Tando Allahyar's Farm Workers and Families: PHWO Is Here to Listen

Tando Allahyar lies on the road east of Hyderabad, among mango orchards, banana plots and sugarcane fields watered by the canals of the Kotri Barrage. It is productive land, but much of the labour on it is done by haris and daily-wage workers who own nothing but their skills. For a family that has run out of food or credit, the question is often where to turn. Peace and Humanity Welfare Organization (PHWO), a voluntary welfare body with no party or sectarian ties, is a free NGO in Tando Allahyar that people of every faith may approach.

Please understand that PHWO does not have an office in Tando Allahyar, Chambar or Jhando Mari, and has no one posted there. The organisation is run from a single head office in Larkana. You can reach it from Tando Allahyar online, by messaging PHWO from a free PHWO account, or through a volunteer.

Haris, advances and bonded debt

Sharecroppers in lower Sindh commonly take an advance from the landowner for food, seed or a wedding, to be repaid from their share of the crop. When the harvest is poor, the balance carries over, and some families have remained in debt for years. The Sindh Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 2015 makes forced labour against a debt illegal, and district administrations have released such families in the past.

If you are held against your will because of a debt, contact the police on 15 or the district administration. You can also ask PHWO for guidance on the free legal aid page. For households that are free but struggling, a request for ration or towards a debt can be made through Request help. Every case is checked, and PHWO does not promise help in advance.

The district by the 2023 Census

Tando Allahyar District had 922,012 residents in 2023, up from 838,527 in 2017, on 1,554 square kilometres. It is densely settled for a farming district, at about 593 people per square kilometre, and 31 percent of its people live in towns such as Tando Allahyar, Chambar and Jhando Mari.

The census report places Tando Allahyar in the 30 to 40 percent literacy group, one of six such districts in Sindh, and among districts where somewhere between 45 and 60 percent of 5 to 16 year olds are missing from school. Sindhi is the main language; Urdu is common in the towns, and Hindu Kolhi, Bheel and Meghwar communities have their own dialects.

How to request help

On the Request help page, choose the need that fits: ration, clearing a loan, medical costs, fees, rent, flood losses, or a laptop or phone for studies or a job. Then add a live photo of yourself.

A volunteer may check the details with you. After that, PHWO weighs whether the need is established and within its means, and help is arranged only then. There is no fee, no fixed amount and no timeline promised.

Free legal aid in Tando Allahyar

In Tando Allahyar, as elsewhere, the legal problems that reach PHWO are overwhelmingly family ones: khula, unpaid maintenance, custody of children or the return of dowry. In this district such cases go before the family judges at the Tando Allahyar district courts.

Send your details through the free legal aid page; there is no need to have gone to the police. If a child is involved, or the hearing is only days away, write that at the start so our volunteer advocates see it first. No particular lawyer or outcome can be promised. Ask at the district courts, too, about the District Legal Empowerment Committee, which can pay for a lawyer when you cannot. The Sindh women’s helpline 1094 gives advice to women facing violence.

Phones and laptops for young people

Being close to Hyderabad means many Tando Allahyar students commute to colleges and universities there or in Jamshoro. For them, a device is no longer a luxury. PHWO is asked for laptops and smartphones for study and work more than for most other things, and Tando Allahyar applicants are welcome to join them. Tell us your class or degree and how you will use it. Digital skills and vocational training both appear among the eight areas listed on the programmes page, and a young person who already has a device can make far better use of them.

2022 rains in Tando Allahyar

By 13 September 2022, PDMA Sindh had recorded 28 union councils affected in Tando Allahyar, with 344 kilometres of road damaged, a large figure for so small a district. Nine relief camps held 2,429 people. Mango and banana growers lost trees to standing water, and labourers lost weeks of work. Losses from that year, or from later rains, can be part of a request.

Getting involved from Tando Allahyar

Lawyers from the Tando Allahyar bar are especially needed, along with teachers and students who can help neighbours apply. Volunteer with PHWO and PHWO will hand you a certificate, then write you letters of thanks and of experience.

Orchard owners, traders and families abroad can donate or sponsor a case. Work out your yearly amount on the Zakat calculator; PHWO sends the full sum of your Zakat and Sadaqah to people in need. Families of any religion can also try the free Rishta Desk. It checks each profile with a live selfie and a PHWO staff review, and leaves every choice to the family, with no match promised.

Public services in Tando Allahyar you can also use

• District headquarters hospital, Tando AllahyarGovernment hospital; specialist referrals go to Hyderabad.
• Tando Allahyar district courtsFamily judges; state-paid lawyers through the legal empowerment committee.
• Sindh laws portalText of the Sindh Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act and other provincial laws.
• BISP officesKafaalat and Taleemi Wazaif; 0800-26477.
• EmergencyDial 15 for police or 1122 for rescue; Edhi is 115 and the women's line 1094.

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

Frequently asked questions