When the Border Trade Slows: Reaching an NGO in Chaman From Your Home

Chaman is Pakistan’s gateway to Kandahar. Its bazaar stretches towards the crossing at the Afghan border, and for generations its people have lived from what moves through it: fruit, cloth, goods loaded on handcarts, lorries waiting for clearance. When the border is open and busy, Chaman earns. When it is closed or the rules tighten, porters, drivers and small traders can find themselves with no income overnight. People searching for an NGO in Chaman are often in exactly that position, or are dealing with sickness, money owed, or a quarrel at home.

Peace and Humanity Welfare Organization (PHWO) is willing to hear from Chaman families, though it runs no office, centre or local team in the district; everything is done from its single office in Larkana, Sindh, by internet or through volunteers. Using PHWO costs nothing. A volunteer checks every request, support is given only when a need is confirmed and possible to meet, and no one should expect a particular outcome.

Chaman in the 2023 count

Chaman appears as a separate district in the 2023 Census, with 466,218 people on 1,341 square kilometres (PBS census, Balochistan districts). About 28 percent were urban, and households averaged 7.5 people. The Chaman City sub-division alone held 130,139 people on only 22 square kilometres. Strikingly, the census found about 127 men for every 100 women in the district, possibly reflecting how many men come here for trade and labour. More than 99 in every 100 residents grew up speaking Pashto (PBS mother-tongue table).

Porters, drivers and traders

Many Chaman men have long worked as porters pushing loaded carts, as loaders and drivers, or in small shops that depend on cross-border customers. This work rarely has any contract. In recent years, changes to crossing rules and long closures have disrupted it repeatedly, and many households have borrowed simply to eat while waiting for business to return.

If your income stopped this way, tell PHWO through Request help: the work you did, when it ended, how many depend on you, and how much you have borrowed. Food for the household, paying off a loan, medical bills, school fees and rent may all be requested. Include any evidence you have.

Orchards, water and weather

Around the town, families grow grapes, pomegranates and melons where water allows, and keep sheep and goats. Groundwater has been falling across northern Balochistan, and tubewells need expensive power or diesel. Winters are cold and dry, and summers hot. A failed harvest or dead livestock can leave a household in debt for years.

Losses from drought, frost or flood can be included in your request, with photographs if possible. The 2022 monsoon floods caused damage across most of Balochistan (ReliefWeb).

Girls and boys in Chaman who want to continue beyond school often have to go to Quetta, which means hostel costs, transport and books. A student who needs fees or a laptop to keep studying can include enrolment proof in the request. Computer skills and trade training appear among PHWO’s Programmes, and women who can only work from home may ask about the women’s empowerment area. For a widow or a woman whose husband is away, a trusted male or female relative can help make the application, as long as her own name and phone number are given.

Making a request from Chaman

1. Go to the online form or message PHWO from your free PHWO account.
2. Explain in Pashto, or in any language you prefer, who is in your home and what you need.
3. Add a clear live photo, and any papers you have, such as prescriptions or loan notes.
4. Keep your phone available; a volunteer might call.

Nobody collects money for PHWO at the border, in the bazaar or anywhere else. The service is free, and a person demanding payment in its name is not from PHWO.

Legal advice in Chaman

Civil, criminal and family matters are heard in Chaman’s local courts, while appeals travel to the provincial high court sitting in Quetta. Family law questions are common: dower, maintenance, khula, custody of children after divorce. Disputes over shops, rented premises and debts between traders also end up in court.

Send your documents and a clear description through Free legal aid. Volunteer advocates will explain what the law allows. You do not need to have filed an FIR. Anything involving children or a hearing within days is looked at first. Representation in court by a volunteer depends on availability and is never assured.

Public services in Chaman

• The District Headquarters Hospital Chaman; complicated cases are referred to Quetta.
• 15 for police; Levies also serve parts of the district.
• BISP Kafaalat for eligible women: text the CNIC number to 8171 or see bisp.gov.pk.
• PDMA Balochistan during floods and droughts (pdma.gob.pk).
• The Balochistan government portal for provincial departments.

How Chaman people can give or volunteer

Successful traders and Chaman families in Quetta, Karachi or the Gulf may Donate money or goods, or adopt a checked household through Sponsor a case. Zakat and Sadaqah go on to needy people without deduction; the Zakat calculator helps traders value stock and cash. Chaman’s lawyers, teachers and fundraisers abroad could sign up as a Volunteer, and receive a certificate, a letter of appreciation and an experience letter.

Public services in Chaman you can also use

• Courts at ChamanCivil, criminal and family cases
• High Court of Balochistan, QuettaAppeals
• District Headquarters Hospital ChamanGovernment hospital
• Police / LeviesDial 15
• BISP office ChamanSMS CNIC to 8171
• PDMA BalochistanDisaster relief
• Government of BalochistanProvincial departments

These are public or independent services, listed to help you. They are not part of PHWO.

Frequently asked questions