PAKISTAN: New help for flood victims

By John Pontifex

Victims of the floods in a refugee camp in Quetta, Pakistan

Aid to the Church in Need is sending almost £33,000 of emergency aid to flood victims in Pakistan.

Crisis-stricken people in Multan, in southern Punjab province, are to receive £20,450 from Aid to the Church in Need. And a grant of £12,270 has been sent to Quetta, in remote Baluchistan province, where vast numbers of displaced people have been assembling, desperate for help.

The aid package for Multan, which will be despatched within the next 48 hours, comes after the payment for Quetta, which went out on Friday, 27^th August.

In the earliest days of the emergency, the charity gave £12,270 for distribution by Sisters helping homeless people in Nowshera, a region west of the capital, Islamabad.

In all three cases, the grants provided by the charity goes towards food, clothing, tents and other forms of shelter.

Medical aid was also listed as a top priority, amid growing concerns of a cholera outbreak.

Bishop Andrew Francis of Multan, who is overseeing key Aid to the Church in Need emergency aid in the region, wrote: “On behalf of the diocese of Multan and especially the flood victims, I am deeply grateful to you at Aid to the Church in Need for your kind concern and compassion.

“Certainly, this tragedy is very huge and requires extraordinary assistance in order to save life and human dignity.”

Aid to the Church in Need stands ready to make a further emergency grant to Sindh, the south-east province where the River Indus burst its banks with devastating consequences.

Regina Lynch, Aid to the Church in Need’s director of projects, said: “We have been overwhelmed with donations and messages of support from Aid to the Church in Need benefactors anxious to help the suffering people of Pakistan.”

Stressing the need for ongoing support long after the media spotlight has shifted elsewhere, she said: “On behalf of the flood victims and those trying to assist them, especially the bishops, I urge the friends of Aid to the Church in Need not to forget our brothers and sisters in Pakistan.

“We ask that they continue to offer help in whatever way they can especially through prayer and action.”

Reports from Multan stress the need for high energy biscuits, dry milk biscuits, washing soap and powder, medicine kits, mineral water and tents.

Meantime in Quetta, Aid to the Church in Need’s help will support emergency work carried out by Salesian priests and brothers who have identified 800 families most in need including large numbers of children and elderly.

Again, they have highlighted the need for medicine and clean water.

The Salesians want to provide a month’s supply of food including flour, cooking oil, lentils, sugar and tea as well as basic medical aid to combat fever, constipation and diarrhoea.

The government organised a massive relief operation to bring flood victims to Quetta, a region left largely unscathed by the disaster.

Tagged with

• Emergency Aid
• Pakistan
• Refugees

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