Pakistan: Providing safe havens for children

Shahzad enjoying drawing at the centre [Islamic Relief]

Eight-year-old Shahzad had to leave his home in Charain in Buner District in Pakistan when the escalation of violence in the region meant it was too dangerous for his family to stay any longer

Shahzad, his parents and four siblings, made the journey from their village to Rustam where they are now staying with a local family who took them into their home.

While forced to stay away from home, Shahzad is one of more than 4,600 children who have attended Islamic Relief’s children’s centres, supported by us.

Set up as safe places for children who have had to leave their homes, these centres offer children and people from the local community access to education, health care, trauma counselling and safe places to play.

Lives at risk

More than half of the people forced to flee their homes because of violence were children. They have been deeply affected by the violence they have witnessed. Staff have reported that many children are severely traumatised.

Shahzad talks about how he has coped living in a village with people he does not know and explains the difficulties his family are facing.

“It has been months since we had to leave our home in Buner,” Shahzad says. “My parents told us that we had to go because our lives were at risk and we could have been killed by the fighting.”

“Back home my father was a driver but now he is struggling to find work. We are staying with a family in Qaderabad village but they are not our relatives and I don’t know them,” he adds.

Making new friends

“At the beginning it was very difficult living here because I had no friends and nothing was familiar. But then the Islamic Relief children’s centre was set up, and I have made some new friends.”

“Sajid is from Swat and Haris is from this village and they are my best friends. We all play together and attend the school lessons that the children’s centre runs,” says Shahzad.

“I like going to the centre as I get to do many activities that I love. We do drawing and painting, and play with the toys. I also get to play my favourite sport which is football. In my village there is no proper place to play like we have here.”

The children also learn safe hygiene so they can protect themselves from becoming ill.

Returning home

“Since we left our home we have become very poor and I don’t know when or how we will be able to go back to our village,” says Shahzad. “We are really struggling to get enough food at the moment as there is not much to eat.”

While the conflict area remains a no-entry zone, it is hard to obtain accurate details, but the Pakistani government’s estimate is that more than one million people are still displaced.

Thanks to you, we can continue to support Islamic Relief to provide help for children like Shahzad, while he and others are still unable to return home.

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