Save Pakistan, a crypto fund for flood relief, has started the ‘H2O Portable Toilets’ project in flood-affected parts of the country in an effort to address flood victims’ sanitation issues.
According to the details, it launched this initiative in collaboration with an NFT fundraising organization, Tayaba.org. Recently, with its flood relief efforts in Mirpurkhaas, SavePakistan helped over 2,000 people.
With the support of @Savepakistanorg campaign, Tayaba has launched 'H2O Portable Toilets'-an impactful initiative that will lead to the well-being of over 525 flood surviving lives!
In collaboration with @SRSO,Tayaba installed 10 Eco-friendly Toilets in district Mirpurkhas, Sindh pic.twitter.com/CmV6UjvB8k— Tayaba.org (@H2oTayaba) November 11, 2022
Save Pakistan is a crypto fundraising initiative created by web3 professionals to raise funds to provide emergency relief goods to people affected by floods in Pakistan. The initiative is supported by professionals from Unchain Fund, Tayaba Organization, and climate activists worldwide.
With its relief efforts in Mirpurkhas, Save Pakistan, in collaboration with Tayaba.org, has helped over 200 families (approximately 2,100 people) by providing 200 ration bags and 70 H2O Wheels.
Launched on 6 September 2022, in the aftermath of the devastation caused by the monsoon floods in Pakistan, Save Pakistan aims to tap every possible avenue to raise funds for the victims of the horrific floods. Currently, 1/3rd of the country is underwater, more than 1730 people have died, 4.4+ million acres of crops have been destroyed, and 1.164+ million livestock have been lost. The floods destroyed 2.28+ million homes and displaced 50 million people.
Drawing inspiration from Unchain’s previously pioneered model of raising $10 million in humanitarian aid in Ukraine, including a $2.5 million donation from Vitalik Buterin, Save Pakistan disburses all of the donations raised from crypto community-led initiatives among major grassroots-level partners with deep penetration and access to marginalized and flood-affected areas. Recently, Team Save Pakistan and its co-founding partner Tayaba.org collaborated to facilitate one of the heavily destructed areas of Sindh, Mirpukhas, with its relief products like portable toilets, H2O Wheels, and Ration Bags.
Save Pakistan built the first ever eco-friendly and sustainable sanitation system made from locally sourced materials, such as bamboo, that gets functional within 5-7 days, serving up to 60 people. The portable toilets provide a hygienic drainage system through a PVC pipe and a proper water closet system, with an appropriate locking system and cloth cover to ensure privacy. The team set up 10 portable toilets in the Kewro Nuqrich UC Samaro and the Ali Bux Kaloi near Kot Mir Jan.
The H2O (Help-2-Others) Wheel is a 40-liter clean water transporter and storage container. The team distributed 70 H2O Wheels to 70 families in the village of Ali Bux Kaloi. The ration bags include dry foods like sugar (3 kg), flour (20 kg), rice (5 kg), tea (180 g), pulses and lentils (3 kg), salt iodized (800 g), and cooking oil (3 L), enough to serve 7-8 people for 15-20 days. The team distributed 200 ration bags to 200 families in Mirpurkhas.
While Save Pakistan continues with its relief efforts for flood-affected areas and fundraising efforts through collaboration with different Web3 communities like Cardano for Pakistan and TEIA Community for the Tezos Art Flood Relief Fundraiser by participating in Gitcoin #GR15 Climate Solutions or by launching its project on Giveth.io, it will soon launch the first-ever NFTs tied to real-world humanitarian relief goods.
CJ Hetherington, a Web3 entrepreneur, helping to drive forward the initiative, explained, “This is an evolutionary opportunity for members of the public to own & curate the life-saving impact they’re able to provide to the frontlines of a humanitarian catastrophe. With years of experience, the deep rural penetration and modern logistics driven by our founding partners Tayaba in Pakistan and other ground-level NGOs and stakeholders reflect that we can provide instant impact – saving thousands of lives.”
He added, “As you can see, the impact has already been extraordinary. We’re planning to move as soon as possible into this model whereby people can purchase goods like emergency shelters, ration bags, & clean water as NFTs and see them distributed to families in need on the ground in Pakistan with robust retroactive impact reporting.”
Previously, Tayaba’s work has been recognized by the Ministry of Water Resources of Pakistan (MWRP). The founder, Bilal Bin Saqib from Pakistan, is a Web3 enthusiast who has received the Points of Light Award from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for relief work during the COVID-19 pandemic and received a letter of appreciation from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s office. Bilal was also named in Forbes 30U30 Asia.
Bilal Bin Saqib mentioned, “The crypto adoption in Pakistan is tremendous. About 9 million Pakistanis own cryptocurrencies, and their cumulative ownership amounts to $20 billion, almost twice the amount in Pakistan’s foreign reserves. Pakistan, the world’s 5th most populous country, is ranked 3rd in the Chanialysis Global Crypto Adoption Index 2020–21. Yet the government has prohibited the use of crypto; however, an initiative like Save Pakistan does not only help the flood victims but is also helping lobby the government to ease regulations and policy making towards crypto.”
