Cash vouchers boost business in flood-ravaged Sindh

Business is booming for Makhno Khan, a 65 year old shopkeeper from Village Qasim Mahar, District Sukkur, Sindh, who used to wonder what he would do to run his house. Makhno Khan owned a shop which was destroyed in the catastrophic floods of 2010.

Makhno Khan had a small grocery shop in his village. He was earning PKR 80 to 100/day (US $0.89 to 1.11/day). “That income was quite enough to feed me and my two daughters,” says Makhno Khan. He was living a simple but good life. Everything was going in a nice way until the 2010 floods hit Makhno’s village.

“We lived in a camp for at least one month… There was nothing left. There was nothing to eat, no place to live, it was just water, water. Everyone was surviving on the clothes on their backs."

Makhno Khan lost his house, shop and his belongings in the epic flood. “We lived in a camp for at least one month… There was nothing left. There was nothing to eat, no place to live, it was just water, water. Everyone was surviving on the clothes on their backs. There was nothing left here,” Makhno Khan recalled the miserable memories of 2010 flood.

When he returned to his village he faced a painful scene: most of the houses were flooded. Those that were not, were likely destroyed; all of the fields containing wheat and rice crops were destroyed. Makhno Khan’s shop which was the only source for him to feed his children was also washed away.

“I was too old to do labour work,” says Makhno Khan. His worries were growing day by day as he was left with nothing and his old age and health made labour work difficult. Makhno Khan decided to be a caretaker of cattle and managed to get two cows on terms that he look after the cows and in return he sell the milk. He was getting PKR 70 to 80/day (less than US $1/day) by selling milk.

His daughters Asma, 18, and Amna, 16, couldn’t bear to see their old father working in such a hardship, so they also decided to work. They worked in the field and got PKR 120/day (US $1.33/day) but they were employed just for three months, because the monsoon rains of 2011 again hit their village, which affected the crops badly and Makhno Khan’s daughters became unemployed. When this occurred, the burden was again shifted to old shoulders of Makhno Khan.

Things were getting worse for Makhno Khan but then there was a new ray of hope, when he received a Cash Voucher worth PKR 30,000 (US $333.33) from World Vision. He invested PKR 15,000 (US $167) to reconstruct his old shop and from the remaining amount he put grocery and confectionary in that shop.

“It was really a dream-come-true situation for me,” remarked Makhno Khan. “I got my source of employment back, my daughters don’t need to work anymore, now I can properly feed them and my community members do not need to go to other place; they can buy the necessary items in their own village,” said Makhno Khan joyfully.

Makhno Khan now earns PKR 100 to 150/day (US $1.10 to 1.67/day) from his newly constructed shop, now he does not worry about feeding his children. “I am happy now; all I think is to expand my business as that I can better look after my daughters,” says Makhno Khan, who is thankful to World Vision for supporting him in his difficult time.

As a rehabilitating activity for restoring micro income generation within affected communities, World Vision facilitated 50 micro and small business owners from 15 villages of Sindh to establish and run micro and small businesses. The entrepreneurs, along with Community Based Organizations (CBOs), identified and prioritized enterprises to be initiated with simple business plans and the respective roles of each member were defined for cash voucher grants of PKR 30,000 (US $333). Priority for grant of cash voucher was given to those individuals who came up with or suggested business opportunities and had the potential for quick establishment and operation within the affected community.
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