QUETTA: 22 August 2010 -- Quite apart from the worldwide
awareness of a disaster described by Ban Ki-Moon as the worst
natural disaster and human tragedy he's witnessed, and he's seen a few,
we should not forget that Pakistan belongs to our EAO region! Hence it
behoves us to say something, given some occasional snippets of
information 'on the ground'.
As you know we have two communities in Pakistan
(Quetta and Lahore), with some seven or eight confreres all told, at
least two of whom are Pakistani. this Salesian presence belongs to the
Southern Philippines Province, and despite various difficulties along
the way, is a superb example of a Salesian activity which benefits
youth of any religion, but is of enormous value to the Christian and
indeed Catholic community in that country. It is also true that our
work there is highly respected, by Government at one level and by local
Pakistanis of other religious persuasions who are in contact with our
work. Other provinces in the region generously assist our work in
Pakistan. As I write there is at least one representative of another
province there checking out the situation to see how to guarantee a
sustainable and effective assistance.
Now the floods. In short, our two locations have not
been physically damaged by the floods that have inundated so much of
the nation, but nearby areas, yes. For example, in the Sibi region, 120
kms from Quetta, down in the valleys and on the plains, the situation
is disastrous. This is the 'nerve-centre' for rail links between Quetta
and Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad... This means that for the past three
weeks there has been little or no rail movement, which affects supplies
to Quetta, but more importantly affects relief in the other direction.
And every TV watcher knows that both the North West area, (Swat Valley
possibly the most infamous for its other problems) and now the
grain-belt east of the Punjab are under water or have been, meaning
thousands of farms destroyed and farmers' livelihood with them.
It is in this situation that the Salesians in the
country are endeavouring to reach out to the poorest and most afflicted
near them, as they did after the N-W Frontier earthquake. European
benefactors have been helping the Salesians to provide food staples
(flour and oil, sugar especially) and medicines. Quetta has seen an
enormous influx of flood refugees, for example, and these become our
neighbours.
So, if your province has something organised to
channel aid - please help! As more info becomes available, we
will let you know. _________________ AustraLasia is an
email
service
for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions
as an
agency for ANS based in
Rome.
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