Dispatch from the field: Counting on community

Madison Stadler-Rose worked at the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat in Pakistan as part of AKFC’s International Youth Fellowship program. Her Fellowship took her to Hunza, in northern Pakistan, where she worked on emergency management and disaster preparedness initiatives – read her reflections through her Dispatch from the field.


Watching a community come together is a powerful thing to witness.

When people support one another by combining their resources and abilities, they can achieve much more than they would on an individual level.

This became clear to me during my AKFC Fellowship in Pakistan, which took place at the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat Pakistan (AKAHP). I was based in Islamabad, but I was fortunate enough to go on a few field visits to Hunza over the course of my time there. My visit to this region really put things into perspective and helped me gain a deeper understanding of the projects and activities of AKAHP, including Emergency Management and Disaster Preparedness. These are critical initiatives in Pakistan, as there are many natural disasters annually. Emergency Management (EM) quickly became my area of expertise.

Hunza, Pakistan.

Upon arrival at AKAHP in Islamabad, I spent many days learning the ins and outs of EM to get a full scope of what disasters in Pakistan look like. But reading reports and documents in an office setting only got me so far. I got more detailed and firsthand insights from my field visits.

Balancing work and leisure – Madison in front of Passu Cones.

The north of Pakistan is an unexpectedly beautiful landscape. With pristine waters, and untouched mountain peaks, I was in complete awe. I remember saying to my colleagues over and over again, “People just wake up and see this every day?”

Hunza, Pakistan.

Every project site and community we visited had a special story behind it, and I was so enthralled with everything that I was hearing. From water sanitization and supply systems to green construction, I became prouder to be a part of the AKAHP with every project I visited.

An early warning system.

One rural community that stuck with me was Passu, a small village located along the Hunza River in the Gilgit-Baltistan region. The strength and motivation within that community were inspiring! This is a community that AKAHP has been working with for many years, and they found strength in unity. This community is particularly vulnerable to flash floods from the nearby glaciers and floods, as well as floods from heavy rains during the rainy season. Because of these reoccurring disasters, the community is very knowledgeable about the time of year that is particularly risky, what groups of people need more assistance during a disaster, and what they need to continue to strengthen as a community. AKAHP has helped the community with activities, such as flood mitigation walls, Early Warning Systems (EWS), disaster preparedness and response equipment, and emergency management training.

One moving way that we saw the community working together was during their disaster simulation. The whole community came together to practice how they would respond to a disaster, and how to deal with it in the best way possible. They then reflected on what they learned from the simulation. This was beyond impressive! I learned that an EWS was implemented several years prior and specific community members were trained on the functioning of this system. The purpose of an EWS is to detect when an onset disaster and warn the community members through a siren. However, after the first disaster, it became clear that not everyone understood the system.  Some elderly people in the community did not know what the sound was or what it meant, so they did not evacuate. Immediately after this, the community members came together to inform everybody about the EWS and ensure there was total understanding so that the next time, it would have a greater effect. This improvement was lifesaving.

This simulation demonstrated all the different roles that members of the community would play during a disaster, ensuring people and animals alike were considered, providing first aid to those in need, and acting fast to reduce the impact the disaster would have on people in the community. I was amazed at how well everyone worked together, knowing what needed to be done and completing it efficiently and effectively.

Simulation and explanation of first aid processes during an emergency.

Following the simulation, we held an open discussion with the community members, where they shared challenges they were still having, identified improvements that could be made, and mentioned how AKAHP could help them achieve their goals. This was a positive and productive conversation and will lead to continual community improvements in the future.

Discussions with Passu community members.

Through the training sessions and activities with AKAHP, it is possible for communities like Passu to get the skills and resources to deal with disasters.

The construction of a flood mitigation wall along the river back, next to a river that commonly floods due to glacial melt and heavy rains.

Although there are never-ending challenges around the world, especially in developing countries, this experience gives me hope that, together, groups of people can overcome difficulties.

There is a famous quote that says, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” And I think this is demonstrated so well in communities that find strength and resilience in the face of difficulty.