Starting a new MSF project in Pakistan!!!
Door: Anton Frima
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Anton
16 Augustus 2008 | Pakistan, Quetta
Hi all,
Since almost 2 weeks I am back in Pakistan after a very successful holiday back home. The first week of my holiday I went sailing with my boat and saw lots of friends and family at night time. The second week I spend as an instructor at a sailing school near Rotterdam, a school run by students from my former university. Together with 20 good friends from University, we acted as staff for around 40 children. A fantastic week and good chance to see how everybody is doing these days.
So then back to Pakistan!
Originally I was scheduled to work in Chaman (small border-town with Afghanistan), however without travel-permits I ended up in Quetta (big city) for over 1 month at the start. Afterwards I finally went to Chaman for 3 weeks but was then offered to start a new project in a, for MSF, new part of the Balochistan province. Starting a new project is of course very interesting and exciting so I said yes and since I am back from my holiday, this is what I have been involved in. In this new area (basically the middle of the middle of the middle of Pakistan) we will start a therapeutic feeding program for malnourished children under five. Currently we’ve just visited the area and are now trying to get all the agreements of the authorities that have to acknowledge our program. If all goes well, the first patients can be fed by our program in 2 weeks! The area has numerous refugees caused by internal conflicts that have been going on for decades. Our aim is to mainly to support the children of this refugee population and in general children suffering from malnutrition due to drought and heat. Overthere, it's on average 45C degrees and humid. Before I exaggerated on the temperatures in Chaman, but here it’s like your sitting in a tub of water that’s just a little to hot, and you just can’t get out. Without moving an inch, sweat drips constantly from your head.
On the pictures you will find me wearing a Shawar Kamiz, the clothes all men in Pakistan wear. I won it over betting on the match between Italy and Holland, which the latter obviously won. Also a picture of our police escort, which accompanies us at all times when travelling big distances. A picture of me and 2 colleagues trying on our new head-scarfes, basically used as sweat-rags in EB. A picture of me buying meet for my goodbye BBQ at Quetta. And even a picture of an anti- suicide campaign on a huge billboard here in Quetta! Also a picture of a good colleague of mine in Quetta who invited me over for lunch on our day off. His family had put in a huge effort to put around 12 bowls of different items on the table (floor actually).
Hopefully my next pictures will be from the new project site where I can show you how we are setting up the new project and the first patients coming in. Currently all still pending on the right signatures of government officials to allow us to start. (MSF worldwide encounters the challenge of reaching areas where possibly local authorities would rather not receive international spectators)
Enjoy the pictures and cheers,
Anton
Tonight I am going to cook! When you are served twice a day with oily chicken, rice and bread, it’s a nice change to be cooking yourself once in a while…
Since almost 2 weeks I am back in Pakistan after a very successful holiday back home. The first week of my holiday I went sailing with my boat and saw lots of friends and family at night time. The second week I spend as an instructor at a sailing school near Rotterdam, a school run by students from my former university. Together with 20 good friends from University, we acted as staff for around 40 children. A fantastic week and good chance to see how everybody is doing these days.
So then back to Pakistan!
Originally I was scheduled to work in Chaman (small border-town with Afghanistan), however without travel-permits I ended up in Quetta (big city) for over 1 month at the start. Afterwards I finally went to Chaman for 3 weeks but was then offered to start a new project in a, for MSF, new part of the Balochistan province. Starting a new project is of course very interesting and exciting so I said yes and since I am back from my holiday, this is what I have been involved in. In this new area (basically the middle of the middle of the middle of Pakistan) we will start a therapeutic feeding program for malnourished children under five. Currently we’ve just visited the area and are now trying to get all the agreements of the authorities that have to acknowledge our program. If all goes well, the first patients can be fed by our program in 2 weeks! The area has numerous refugees caused by internal conflicts that have been going on for decades. Our aim is to mainly to support the children of this refugee population and in general children suffering from malnutrition due to drought and heat. Overthere, it's on average 45C degrees and humid. Before I exaggerated on the temperatures in Chaman, but here it’s like your sitting in a tub of water that’s just a little to hot, and you just can’t get out. Without moving an inch, sweat drips constantly from your head.
On the pictures you will find me wearing a Shawar Kamiz, the clothes all men in Pakistan wear. I won it over betting on the match between Italy and Holland, which the latter obviously won. Also a picture of our police escort, which accompanies us at all times when travelling big distances. A picture of me and 2 colleagues trying on our new head-scarfes, basically used as sweat-rags in EB. A picture of me buying meet for my goodbye BBQ at Quetta. And even a picture of an anti- suicide campaign on a huge billboard here in Quetta! Also a picture of a good colleague of mine in Quetta who invited me over for lunch on our day off. His family had put in a huge effort to put around 12 bowls of different items on the table (floor actually).
Hopefully my next pictures will be from the new project site where I can show you how we are setting up the new project and the first patients coming in. Currently all still pending on the right signatures of government officials to allow us to start. (MSF worldwide encounters the challenge of reaching areas where possibly local authorities would rather not receive international spectators)
Enjoy the pictures and cheers,
Anton
Tonight I am going to cook! When you are served twice a day with oily chicken, rice and bread, it’s a nice change to be cooking yourself once in a while…
-
16 Augustus 2008 - 17:22
Jan-Dirk:
Looks cool and adventurous again! Heel goed nog even een Brielle weekje meepakken! Cheers, B-okkel -
19 Augustus 2008 - 14:50
Leonora:
Ik ben even je foto's aan het bekijken, het ziet er avontuurlijk uit. Ik hoop dat het niet al te spannend word daar.
kleding advies : neem een ander kleur jurk.
grtjs
Leonora -
24 Augustus 2008 - 10:32
Sjak:
Je gaat helemaal op in de plaatselijke bevolking, ziet er goed uit! Succes met de opstart! Liefs!! -
08 September 2008 - 17:08
Anne-Marije:
Hallo!
Long time! Alles goed? Hier alles top, chill, bureaucratisch en zonnig!
Werkse en veel plezier
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