500 Friends

*Our largest area of expenditure was to provide emergency food and household support to five villages affected by an outbreak of widespread community violence and ransacking of homes in an area within the Punjab province *Our second significant area of expenditure was the provision of funds and supervision for the construction of new secure single room dwellings for four families living in unsafe or overcrowded situations. Basic sanitation facilities and a simple electricity supply was included in most cases *We provided electric and solar powered fans/water coolers to several vulnerable individuals and families *We separately provided funds to install toilets and water pumps for several families who had no access to these facilities *We provide support to students at primary, secondary and post secondary levels, including fees and stationery needs for 25 children in grade school classes, and fees, transport and boarding costs for seven students in post secondary training courses, primarily midwifery. *As part of the relief efforts for the villages affected by the community violence outbreak (above) audio bibles were requested by those households and were supplied as well as the food and household furniture and bedding which were needed. *Health and medical needs were met for several individuals some requiring ongoing assistance due to chronic conditions, and others requiring help for emergency illnesses. *Assistance with transport either as bicycles or motorcycles was provided to several individuals to enable them to have more available hours for paid work. Other families received sewing machines to allow additional income from home based businesses. *We continued to provide monthly food support to 5 vulnerable widow led families *We contributed to the incidental costs of project work, including the maintenance of our Partners' vehicle which is an essential part of project supervision. In many areas there is no available public transport which is either safe or practical for the work being done.