In the summer of 2010, Pakistan was hit by severe floods which, according to UN was‘the greatest humanitarian crisis in recent history’. I was able, as part of Islamic Relief, to visit the flood stricken areas in Khyber Pukhtoon khawa, Punjab and Sindh to help the people and see the damage. 21 million people were affected by the floods that swept through the country, leaving millions without homes and families. I have been regularly visiting Pakistan to see how the country had progr

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Well I was hoping to hear some good news this morning about my departure to Wajir, North Kenya but no luck. I am told due to heavy air passenger load I am added on a waiting list. The frustrating thing is that there is only one flight to wajir per day and a long waiting list. I needed a local mobile sim so heading out to safaricom office, the main mobile network provider. Orange is also here. Back in my office, time to edit and upload a video blog I made of Islamic Relief's CEO Saleh Saeed

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Our Scotland branch of Islamic Relief will be marking the anniversary of the devastating Pakistan floods with an event in the Glasgow city council on July 25, where I will be thanking the Scottish public for their generous response to the devastating floods disaster. I have just returned from Pakistan where I saw amazing examples of how the Scottish public’s support has been used. A young girl named Khatija who was born into the horror of homelessness in the middle of the floods now has a

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I was sleeping in my hotel room in Islamabad when a major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 struck various parts of Pakistan this morning. The epicentre of the quake was 150 kilometres northwest of Kharan and 300 kilometres from Quetta. This earthquake took nearly everyone by surprise. It was around 1.20am when I first felt the earthquake; it felt in the dark as if I was on a boat, sailing in rough. My room shook easily; the shaking was like nothing I have ever experienced before. I thou

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The year 2010 was a ‘mixed bag’ for me. There were some positive aspects and events but mostly the year was one of sorrow and pain. Infect 2010 was the most catastrophic year for humanity in the last four decades. Man-made and natural disasters took their tool. Horror of Earthquakes, volcanoes, heat waves, Pakistan floods, landslides and droughts killed at least quarter million people around the world in 2010. Earthquakes not just hit in Haiti but China, Chile, Turkey and New Zeal

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The past weekend has been a very busy one for me. I had to present my eye-witness account of Pakistan floods and fund raise in Edinburgh and Lanark during 2 fundraising dinners. Over £115,000 were raised from the 2 events. On Saturday evening the fundraiser dinner for the Pakistan flood victims was in Edinburgh (Royal Highland Centre). The event was organised and hosted by the community of Edinburgh. It was truly inspiring to see that local Edinburgh organisations came together and were

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Week 1 Diary Week 2 Diary Day 6 5.30am I left from Islamabad City to Lunda village. We arrived at 7.30am and saw amongst the ruins that people were waiting for us. As soon as we got out the cars, we were surrounded by men and children hugging and kissing us. Everyone wanted to hug and speak to me which was very emotional. Everyone was still wearing the same dirty ripped clothes from Eid. The Imam of the village spoke to me and thanked me for spending Eid with them. He asked me to tel

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