Show students this photograph, which is available in a powerpoint. Invite them to say what they think is happening.
©Reuters/ Alertnet
After discussion, read out the caption provided by the news agency Reuters:
"A villager fleeing from floodwaters carries a handmade rope bed on his head while taking refuge on high ground in Thatta some 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Karachi in Pakistan's Sindh province August 31, 2010. A month after torrential monsoon rains triggered Pakistan's worst natural disaster on record, flood waters are starting to recede - but there are countless survivors at risk of death from hunger and disease."
Activity ideas
- What might be the hopes and fears of the man pictured? How would students' themselves feel if they were in his position? Write a different caption that brings out the human story.
- Invite students to find another picture, from a website or newspaper, that conveys a different human story about the Pakistan floods. Share and explain with the whole group.
- Boardblast a list of what students think surviving after the floods means. What is essential? Think about emotional and psychological needs as well as physical. Is, for instance, mourning the dead essential?
- The flood waters are now receding. Does that mean things are getting better? Or is the worst yet to come for the people of the affected areas? Invite students to research two reasons that would back up each side of the argument.