Qatar Charity (QC) has successfully installed 80 hand pumps in remote areas of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, providing clean drinking water to over 10,000 beneficiaries.

The initiative, implemented through Qatar Charity’s Pakistan Branch, comes with the generous support of donors in Qatar and reflects Qatar Charity’s ongoing commitment to ensuring access to safe water for the most vulnerable communities.

The project involved installing 40 hand pumps in the Charsadda district and another 40 in the Mardan district. It aimed to address the urgent water needs of vulnerable communities, reduce the spread of waterborne diseases, and improve access to local water sources.

The installation of hand pumps in the Charsadda and Mardan districts directly responded to the acute shortage of water supply schemes in these areas. This scarcity has deepened the daily struggles of residents, particularly in remote villages where most families cannot afford the high cost of deep-well pumps. Consequently, many rely on shallow, low-cost alternatives that often fail to deliver clean and safe drinking water, exposing communities to significant health risks from waterborne diseases.

Beneficiaries expressed profound gratitude for the initiative, emphasizing its vital role in improving their quality of life. The availability of a reliable and safe drinking water source has eased their daily struggle to collect water and significantly reduced the burden on women and children.

In this context, Mrs. Lubna Gul, a widow residing with her children in a remote village in the Charsadda district, shared her experience: “We used to depend on brackish water, which repeatedly made my children sick. I couldn’t afford medical treatment, but everything changed after the hand pump was installed. Thankfully, my children are now healthy and doing well.”

Mrs. Haseena Khan from the Mardan district noted that her children used to miss school to fetch water from a distant location. She added, “Now that water is available near our home, my children can attend school regularly, and I have started learning sewing to help improve our family’s income.”

In 2024, Qatar Charity installed more than 1,100 hand pumps across Pakistan, ensuring access to clean and safe drinking water for nearly 55,000 individuals. This included the installation of 250 hand pumps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), benefiting more than 27,000 people in that province alone.