It is very easy to help someone in need. You do not have to be mega-rich or a part of big NGO. You just have to be willing and have some spear time to listen. And I want you all to see what Manal from “Meemelif” and her friends did for people of Thar. They are not NGOs or rich superstars. They are students and they have the will to do something great.
She is a successful lifestyle blogger. On her Instagram account “Meemelif” she shared her journey to this remote part of Thar near Pak India border called Achro. She with help of friends got 18 hand pumps installed, which serves about 1000 people.
Story of her journey is stretched on several Instagram Posts. Each filled with inspiration. I am combining the three posts into one but I will share all three of her posts at the end too.
I strongly suggest you to follow Meemelif for wonderful Instagram Posts
From this point onward, it is her words and her pictures.
Water IS life. When I saw the first hand-pump successfully installed onto a site I’d chosen earlier, I was so so overwhelmed! Because it was on a roadside, there were several people gathered there taking turns to drink and fill up water.
On my last trip, we managed to installed 13 handpumps which cover a 30 KM radius and around 1000 people have directly benefited from those hand-pumps. (A total of 18 hand-pumps have been installed so far on all 2 trips combined)
I had always heard and read about the water crisis in Thar, but didn’t know it was this bad until I saw it myself. Sometimes Thari people have to walk 2-3 kms in barren tracks of sand dunes and thorny bushes before they can find an adequate water source.
Afterwards, they have to carry it all the way back, men and women alike. Clearly these people lack the basic necessities to live and hence even basic/primary education comes far, far later which is absolutely heartbreaking.
Thari children, just like all children, deserve better, brighter futures.
There are parts of Thar where some bodies are working for the betterment of the region but the part, which we targeted (Achro Thar, near Pak India border) is forgotten with no one raising voice for its people.
I was in this place for half a day and I came back with heat rashes. Some of us cannot live without an AC in Karachi weather while these people don’t even have fans in Thar.
I was so troubled to see these people living without electricity or fans, an adequate water source and even without washrooms. No power also means no lighting and living in pitch darkness at night in the middle of a desert.
The scorching desert sun and extreme water scarcity makes life miserable.
Yet not one of them complained or cried and everyone had welcoming smiles on their faces. I have never in my life met people so simple before.
It’s not until you see it with your own eyes, you realise how privileged we really are.
We’ve covered a very small part of the region but I’m hoping IA we can do more drives in future because;
1) These are the one of the MOST destitute people in Pakistan and are completely forgotten by the Govt and welfare organisations.
2) People are willing to donate and someone just needs to take charge for it and make sure everything gets done. And I am more than willing to be that person.
Concluding this with a very mainstream but an apt quote, “Be the change you wish to see in the world”.
P.s. We interacted with a number of locals and it was the most eye-opening and heart-lightening experience ever. This woman’s name is Sara and she told us they had to go all the way to a mosque to get water as there was no nearby source. The hand pump is successfully installed in her village from which many others like her can draw water.
I was getting my picture taken and she joined me.
