P R O F I L E
relief camps, building community trusts and
generally devising a long-term intervention
plan. She says, “I hand over the project to our
team of architects, accountants and economists,
who selflessly volunteer, to take it further.” She
adds, “Since I am a professional psychologist,
my work also involves managing the mental
health of victims and relationship building as a
whole.”
The Challenges
As a young Pakistani woman, one would expect
towering challenges to face in such a line of
work. However, perhaps our pure intentions
do pave and smoothen the way. Other than
safety issues, everyone around Sharmeen was
extremely supportive. She says with a smile that
families would invite her home and extend a warm
welcome. Many times, she might have been the sole
woman chairing a meeting but she would still be given
the due respect.
Sharmeen, however, did have many challenges initially
getting the various skilled volunteers that were
required. “When I moved to Karachi and manned
the organization’s office here, I was the only volunteer
as our head office runs from Lahore. My father and
brother joined me and we would go every weekend
to Sindh for the construction of a school and broken
houses in Mir Pur Khas. We continued like this for 2
years before finally building a bigger team of doctors,
accountants, social mobilisers, trekkers and survey
experts.
Also, dealing with the emotional and psychological
shocks of seeing victims of the floods was extremely
challenging. “One has to manage oneself a lot
internally when on the ground. We would witness load
shedding, dilapidated houses, post-flood epidemics and
the real human distress on a daily basis. Being human,
we could not completely remain detached from what
we were witnessing. Our work would take a toll on us
and we would have to know when to take a break and
seek the support we needed from our team. However,
I suppose, seeing the victims of the disaster close-up,
built our resilience to continue this mission to help.
We could not just leave those who needed us.”
Inspiring Others
The experience of working with Resettling the
Indus has been quite an eye-opening one. Sharmeen
emphasizes how she is amazed by the warmth of her
country’s people. Strangers have gone out of their way
to welcome her. “People have simply opened their
homes and hearts to me. Even now, I am touched
that I can call so many people my family,” she
says. She does feel that her family has expanded
beyond measure.
Other than the warmth she has received,
Sharmeen is also happy that through her
work, she has been able to touch lives and
make a difference. She recalls how a certain
girl named Shazia from Muzaffargarh who
was 7 then, would quietly observe Sharmeen
and her fellow team mates as they went about
their volunteer duties. Soon, Shazia began to
shadow Sharmeen, becoming her tour guide.
Through Shazia’s interaction with Sharmeen,
she strengthened her resolve to educate
herself. Girls in that village would often not
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