he had become poor. When he was rich, he did not educate his daughters as people would talk. Hence, one daughter is uneducated whereas the other daughters have finished high school. Two of his sons have also finished their high school. Whereas one is about to finish. He felt the need to educate his daughters so that they could fend for themselves now that he was poor. His sons would support him and be earning members, but they are still unemployed.
Despite his desperation, Habib ur Rahman would not have taken a loan to improve his business and fend for his family if the loan was based on fixed interest. He chose to live in poverty than compromise on his faith and would have been added to the endless list of persons who are not being targeted under the various poverty alleviation programmes, supposedly designed to target people like himself.
Habib ur Rehaman took a Rs. 10,000 loan from EPS in October 2001, based on the Islamic lending principle of Musharika. He was one of those community members who were very vocal in opposing the EPS when it initially strated working in the area. He was skeptical about the credibility of NGOs. When EPS delivered what they had committed, his trust in the organization was built and he submitted a demand for a loan.
Habib ur Rehman obtained the loan to purchase goods for his now much smaller shop. His niche is to provide good quality products at reasonable rates. Previously shopkeepers used to have a high profit margin, which is now more competitive with Habib ur Rehaman making a place for himself.
He is repaying the loan on time and is able to support his family, which he was previously unable to do. He paid Rs. 500 per month as repayment of the principal amount and 30% of the total profit. Any loss would also be shared on the same ratio.
He is satisfied with the repayment and can meet his monthly expenses. He is better off than when he was before utilizing the loan. He does not want a further loan unless he repays the existing loan. His business is sufficient to sustain him and he does not want to lose trust by over expanding. According to him his life would be destroyed if he breaks this trust.
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Impacts and Learning from Successful Examples of Fuel Efficient Stoves
To assess the efficiency and other associated features of fuel-efficient stoves, the users of stoves were considered the best opinion providers, because they know much more than any body else. So project arranged Beneficiaries gathering session and obtained their complete views on the FES, which is as follow.
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At the household level, the most visible impact of the fuel-efficient stove is related to improve kitchen management, hygiene improvement, and savings in fuel wood, time and effort as well as improved social relationships. For example, the black poisonous smoke residues from the traditional method of burning of fires would coat the walls and cooking tools. There is a remarkable improvement in the situation and women say that their hands, room walls, pots and pans are now clean and easier to wash. In this way community members also noticed a saving in time as well as water consumption. Women have also reported improved relationships with men as they are getting well-cooked meals on time. The environmental impacts of using improved and efficient stoves result in a reduction in fuel consumption (and, thus, resource conservation), deforestation and soil erosion. Local economies are also strengthened by the introduction of a new technology and skills leading to income generation accruing from stove manufacturing and repair work.
Although there is no quantitative data regarding health indicators, but it is reported that the stoves have also a positive impact on women’s health. The traditional method of open fireplaces emits an excessive amount of smoke that can be very dangerous for the women and others family members setting in close contact with it for warming themselves. Also in our society mostly family members set around the fireplace, eating and discussing house affairs, especially in winter they set in morning & up to late hours. But comparatively women spent more time in kitchen places, so suffer from many aches and pains and other bronchi and respiratory tract related diseases. Common ailments include joint aches, eye infections and irritations, asthma, white watering, acute respiratory infections and tuberculosis. In addition to the health benefits, improvements in household energy are likely to have socio-economic impacts. Energy-efficient stoves reduced a family’s expenditures occurred on purchase of fuel wood and saved time, freeing up resources for other goals. As stated by community elders that in past (before use of stoves) they burnt an average of 50 kgs wood per day/ house. But now with the use of this technology, we utilized the same quantity of wood for two days. So we benefited in many ways. Enormous benefits to the users are in the form of labor, money, time, forest resources, water, health hygiene and safer cooking environment.
Comments from women using the stoves include: “My clothes are now safe from fire scratches & smoke and I don't get wrinkles so much. It is much safer for the children as well. The pots, tools, my hands and clothes are not blackened now, because the smokes of fire go up straight in the pipes. I have enough time for other work, because the time for collecting fuel wood is greatly reduced. My children and I do not have to make daily trips to fetch wood. A number of participants pointed out that the technology (Stoves) is user friendly and has greater efficiency of wood burning. The amount of toxic smoke considerably reduced, so reduced health risk to the family. In addition, it has reduced the incidence of burns and blister. It is cost effective, so people adopted quickly in this valley. To sum up, the main advantages of using stoves instead of plain fires include the following.
Ø Considerably less wood is required;
Ø Time and money spent on finding and buying fuel is reduced;
Ø Reduction in deforestation;
Ø Safety in use and decrease in accident rates; and,
Ø Local income generation opportunities due to production of stoves.
Improved stoves have been promoted by a variety of non-governmental organizations and Development agencies. Improving cooking stove technology has mainly focused on two main processes, namely, efficiency of combustion & heat transfer efficiency. Improvements have focused on maximizing burning, increasing heat efficiency and transferring of heat to the pots with a aim to use small quantity of wood stock and save resources. Many of the improved stoves, introduced by other organizations/ projects across the country have had limited success in terms of community adoption and maximizing its potential. Because the stoves have been over designed in relation to community resources, area situation needs, so the result is that it becomes too complicated, expensive and unrealistic for most households to adopt the new technology. Stoves have become a very common household commodity for cooking purposes in our region, So one must keep these factors before introduction of stoves. CARE forest project introduced simple and low cost stoves and that’s why adopted by valley people. These improved stoves no doubt, can conserve fuel , decrease indoor smoke and increase heat efficiency, But the important aspect was that community easily managed the cost of stove because it was a considerably low i,e Rs.400/ stove .
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