How We Can Help the People of Pakistan

Above: Pakistan flood survivors receive relief foodstuff
distributed by naval officials in Sangi Village near Sukkur,
in southern Pakistan on Thursday, August 19, 2010.
(AP Photo/Shakil Adil)

Earlier this evening I made a donation to Doctors Without Borders’ special appeal on behalf of those impacted by the devastating floods in Pakistan.

It’s being reported that over 15 million people have been affected by these floods - the worst in Pakistan in 80 years. The Pakistani government has estimated at least 1,600 fatalities. The overall number of people in Pakistan affected by the flooding is greater than those who were affected by the 2005 South Asia tsunami (5 million), the 2005 South Asia earthquake (3 million), or the 2010 Haiti earthquake (3 million). The estimate of 290,000 homes destroyed or seriously damaged is almost the same as those destroyed in Haiti.

Above: Flood survivors negotiate a flooded road at Muzaffargarh,
in central Pakistan on Thursday, August 19, 2010.
(AP Photo/Khalid Tanveer)

Following is how Doctors Without Borders’ executive director Sophie Delaunay describes the situation.

Millions of people in Pakistan have been cut off from medical care, their homes devastated, their lives put at risk of disease because of severe flooding. Doctors Without Borders is working hard to prevent outbreaks and to provide essential health care to men, women, and children impacted by this massive natural disaster.

Currently, the most common diseases our medical teams are treating – skin infections, respiratory diseases and acute diarrhea – are linked to difficult living conditions and lack of access to clean water. In addition to providing medical care, Doctors Without Borders is distributing tents and relief kits that may include clothes, soap, toothbrushes, towels, buckets, a jerry can, plastic sheeting, cotton mattresses, and water purification tablets. We are also providing more than 480,000 liters of clean water every day to affected communities in different parts of the country.

If you would like to contribute financially to the efforts of Doctors Without Borders, click here.

The following agencies are also accepting donations for the people of Pakistan.

American Red Cross

Oxfam

UNICEF

Save the Children

Islamic Relief

Catholic Relief Services

World Vision International

United Nations World Food Programme

Above: People with pots stand in queue to get relief food
at a camp for flood-affected people on the outskirts of Sukkur,
southern Pakistan, Wednesday, August 18, 2010.
(AP Photo/Shakil Adil)

Above: People stand on the remnants of a bridge
washed away by heavy flooding in Bannu in northwest Pakistan.
The World Meteorological Organization says the weather-related
cataclysms of July and August fit patterns predicted by climate scientists,
although those scientists always shy from tying individual disasters
directly to global warming. (AP Photo/Ijaz Mohammad)

Above: A Pakistani boy drinks from the bowl of his father
as they rest at a camp for flood victims at Muzaffargarh district,
Punjab province, Pakistan on Thursday August 19, 2010.
(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Above: Pakistani flood survivors shift their belongings to safer areas
on Monday, August 16, 2010 in Khangarh near Multan, Pakistan.
(AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Above: A Pakistani woman sits outside her tent
as she waits for relief goods at a camp for flood victims at Muzaffargarh district,
Punjab province, Pakistan on Thursday August 19, 2010.
(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Recommended Off-site Links:
Pakistani Floods Affect Millions, But Level of International Aid Pitiful - Vilani Peiris (World Socialist Web Site, August 11, 2010).
Why the Unfolding Disaster in Pakistan Should Concern You - Robert Reich (The Huffington Post, August 19, 2010).
Bridge Over Troubled Water: The Importance of Relief for Pakistan - Daniyal Norani (The Huffington Post, August 18, 2010).
Pakistan: A Question of Water - Gwynne Dyer (CommonDreams.org, August 21, 2010).
Millions of Pakistani Flood Victims Face Continuing Crisis - Vilani Peiris (World Socialist Web Site, August 21, 2010).
Images from Pakistani Flooding - The Huffington Post (August 2010).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
How We Can Help the People of Haiti
Crisis in Sri Lanka
Letting Them Sit By Me