When Schools Sew and Doctors Travel
How Grassroots Coalitions are Forging Hope in
Pakistan's Flood Zones!
When the waters surged through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Swat, Buner and other northern districts, they did more than sweep away houses and fields. They ruptured the everyday routines that give life dignity, the school bell that marks a child’s day, the stall where a family buys flour, the private rhythms of women’s lives. In the days since, the scale of need has been sobering. But amid the scale, a different kind of story is emerging: of teachers who trade their classrooms for sewing rooms, of volunteer drivers who rethink their Sundays, of clinics that show up where ambulances will not.
“There’s been a lot of damage from the floods here; this area has suffered extensive losses. People from different walks of life are coming here, children, as well as elderly men and women. We talk to them, and we see their poor condition. Some people have lost their homes, some have had their walls fall down, and some have lost all of their valuable belongings.”
– Ziad Javed (SFY Leader)
At the Society for Youth (SFY) we call this the power of broad-based organizing. The Flood Response Initiative 2025 (FRI25) is not a single program. It is a cluster of complementary projects– medical camps, clothes distribution, and menstrual health kit (MHM) production and delivery– knit together by partnership, local leadership, and the conviction that relief must be dignified, timely, and owned by communities themselves. Our initial, intensive phase of relief efforts across three critical fronts–medical camps, clothes drives, and Menstrual Health Management (MHM) kit distribution–stands as a testament to what collective action, driven by local ownership, can truly achieve.
The first round of FRI25 focused on three urgent pillars.
“We are getting all the household necessities, Clothes, a doctor is also here, and there are many more good things. I can’t express them all. Everything is acceptable to me, and I will ask a prayer for you. “
– An Old Age Man After Receiving Medical Aid
In collaboration with Al-Islah, SFY set up mobile medical camps in Batay Kali, Buner a location too remote or overlooked by larger agencies. Serving more than 320 patients that included 20% children battling illnesses like throat and skin infection, 40% were women in urgent need of medical attention and had MHM issues, and the remaining 40% were men coping with digestive issues, exhausted and injured. So far, over 320 vulnerable individuals, families who had nowhere else to turn, received medical care, including children whose lives were at risk and women who are often the last to be reached in such crises, primarily treated for infections, injuries, and dehydration.
“The house was rented, and we were living in it. That house is gone. And now I have come here to another place based on someone’s request. Other people also are living on the same floor as us. I have no home here.“
– An Old Age After Receiving Clothes
Beyond individual consultations and free medicine, these camps are a frontline defense against infectious outbreaks: vaccinations, water-borne illness triage, and medicine distribution all reduce the immediate public-health risk in crowded temporary shelters.
Our medical team also documented, there is no one working on menstrual health and hygiene management, including treatment for throat and skin infections, dehydration caused by lack of access to clean water, and support for chronic digestive diseases, which will inform the next phase of interventions.
“Most of them (Organizations) focused mainly on food distribution and similar things. But for the first time, female hygiene has also been given attention, which is very important for us. After floods, different types of outbreaks happen, and both males and females face issues. But since this area has a large number of village women, it is often difficult for them to come forward and express their needs. So, providing them with something (like hygiene kits) is very necessary and will definitely be beneficial.”
– Azhar Zeb – Local Leader
Currently, the community is facing pressing health issues and an urgent need for home rebuilding. However, menstrual hygiene management (MHM) has largely been overlooked, creating a critical need for MHM kits and proper consultation on menstrual health.
“MHM is very important because when floods happen, people usually don’t pay attention to such needs, nor does anyone think about them. It is a very good step that female hygiene are being focused on, because nobody had paid special attention to female hygiene before, nor was proper work done for it. We really appreciate this initiative, and such focus must continue. “
– Roh Ullah (Local Leader)
Dignity in Crisis: Clothes, shoes, and shawls, packed with care
Loss of livelihood is only part of the story. Floods dislocate dignity. Clothing is functional, yes, but it is also a symbol: of normalcy, warmth, and self-respect. SFY’s clothes drive collected more than 400 items, including dresses, shoes, shawls, towels, and prayer mats, and distributed them thoughtfully to more than 320 people across Buner and Swat. We did not simply hand out bundles. Volunteers sorted, repaired, and carefully packed garments by age and need so that recipients received full, respectful kits- not a heap of mismatched castaways. The result: immediate protection from cold and wet, and a reaffirmation that relief can be delivered with attention and care.
“People’s homes have been destroyed. Our clothes drive project is here to give clothes to the people. Children are also coming, but mostly adults are coming. People have suffered so much loss that they have absolutely no clothes left in their homes. Medical camps have also been started; doctors are present and conducting checkups. On the other side, our female hygiene project has also started.”
– Ghawer Khan (SFY Leader)
Overcoming the Overlooked :Menstrual health: an often-neglected lifeline.
Perhaps one of the most fundamentally transformative aspects of our relief effort is the distribution of Menstrual Health Management (MHM) kits. This critical need is often shockingly absent from mainstream aid agendas, a reality powerfully underscored by Principal Zunaira Jaleel, Dar-e-Arqam Nankana, one of our key partners. She passionately highlights:
“In any flood-affected area, any calamity-ridden area, the menstrual health of female victims matters very much – because their entire lives depend upon [safe menstruation management]! In our society, we do not talk about such topics, do not discuss them [openly], and in comparison, with food or shelter-centered relief work, this sort of relief work is overlooked.”
– Zunaira Jaleel Principal Dar e Arqam NNS
Menstrual hygiene rarely enters mainstream aid conversations, yet it is a daily necessity that, when unmet, compounds vulnerability.
We distributed dozens of menstrual hygiene management (MHM) kits among women in Buner District, where the average age of recipients was around 30. Buner, with a population of 897,319 and recorded at 1,016,869 in the 2023 census, has long overlooked the issue of menstrual health. This initiative allowed us to reach women in need, providing them with essential supplies and creating a space where menstrual hygiene could finally be discussed openly.
“We not only distribute the kits but we collect data and stories from the women there. They share the challenges, and the problems the women are facing there. Those women in flood affected areas are facing so many challenges and problems regarding Menstrual hygiene and Menstrual Management. So our goal is to distribute 1000 kits to 1000 flood affected women in those areas.”
– Nida (MHM Lead)
Through partnerships with Beaconhouse School System (Mardan) and Dar-e-Arqam (Nankana Sahib), we set up a production and delivery pipeline that is nothing short of inspiring. Teachers from these institutions- all of whom are alumni of our #LIMEPakistan Project- received one-day training on menstrual health and dedicated significant efforts to ensuring our flood survivors received menstrual healthcare. These educators recognize the significance of MHM and emphasize the need accessibility of MHM kits and awareness for women in affected regions. As Miss Alishba Moon, who was on site, stated:
“We shouldn’t wait for crises like natural disasters to take action. We should come and empower them, so they are able to overcome their challenges even before any unfortunate incidents. The issues that we observed and noted down should be addressed and solved continuously from time to time in the best possible way. ”
– Ms Alishba (BSS Mdn)
The MHM kits are the fruit of hundreds of hours of dedicated labor: from procuring fabric in Faisalabad, setting up ambitious operations to meticulously sew sanitary pads in Nankana, delivering them to Mardan for further packaging with detergents and undergarments, and finally, distributing them to vulnerable communities in Buner. This complex, yet seamless, operation was only possible due to SFY’s broad-based model, which leverages the power of community networks and institutional coalitions.
Nida Nasreen shares the intricate journey of our MHM kits, from Faisalabad’s fabric markets to the flood-affected communities of Buner, is brought to life through the dedicated leadership, and the collaborative efforts with schools and volunteers ensure these vital resources reach 1,000 women in need.
What all three projects demonstrate is the practical strength of the cluster model. When organizations specialize – doctors focus on clinical care, schools bring skilled volunteers, civic groups handle logistics – the whole becomes more than the sum of its parts. As our Medical Camp Lead, Ziad Javed provided an explanation regarding the simultaneous launch of all three projects:
“We conducted a survey here and then worked on the issues identified. We launched 3 projects here which includes medical camp, clothes drive and menstrual hygiene. Our female team, working on MHM, the females who are coming here we are especially guiding them to visit our female team, where we are providing kits.”
– Ziad Javed (SFY Leader)
Specialists avoid duplication, lower unit costs, and accelerate delivery. Donors who support a coordinated cluster get better value for every rupee: higher reach, clearer accountability, and sustained operations that can pivot from immediate relief to long-term recovery.
Yet true impact hinges on the grassroots: local leaders who open halls for sewing circles and identify the most vulnerable; volunteers who canvass neighborhoods door-to-door and run house meetings to build trust; and beneficiaries who, far from being passive recipients, become partners in distribution and oversight.
All Hands on Deck: Much-needed care Is Needed
There is urgency still. These first rounds of assistance have been vital, but floods of this scale require sustained engagement: more medical coverage, water and sanitation systems, livelihood supports, and psychosocial care. If you are reading this and wondering where your help matters most, the answer is here: supporting collaborative, local-led coalitions like FRI25 multiplies impact. Donors can fund medical camps, underwrite transport logistics for distribution pipelines, or back community training that keeps aid channels running after the headlines move on. Ijaz, a leader from Al-Islah organization emphasis:
“Among all the welfare organizations that have been active in Buner, the Society for Youth is the only ones working on female hygiene. This is a crucial area that needs more focus, as a lot of work has been done on food packages and other activities, but not on female hygiene. We need to join our efforts to expand this work to other areas like Swat, Mingora, and Buner as well.”
– Ansar Ziad – Al Islah Member
SFY’s model is not merely about giving more; it is about connecting better. It is about creating a durable, human infrastructure – teachers who sew, doctors who travel to remote valleys, community centers that double as distribution hubs. This is how we protect lives today and how we lay down the first stones of long-term recovery.
We are deeply grateful to our dedicated team of SFY volunteers and leaders, Azhar Zeb, Salman Khan, Roh Ullah, Talha Bacha, Mahmood Bacha, Ghawer Khan, Ziad Khattak, Armaghan Ahmed, and Nida Nasreen, whose tireless efforts made this relief possible. Special thanks to our partners at Beaconhouse (Ma’am Saeeda, Ma’am Nadia, Ma’am Alishba), Al-Islah (Ijaz Bhai, Haris Khan, Ansar Ziad, and the female team), and the Medical Team (Dr. Saad, Dr. Naveed, Salman) for their invaluable service. We are equally thankful to Dar-e-Arqam and the many local leaders and community members who stood with us in this difficult time. Together, your compassion and commitment are rebuilding hope. We invite other institutions- schools, hospitals, corporate partners, and individuals – to join this clusterTo support FRI25, please contact info@society4youth.org or you can donate online via “Donate” (Please use VPN). Every kit sewn, every patient treated, and every family clothed brings us closer to rebuilding normal life for thousands whose routines have been shattered.
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About SFY
Society For Youth (SFY) is a non-profit organization committed to fostering sustainable community development through grassroots organizing, education, and empowering local leadership. SFY’s broad-based model emphasizes relationality and collective action, working to address complex social challenges and build resilient communities from within.
To learn more about our work, donate, or support our mission, please feel free to reach out to us via info@society4youth.org. You can also visit the #40in4Campaign website for more insights into the foundational research that led to LIME Pakistan.