CAFOD blog

This trip has been different from others because I’ve largely stayed in one place, and I’ve worked intensively with Caritas Pakistan’s earthquake team, rather than working with different partners.

Caritas only has a few more months before their programme is due to finish, following the three year anniversary of the October 2005 quake.

It’s been quite a journey for all that have been involved, and one that I’ve followed since March 2006 when I first joined CAFOD.

Right now, I’m helping compile reports for the donors that funded the work, introduce a filing system, and help ensure both men and women benefit equally from Caritas’ work.

The North West Frontier Province, where the office is based, is the most conservative area of Pakistan.

Making sure both women and men benefit equally from our programmes is a sensitive process – a little like brain surgery!

If you get the approach wrong, the results can be fatal. But what is certain is that it is much more dangerous for the women living here if things are left unchallenged.

Many women who were badly injured after the earthquake died because they were denied permission to leave the house in case they were seen by a male doctor.

Just trying to persuade families to allow their wives and daughters to attend Caritas health clinics has been a slow battle, but one that we are gradually winning.

At its heart, this programme has relied on building trust between Caritas and the local populations, between Christian and Muslim staff, and between East and West.

For all its inevitable problems and challenges, I feel privileged to have been part of this response and to have worked alongside colleagues from Pakistan, Nigeria, France, Afghanistan, UK, Australia, Turkey, Serbia, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

What can I say except that I love my job. But I also love coming home.

Posted by LucyM

Like what you read? Leave a comment or ask a question below