AN ON-GROUND VIEW OF RELIEF, REBUILDING AFTER SHAHEEN

Called to help people in Khabourah region in the wake of cyclone Shaheen, our reporter signed on as a volunteer

MUSCAT: Thanks to the help of thousands of volunteers from across the country, and the tireless efforts of the government, emergency services and security forces, the rebuilding process is moving along quickly and continues to gather speed. Thanks to them, basic services were speedily restored, and life continues to rapidly return to normal.

Of course, government agencies were quick to put rebuilding efforts into practice, but huge credit must go to all the volunteers, without whom the reconstruction would have taken a lot, lot longer. Together, they have helped clean homes and roads of debris and mud, replant trees that have been washed away, taken part in search and rescue, organised relief supplies for people affected, selflessly cooked food for those involved in reconstruction, and offered their specialised skills, in case they were needed.

It is safe to say that during a time of great need, these volunteers came forward to aid their countrymen.

When the government called for volunteers, I was among the first to sign up: I could not bear to see the condition in which Shaheen had left the northern portion of my homeland. I was very pleasantly surprised to see there are thousands across the country who share the same mentality I do.

Among them is the 80-year-old Nasser bin Abdullah Al Amri, who came all the way from Jabal Akhdar with his family to help people in Khabourah.

“How can we sleep at night, knowing that our brothers and sisters in other parts of the country have lost everything, and are facing so many problems?” he told me, when I asked him why he had come, despite having no obligation to do so.

When we first saw the situation in Khabourah, Suwaiq, and other parts of Oman where Shaheen left its trail of destruction, we wondered whether we were in a war zone.

Many of those caught in the aftermath of Shaheen hoped what they were experiencing was just a very bad nightmare, and wished it would be over soon.

Volunteers had come from everywhere to help: from Sur, Sohar, Nizwa, Buraimi, even from as far as Salalah. They all showed the same spirit of togetherness and unity, and had come all this way to help, expecting no reward in return.

People who lived in areas nearby willingly offered a place to stay to those who had suffered during Shaheen.