Journeys to democracy

Villagers struggle to save their livestock, Badin, 2011. Photo: courtesy Dawn

Over a million people have been displaced by current floods in Pakistan. Please read the urgent appeal below from friend Abdulrahman (aka AR or Abbey), Founder & Coordinator, SA Relief, aiming to provide flood affected people at a camp in Badin with cooked meals for the next 15 days (email pkfloods@sarelief.com). Just 25 USD will feed a family of four for one week. Read on, and please help:

Friends –

I wanted to take the opportunity to apprise you of the recent torrential rains that have caused tremendous damage in Pakistan’s southern provinces of Sindh and Balochistan. According to the NDMA (National Disaster Management Authority of Pakistan) over a million people have been displaced. In Badin district (Sindh province) alone the count is estimated at over 200,000 people affected as a result of 100 villages that have been swept away due to flooding from a 200 foot wide gap in the salinity drain there.

Upon hearing of the situation PkRelief, an organization based on the partnership between the Offroad Pakistan and SA Relief went into full action by reaching out to the local community and infrastructure to determine what is needed. As an organization we have worked on several  relief efforts since 2005 and have a strong local contact base. In 2010 alone our organization collected and distributed relief valuing well over 170,000 USD for the flood relief efforts.

Presently we have adopted 3 camps in Badin, Sindh with the support of Nishat Welfare Organization who have already housed 1,000  IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons). Our plan initially is to provide the IDPs with cooked meals for the next 15 days.

The daily cost of doing this comes to 40,000 Pakistani Rupees (or 500 USD). The typical cost of a single person’s meal is 20 Pakistani rupees (1 USD)  per day or 2,000 Pakistani Rupees (25 USD) will feed 100 people per day. If translated into ration per hampers, 2,000 Pakistani Rupees (25 USD) will feed a family of four for one week.

Currently we have funds for 7 days, and request support from our broader community. In the second phase of the Badin Mission we will include medicine and clothing,  and in the third rehabilitation of the IDPs.

I humbly request your support, and encourage you to visit our website at www.sarelief.com. Additionally we were recently profiled in the Newsline Magazine and the CIO Magazine – Pakistan Edition, and endorsed by the Pakistan Embassy in Washington DC, personally by Ambassador Husain Haqqani (and MNA Farahnaz Ispahani).

To gain an indepth understanding of the situation you can watch the following Express News report.

Please feel free and reach out to me and my colleagues (Dr Awab Alvi, Faisal Kapadia, or Sabahat Ashraf) with any questions that you may have. We can be reached at pkfloods@sarelief.com.

You can also make a one time donation via our website at www.sarelief.com (Donations are collected by SA Relief’s umbrella organization: Pakistan Science and Engineering Foundation which is a California registered 501(c)(3) non-profit)

Thank you for your support and leadership.

Filed under: Floods | Tagged: badin, credible ngos, floods, Pakistan, SARelief., sindh |