Motherhood brings unspeakable joy, but all moms know it’s not easy

In celebration of Mother's Day, May 8, 2011, Lina Hashem, Islamic Relief USA communications specialist and mother of two, writes about the significance of being a mother.

The early years can mire a mother in diapers, midnight feedings, lack of sleep. Then you watch your child grow older and head away from you – onto the bus for first grade, behind the wheel of a car, off to college, down the aisle on her wedding day.

But in some countries, the hardships are much more basic: Can I get to a doctor for prenatal care? Will I have help from a doctor, nurse or midwife for the birth itself? Will I survive?

And then, looking into the hungry eyes of my child … can I find food for him? Can I get help for her when she is sick? In some countries, as many as one in every four children born this year will die before his fifth birthday – will my child be one of them?

In the United States, good medical care makes childbirth relatively safe. A mother in the United States has a 14 in 100,000 chance of dying. In Afghanistan – where only 14% of births are attended by medical personnel – a mother’s chance of dying during birth is 10,000% higher.

According to the World Health Organization, one thousand women died every day in 2008 from complications of pregnancy and childbirth, the vast majority of them in poor regions of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Save the Children ranked Afghanistan as the worst place to be a mother — Yemen was not far behind, ranked at 161 out of 164 countries, and Mali came in at 157. Islamic Relief provides programs that help women in all of these countries and many more.

In Afghanistan, Islamic Relief is giving women education and entrepreneurial support so they can live better lives and provide for their children.

In Yemen, Islamic Relief programs are teaching women practices to improve their health as well as that of their children. These programs also help free them from crushing daily burdens so they can work and lift their families out of poverty.

In Mali, pregnant women are at heightened risk for malaria, a deadly threat. An Islamic Relief program is providing them with preventative care and treatment if they get sick. A new maternal health center is helping save lives of mothers in a country where 830 mothers die for every 100,000 births.

Countless other Islamic Relief programs help mothers around the world. In Pakistan, at a new health clinic in Nowshera funded by Islamic Relief USA, teams hired a female doctor so conservative women will agree to receive medical treatment. Here in the United States, an Islamic Relief grant is supporting a shelter for battered women and their children in Baltimore.

Islamic Relief is working to alleviate the suffering of mothers around the world. This Mother’s Day, when you give your beloved mother a gift, consider giving one of these other mothers a gift as well – a gift that might just save her life and allow her children the blessing and right to grow up with a mother.

Please donate.

Journey Through Pakistan: Eight Months After the Floods, How is the Country Faring?

Anwar Khan, Islamic Relief USA'S vice president of fund development, is on the ground in Pakistan, and gives a first-hand account of how the country and its people are faring post flood.

Sunday, April 17
I returned to Southern Punjab which was devastated by the floods last year, as was large amounts of Pakistan. I was eager to see how people were doing eight months later. The floods were akin to a slow-moving tsunami, which spanned five weeks decimated large areas from the North to the South affecting all five states.

For many of us living in the U.S., the 2010 Pakistan floods have become a distant memory: more recent turmoil in the Middle East and natural disasters in Japan have taken precedence in the media.

Insha’Allah, my journey through the country will help us reconnect with the people of Pakistan so that we can learn about how much has been done and how much still needs to be done to help them rebuild.

Monday, April 18
I was eager to return to Muzaffargarh, but did not miss the heat and humidity of the area. Mercifully, there were clouds and it was only 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Last time I was here it was more than 110 degrees and humid.

We traveled to Mashori, a remote area where Islamic Relief has been helping rebuild villages that were washed away during the 2010 floods. IR has been building one room houses, toilets, sewage pipes and water pumps here. As part of an integrated-rehabilitation program , IR teams have been distributing chickens, goats and sewing machines to local women to help them generate extra income while caring for their children; the sewing machines also help take care of their families’ sewing needs. Men from Mashori often travel outside of the area to work as drivers in larger cities.

Many of Mashori’s families have 10 children—many of the girls marrying in their teens. One such lady is Farzana Bibi, who is 18 years-old, and has three children. During last year’s floods, she was forced to evacuate her home and live in a tent with 12 people for a month. When she was finally able to return, she found that her home and belongings had washed away. But now, al hamdulilah, things are improving: Golden fields of wheat are growing next to the shack she is staying in. Farzana is grateful that life is seemingly coming back to the village, but explains that she has to rebuild and reestablish everything from scratch—the little possessions and savings she had collected during her young eighteen years of life were wiped away with the flood waters. She was already surviving in impoverished circumstances; the floods exacerbated that.

And despite it all, Farzana is so thankful for the bed and emergency aid she received from IR early on, but said she had received no other aid since returning home. She brought back the tent she was staying in the camp and set it up next to her shack, made of broken bricks, stones and pieces of wood. Soon, she will be moving into a new home IR is building—it will be equipped with a toilet and sewer. Farzana has also received 10 chickens, and will soon be getting a goat—she is very pleased. Once the nearby water pump is built, Farzana will also have access to clean water from the correct depth (120 ft. deep), instead of contaminate water from the current shallow depth (40 ft. deep). There is also a clinic nearby; she and her family will have access to free medicine and medical care, provided via a joint IR and government project, for a full year.

When many 18-year old girls around the world are making plans to go to college, Farzana, an 18-year old mother of three, is striving to rebuild her life. She is a dignified woman.

During my journey, I’ve met many like Farzana who have heart-breaking and captivating stories to share:

Sameer Azhar’s mother approached us with her 4-year old son: He is in pain from a kidney stone, but his family cannot afford the $200 operation to remove it. They have already depleted their $100 savings on medication.

Asia Bibi was very emotional when she told me the hell she had to live through in the camp last year. Her story reminded me of one of my camp visits last year, where I learned about an 11-month old baby who died from hunger during Ramadan.

All the families I had met in Mashori had hope for the future as there new village was being built in front of their eyes.

I also visited Ghohar Wala. There, despair was in the air as villagers are still waiting for assistance some eight months after the floods. Immediately after the floods, Ghohar Wala received some emergency assistance from IR and other agencies, but the village is still in ruins: homes have been decimated; children are drinking contaminated water, spouting from a 40 foot dig, when clean water begins at 120 feet; doctors do not visit their area and residents cannot afford transportation to the hospitals in the main town; veterinary doctors don’t come either, so many of the villages cattle have died or are sick.

Local IR relief teams recently announced that they will soon help rebuild Ghohar Wala—the villagers are ecstatic.

An elder asked me if IR was going to rebuild the mosque, but before I could answer, another resident responded, and said that IR would build them their houses and they—the villagers—would build the house of Allah (swt).

It was interesting to see the difference between Mashori and Ghohar Wala. I saw hope and despair, the difference when they get assistance and when they do not. For every village that is helped, there are still many more that need help. To the men, women and children of that village knowing that others care enough to offer assistance makes a world of difference.

Tuesday, April 19
Islamic Relief’s integrated village rehabilitation programs in Pakistan include health components aimed at addressing "Millennium Development Goals": reducing child mortality and improving maternal health. In conjunction with the local government’s health authority, the region’s IR staff and doctors run mobile clinics that run for one year, and rotate among different villages at no charge to residents. Without these clinics, many of the patients would not receive even basic primary care; they would suffer—many would die.

Scabies, skin infections and diarrhea are prevalent among flood survivors. For children—already malnourished and receiving little food—being hit with diarrhea could be deadly: an 11-month old baby girl in Muzaffargarh died the day before I first arrived in the area last year (a few weeks after the floods); the cause of her death was hunger and contaminated water. Many of the area children were bathed in dirty water because residents had no other choice.

Now, the campsite is different: the flood waters have receded, and people have gone home. The bridge has been reconstructed, so, instead of traveling by boat, as we had to do last year, one can now drive a motorcycle.

But the conditions are still dire: Many lost their homes and all of their belongings; they’ve had to endure temperatures that surpass 110 Fahrenheit. I met a local man, who was clutching Tylenol in his hand. He told me that it was the only medicine he had for his children—it had to serve whatever ailment they faced.

In Bundh, I visited a clinic and witnessed the stream of people who came in the morning from nearby villages to receive treatment. One of the top conditions facing women here is anemia—60% of the adult female population is affected. Poor nutrition is a cause. The women, who often marry in their early teenage years and have many children, often have to sacrifice their food rations for their children and husbands: whatever little meat the family has often goes to the husband first; the rest is divided among the family.

Labor is another concern for the area’s women: At the clinic this morning, I saw a female doctor give a birthing kit to a pregnant patient—the kit would help reduce infection during child birth. The doctor told her that if she gave birth between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., she could get free care at the clinic; after that, she would have to make do at home with the kit.

And the water: the water in the area is still contaminated, and diarrhea is rampant. But, insha’Allah, water pumps will be installed soon, and will help reduce the amount of water-borne disease.

As I left Muzaffargarh, I was happy that there had been progress; homes were being built; clean water would be arriving; livelihood earning programs had begun. However there were still many people in need.

It’s interesting to compare what I see in each area I visit: Yesterday, I saw hope in the people of Mashori, who had already been receiving help and seeing progress made; in Ghohar Wala, I saw despair turn to excitement and applause as villagers heard that soon (after about nine months insha’Allah), they would also be getting help. The dignity and resilience of these people has made quite an impression on me. Everyone is very friendly and hospitable, especially the children: they insist that I drink a cold glass of soda when I visit them. That is a rare treat for them and an honor for me.

Wednesday, April 21
Today was full of meetings with the IR Pakistan staff in Islamabad. Team members explained that the chronology of their response to the 2010 floods had gone from emergency to rehabilitation and now, finally, to development.

The government has requested that relief efforts move beyond food aid—officials do not want residents to become dependent upon outside assistance for food; rather, the government wants the people to be supplied with the tools they need to support themselves. Various work-for-food programs and income-generation programs have been implemented to help the people help themselves. As the one-year anniversary of relief efforts approaches, however, many of these programs may be phased out within the coming months.

IR Pakistan is working in large villages in Khyber Pakhtoon Khwa and Punjab, and in smaller communities in Balochistan and Sindh. The country director was shocked at the malnutrition levels in Sindh. He said that he had known malnutrition levels to be that high in Africa, but did not realize that was now also the case in Pakistan.

Islamic Relief teams are looking beyond the programs currently in place to see what other versatile projects can be developed and implemented to help those affected by the floods in more ways.

Tomorrow, insha’Allah, I will return to KPK.

A Voice for Flood Victims: Anwar Khan Leaves Pakistan to Begin "Real Job"

I am leaving Pakistan with a heavy heart. I have seen much devastation and misery in a relatively short time. I came to observe the distribution and the situation on the ground, but now my real job begins: to speak for all those people whose cries for help have not been heard.

I understand people's concerns about aid not reaching beneficiaries and their feelings about financial corruption. As we continue asking these questions, aid that should have arrived weeks ago has not even been sent. As we wait, children are dying from malnutrition and diarrhea.

It's never easy or simple to get aid to the people who need it most, but Islamic Relief has already helped more than 100,000 people affected by the floods. At press conferences and via any medium I can communicate through, I am encouraging people to give. Give to an organization you trust. There are organizations that have reputable track records in Pakistan and Islamic Relief USA is one of them.

We are in a race against time to reduce the number of people who will die from malnutrition, diarrhea, malaria and cholera. Young, already malnourished children are the most at risk. And the most critical time to save lives is now.

Please donate now.

Islamic Relief's Anwar Khan Travels to Remote Flood-Affected Villages in Punjab

The journey to Multan took eight hours due to flooded roads. On the way, we saw roads washed away, villages destroyed and many people camping on the side of the road. There was more flooding here in Punjab than we had seen earlier in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa, where flooding originally began over three weeks ago.

On Sunday, we departed Multan early in the morning to escape the extreme heat of the afternoon. As we drove to Muzaffargarh, the water levels steadily rose. For much of the journey we were driving slowly through water. What appeared to be a series of lakes was actually the main road. Roads have been washed away, bridges knocked out and villages submerged.

Islamic Relief is supporting five to six camps in the area, housing approximately 6,000 displaced people. The locals told us that Tylenol was the only medicine available and was being given for any ailment. Men were walking through neck-high standing water to “cross the river” to their destroyed homes and see if they could salvage anything.

Children were drinking disease-inducing contaminated water. A four-month-old baby was being washed in the same brown contaminated water. When we asked the mother why she was doing that, she told us she had no other source of water.

Nearing Shagar village, the road was so flooded we could no longer drive, so we took a boat. We passed by rooftops of submerged buildings and homes. Businesses were destroyed and the inventories had been washed away. Crops were destroyed; the contaminated water will create agricultural problems for future seasons.

We traveled to further remote areas to distribute hygiene kits, kitchen sets and household sets to displaced people who had registered with Islamic Relief. A few elderly women, who had arrived at the camp after our initial tent distribution, were frustrated with us for distributing hygiene kits when they had not yet received tents.

Word had spread about the camp, but we did not have enough supplies for the new arrivals.

Waiting Weeks for Help
Remote villages are still in dire need of food. Some have been waiting for weeks and if they don’t get food soon, the situation may get out of control. The aid effort cannot cope with so many people in such a huge geographical area.

In the blazing heat, we were fasting out of choice, but many people there had no choice; they had no food.

I returned to Lahore with a heavy heart. It took a day and a half by road, boat and by foot to reach these people. Not enough people are making that journey; many more need to.

Press Conference with Cricketers
On Monday, I traveled to Karachi to attend a press conference about Islamic Relief’s response to the floods in Pakistan. The press conference was organized by Pakistani cricketers to raise awareness of the need for aid in flood-devastated areas.

Many questions were asked about the lack of trust many donors have that their donations will actually reach those in need. We tried to address their concerns and remind them about the great need for bringing relief to flood victims.

Act now to save lives.

IR USA's Anwar Khan Travels to Pakistan to Help Flood Victims

Anwar Khan, Islamic Relief USA’s Vice President of Fund Development, is in Pakistan helping with IR USA’s efforts to provide aid and support to victims of the devastating floods. He set off from Dallas on Monday. Check back to this blog to read his updates.

I have done this trip many times before, but never in Ramadan, when I was fasting. There have been several disasters in Pakistan in the last few years: The 2005 earthquake, the floods of 2007, the Swat conflict in 2009, and now the worst floods in Pakistan in more than 80 years.

According to the United Nations, the floods are causing more devastation in Pakistan than the South Asian tsunami in 2004, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, and this year’s Haiti earthquake combined. However it has barely been mentioned in the media, and U.S. and international support is far less this time than for the other three disasters. (But the U.S. has provided the most aid to Pakistan flood victims than any other country in the world.)

As I am travelling to Pakistan, I wonder what this says about the world’s response and how it will affect those suffering in Pakistan. Millions have fled their homes and the UN is warning of cholera and other epidemics. I will see for myself what the tragedy has done to men, women and children. Twenty million people have been affected, but each person has their own story, their own struggle. The world needs to know what is happening and what they can do to help.

Act now to save lives.

Pakistan Floods: Ramadan Begins, But Situation is Dire

Islamic Relief USA’s Vice President of Programs, Adnan Ansari, is in Pakistan helping with the aid efforts and surveying the needs of the flood victims.

Thursday August 12, 2010

"Ramadan is full of joyous fasts, and nights of worship with family and friends. But this year, it is a different situation for millions of people affected by the worst disaster in Pakistan’s history … and it’s not over yet."

As I sit here typing, we’re experiencing a three-day lull in torrential downpours that have warped a large mass of Pakistan’s land into a body of water. This disaster-in-progress is set to continue when rain and further flooding return later this week, throwing many more people into further poverty.

Uncertainty is everywhere here: Floods that seemed to recede one day returned with vengeance the next; villages that were standing one day were under water the next; and relief organizations that came to provide emergency aid are rapidly running out of supplies.

I crossed over a bridge a few days ago and saw a massive field of crops underneath and on either side. I crossed over the same bridge the next day and all I saw was water. Throughout Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and in parts of Punjab and Sindh, flooding has washed away infrastructure that will take years to rebuild.

Driving through the villages of Charsada in the aftermath of flooding, all I saw left standing were doors that once belonged to villagers’ homes. A man was standing beside what was left of his home and I asked him what his livelihood was. He pointed towards an area that once housed a field of crops; it was now a bed of water.

Looking past the village destruction to the large quantity of water beyond, it’s hard to tell where this body of water starts and where it ends. It had taken everything these villagers had and spared only their lives – for those who survived.

I’ve travelled through flood-affected areas with Islamic Relief staff members to deliver food, hygiene kits and other emergency aid items to flood victims. I’ve been receiving requests from people all across the country who want to travel with us to affected areas to help the victims and aid in recovery efforts.

Islamic Relief is known to enter areas where other nonprofit organizations and non-governmental agencies don’t, but how can I let these volunteers enter wet terrains that have even stranded the staff and I during a village rescue mission in Nowshera District?

Our supplies are running low and today is the first day of Ramadan. There’s no firewood for people to cook food on, not even kitchen utensils to cook with. The camps are getting fuller by the day with tents packed full of flood victims. All I can think about is how we will provide what bare minimum support we have to reach the maximum number of people. The situation is dire.

Please act now to help save lives.

--Adnan Ansari, Vice President of Programs, Islamic Relief USA

Amidst Pakistan's Flood Devastation, Hope Remains

Islamic Relief USA’s Vice President of Programs, Adnan Ansari, is in Pakistan helping with the aid efforts and surveying the needs of the flood victims.

Friday August 6, 2010

The floods have spared no one. Rich and poor, young and old— the torrential rains and the resulting landslides have taken millions of Pakistanis by surprise, no matter what part of town they lived in.

Everywhere I went, I saw hardship written on the faces of the people. But I also saw hope and gratitude in their eyes. It was also on their tongues.

Despite the long lines, dwindling supplies and difficulties on the ground, everyone I talked to was thankful. Not only to Islamic Relief, but they were also grateful to Allah for saving their lives.

A group of Islamic Relief emergency responders from around the world (I am the U.S. representative in the team) and I were supporting Islamic Relief Pakistan staff members working tirelessly from the Islamabad office.

Today we helped distribute hygiene kits in a campsite near Pir Sabaq, a village north of Mardan. In the camp, I saw people waiting in long lines waiting for supplies to be distributed, old women sitting on the ground with despair written on their faces, people praying on the grass with the confidence that ease follows hardship and children caring for their younger siblings. The storms were an instant maturing process for many of them, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it scarred them for life. I couldn’t imagine dealing with such a disaster at their young age. But they were displaying poise and patience that I found very praiseworthy.

Most were farmers who saw their months’ efforts in the crops ready for harvest being washed away overnight. “Normally we can have two crops each year but our first crop is now gone and the soil is no longer suitable for us sowing for the second. All we can do is wait for the spring to arrive to start tilling the soil again.” This was a common message we received from many. There is no other means of income for them.

Several of the camp residents were also very educated and in the prime of their youth. One of the victims I talked to was a Master’s candidate in Forestry, who had completed his research and was about to submit his thesis paper. The floods swept everything away, and all he can do now is wait and see if he can salvage the six months’ work put into the thesis from his laptop, but he doesn’t know for sure. Another eloquently kept explaining the situation caused by the flood in the words of Allama Iqbal’s poetry.

Outside the camps, many people were staying put in their villages, despite their homes being destroyed and the roads being cut off. “This is all we have left,” one of the victims who stayed home (which had no walls left) told me. “I can’t risk leaving my belongings unattended.”

People’s dreams were hit hard by the floods. But their ability to overcome the hardship is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. Still I wonder how long they can hold up.

Supplies really are getting low, and the people need our help. I hope everyone can dig deep in this time of need and support them.

--Adnan Ansari, Vice President of Programs, Islamic Relief USA

Act now to save lives. Donate today.

To read more about Islamic Relief’s response in Pakistan, click here.

Gallery: Devastation from Pakistan Floods

Learn more about the situation in Pakistan here, and please donate to help the more than four million people affected by the floods in Pakistan.

Gallery: Floods in Pakistan

More than 3 million have been affected by the flooding in Pakistan. Visit our emergency page for more information. Your help is desperately needed. Please donate.

Video: Islamic Relief Heading to Pakistan Flood Areas

Islamic Relief's Habib Malik from Scotland is in Pakistan now heading to the north west regions where floods have devestated more than 1 million. Learn more about Islamic Relief's emergency campaign to help flood victims, and please donate generously.

New Images from Pakistan Mercy Centers!

World Refugee Day: Pakistan IDPs Face Second Crisis

On World Refugee Day, a second crisis looms over more than 3 million displaced people in Pakistan as a severe shortage of sanitation facilities has led to outbreaks of disease.

Unsanitary living conditions have caused waterborne diseases and skin conditions to spread quickly amongst the displaced populations and local communities. Islamic Relief health teams have noted frequent cases of diarrhea, scabies, and malaria, all of which can be deadly, especially for young children.

Islamic Relief’s assessments of schools and homes where displaced people are sheltering have revealed that around 60 percent have no sanitation facilities or are in urgent need of repair. In almost half of these schools and houses water systems also need to be built or repaired.

One school in Khairabad houses more than 450 displaced people, yet Islamic Relief engineers did not find a single working restroom. At another school in Gul Bahar, displaced families had no source of water.

Islamic Relief aid worker Sultan Mahmood said:

“In the schools and houses I have visited nearly every family has a member suffering from diarrhoea or scabies as a result of poor sanitation facilities and unhygienic living conditions. I have seen up to 20 people sharing one small room, and with so many people living so close to each other these diseases are spreading fast.”

Islamic Relief health teams are concerned that as the monsoon season approaches these problems will get considerably worse. Every year the monsoon floods the region causing rates of malaria and waterborne diseases to soar. This year, with the influx of so many extra people, the impact is likely to be much more severe.

Islamic Relief is constructing restrooms, washing areas, hand pumps, and is carrying out hygiene awareness sessions in schools and households sheltering displaced people in Mardan District. We are also providing free healthcare at local health centers through mobile health teams. These services are helping displaced people and the local community in 26 villages.

Jerome Akram, Islamic Relief’s Worldwide Head of Programs, said:

“...Although most of the displaced people are not living in tents in camps, they are still facing very real difficulties, not least the serious health concerns we are witnessing.”

A Family Tragedy

Reesalat gave birth to her fifth child as she and her extended family fled from the troubled Swat region in North West Pakistan, but died 12 days later. She was just 28 years old.

Her younger sister Shahnaz explained what happened:

"It was chaos in our village, and I saw many people killed and others who were severely injured as they tried to run away. This experience left us all traumatized but unfortunately this trauma has been surpassed by our own misery.

There was no transportation available in our village so we had to leave on foot. We walked for one day and one night across the mountains. During this time my sister, Reesalat went into labor. We were far away from any health facilities and so we had to take her to a stranger’s house, where she gave birth to a baby girl, Laila. She is so beautiful, just like her mother...

Not long after she had given birth we had to start moving again. She was in a lot of pain and walking in the mountainous terrain was almost impossible for her.

Thankfully, we finally came to a road where we managed to find a truck to bring us all here, to Char Gulli. Initially we were living with a relative but the conditions were not good, so another family member from this area made this house available for us.

Reesalat was living here with Laila and her other four children. She was in a lot of pain and was bleeding heavily but there is no female doctor in this area and all she could do was get a little medicine from the local pharmacy. But this didn’t work and her condition continued to deteriorate; 12 days after giving birth she passed away.

Before the conflict came to our village and we had to flee, Reesalat had no health problems and her pregnancy was going well. We truly believe that the stress and trauma caused by the violence and the difficult journey we had to make after fleeing our village, lead to her death.”

It has been 25 days since Reesalat died and baby Laila and her other four children are now living with their uncle in a makeshift camp at a local school in Char Gulli. They are staying with 12 other family members in a dirty classroom which bare floors, broken windows and no furniture. The only possessions they have are a few blankets and cooking pots, but nothing else.

Conditions in the school are very poor and deteriorating by the day. There is very little access to clean water and many children are suffering from diarrhea, skin infections and respiratory problems.

Laila is underweight and has scabies but is receiving medical care from Islamic Relief’s health team based at the Basic Health Unit (BHU) in Char Gulli. Islamic Relief is installing water and sanitation facilities at the school, to try and prevent the spread of disease amongst the IDPs living there.

Laila’s 13-year-old sister Shah Begum has taken charge of caring for her baby sister since her mother’s death. But she is upset and traumatized by the death of her mother and is struggling to cope.

Islamic Relief USA in Pakistan

Islamic Relief has been working in Pakistan since 1992 and previously worked in the Jelozai camp in North West Frontier Province until April 2009.

Work in the camp included providing campsite development, water and sanitation facilities, and basic health and hygiene care.

Islamic Relief also provided essential emergency aid after the 2005 earthquake, raising over $70 million worth of aid worldwide, $20 million of which came from US donors.

In addition, Islamic Relief provided over $1 million of aid which benefited over 90,000 victims of the June 2007 cyclone in Baluchistan.