MIRPUR KHAS In the countryside of Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh, women carry water on their heads in their colorful dresses along dirt roads that cut between mango groves and banana plantations.
The region is fertile because of the Indus River that flows through the province.
The last time the river caused massive damage was during the monsoon in 2022, when it flooded. About a third of Pakistan was submerged, two million people were left homeless and more than 1,700 died. Most of the destruction was right here in the south.
It was different in this Hindu village in Mirpur Khasi municipality; all the houses remained intact.
Even from a distance, you can see a few colorful bamboo structures raised to high levels. A large village opens up closer, full of even lower houses.
Everything is built from bamboo and a mixture of limestone and mud. That made them strong enough against floods.
– There will be no damage to these houses. We are no longer in danger during floods. Our children and families are still able to live in these new houses, village resident Prem Kumar says.
In the past, this was not the case: the houses were simple mud huts. In 2021, the entire village was swept away by the annual floodwaters. Since then, the village has been rebuilt in a more sustainable way.
Although floods are common in Pakistan, experts say they have become more severe in recent years in this country, which is extremely vulnerable to climate change.
Pakistan produces less than one percent of the world’s greenhouse gases. The effects are still felt most severely here: the country ranks among the world’s most vulnerable countries.
The architect draws ideas from ancient culture
The Bamboo Houses are by Pakistan’s first female architect Yasmeen Larin invention. The houses have a zero carbon footprint, and the materials are extremely cheap and available from nearby areas.
Now eighty-year-old Lari developed the method of building bamboo houses after retiring in 2000.
The successful architect, who had a long career at the time, started working on natural disasters through his own organization, the Heritage Foundation.
It made him realize that environmental friendliness had to be brought to architecture as well, especially at the grassroots level.
– I originally built bamboo houses in earthquake areas as an alternative solution to tents, because bamboo was a cheap, easily available material. I soon noticed that it was also very solid and tenacious, Lari says by phone from California, where he is visiting.
So he decided to start using bamboo in flooded areas as well, with his own funding.
He also drew ideas from the thousands of years old way of building of the Indus culture. That led him to discover limestone: when mixed with mud, the result is waterproof.
– No one trusted my idea then, Lari says.
Now, according to Lari, there are already around 32,000 flood-proof houses in Sindh.
What is important to Lari in projects is a holistic approach. So he does not focus only on floods, but also on how to learn to live in the villages of Pakistan despite climate change.
The organization wants to teach the villagers to live with floods
About 50 years old Kaani Kumari is building the foundations of the extension of his house in the village. She sits on the ground in her bluish dress, mixes mud with cow dung and water, and smooths bricks with the mixture.
Women are actively involved in work in the village.
– Our old house was destroyed in floods a couple of years ago, Kumari says.
Not all the houses in the village have been rebuilt yet.
– We had to live on the road for months, the woman recalls.
The floods destroyed not only the houses, but also the livelihoods of the villagers. Domestic animals died, crops were destroyed.
Yasmeen Lari wants to develop as local and innovative solutions for villages as possible.
– I don’t want to appear as an outsider who comes to give alms, but as a person who shares knowledge, he says.
Now the villages grow vegetables, feed for domestic animals and solar panels have been installed on the roofs of the houses with the help of the organization.
Lari has already managed to guarantee food security for 300,000 families in Sindh through his work. That means about ten percent of the population living in rural areas of the province.
It is possible to learn to live with floods.
– We don’t always have to treat water as an enemy, says Lari.
Floodwaters leave behind slowly drying ponds. The villagers have started raising fish in them.
According to Lari, many of the village’s problems have been very easy to solve.
She is washing her toddler at the nearby water pump Kimi Kumari.
– Before, we had to walk three hours to the river every day to fetch water, he says.
Lari’s organization pulled a water pipe to the village from the irrigation canal next to the road and installed a pump. Now women have time to do a lot more.
Villagers are taught to be self-sufficient
According to Yasmeen Lari, organizations in Pakistan have used to employ poor villagers by directing them to sell handicrafts at high prices to foreign countries or to the rich elites of the cities.
Lari’s model works differently: villagers sell cheap and necessary products to other villagers.
– Many of them earn a lot of money now, Lari says.
One particularly successful village woman is in her forties Dani Kumari.
Kumari, who earns money by sewing, presents the beautiful, colorful clothes and blankets she makes. He also sells the skills he learned on: the villagers are now training each other. Kumari has also won awards for her work in the village community.
– I never went to school. I am illiterate, he says.
The most important thing for Lar is that in the end the villagers would not need any external funding at all, because it is still difficult for him to get it for his projects. It is also planned to start cultivating bamboo near the village.
In Lari’s opinion, charity is degrading and does not treat the poor with dignity.
– No one wants to be the target of charity, Lari says.
He criticized the colonialist approach of the UN and Western countries and would like it to be completely forgotten.
– All these people who survive disasters and become homeless are not disabled. They can be taught to take care of themselves, he adds.
Videos by Junaid Nawab