THE FLOOD RELIEF ROAD MARCH CAMPAIGN

INTRODUCTION
The floods of 2011 affected Pakistan very adversely. They have claimed hundreds of lives and left hundreds of thousands stranded. Nearly a million homes have been destroyed and over 70 percent of the crops have been lost in the worst affected areas. Sindh suffered the most due to the floods but also parts of Balochistan and the Kohistan district were also affected. Taking into consideration the millions of the affected people, we at SZABIST, led by our instructor Mr. Adeel Durvesh, started a Flood Relief March Campaign to collect funds and help the flood victims. Our main concern was to give life back to the victims in the areas of Mirpur Khas, Sanghar, Badin and other parts of interior Sindh.

THE FLOOD RELIEF ROAD MARCH CAMPAIGN

The Campaign had a lot of work to be done before it was actually started. One of the most vital tasks was to acquire permission from SZABIST to carry out the campaign. This was done by our instructor, as he was the only one who could have done it. On the afternoon of 17th of September, 2011, we were split into six collection teams and we started marching from SZABIST and walked up to the 2 swords roundabout to collect as many as possible funds for the victims of the floods in the thirty minute long campaign. Our instructor, Mr. Adeel Durvesh, lead from the front as his teams hard work paid off when he ended up collecting the maximum amount of funds, which constituted one third of the whole collection. Everyone was delighted by this campaign and dedicated themselves to this noble cause of helping the people in need.

The donors also appreciated our efforts and donated generously, enabling us to collect a handsome amount in a short period of time.

OBJECTIVE
The objective of our march was to collect donations to help our fellow Pakistanis, who were affected by the flood and were stranded and were deprived of even the basic necessities.

STRATEGY
Our Strategy was to march from SZABIST to the 2 swords roundabout and to make most of our collections from the 2 swords roundabout, as this was a heavy traffic flow area. Six teams were formed and each one was given a box and chart paper. The box was for collecting the funds and the chart paper stated our objective.

CHALLENGES
Collect as much funds as possible Avoid creating disturbances for traffic or pedestrians Avoid aggressiveness Securing the collection boxes

TOOLS AND RESOURCES

6 chart papers 6 boxes 6 Pakistani Flags

TOTAL FUNDING
6 groups of 10 students each were made and total of Rs.54000 were collected. The breakup of six boxes is as follow

Box 1 Box 2 Box 3 Box 4 Box 5 Box 6 TOTAL

Rs. 18,000 Rs. 7,500 Rs. 4,000 Rs. 7,500 Rs. 12,000 Rs. 5,000 Rs. 54,000

In addition to the campaign collection amount, Rs. 150,000 was further collected from different sources which make the total collection equal to Rs. 204,000 (54,000 + 150,000)

SPENDING OF FUNDS COLLECTED

The funds were collected to provide basic necessities to the flood victims, which mostly consisted of food items.

OUR EXPERIENCE
All the students involved enjoyed working for this noble cause and put in efforts to collect as much as possible. It was a fun first time experience and would gladly take part in any social work that we can. The overall experience was great as there was social work with a lot of dedication and hard work done by all the students. The people donated generously and collecting Rs. 54,000 in such little time was an achievement not to be neglected. We also saw the sympathy in the hearts of the people for the flood victims, as everybody donated what they reasonably could.

CONCLUSION
The flood relief march proved to be a success as we gathered around Rs.54000 in little time, which was a great achievement. These funds were then used to buy the basic necessities which would help the flood victims to recover from their suffering. We hope that the items that are sent to the victims help them in wiping away their tears.