Pakistan Flood
An exceptional wave of monsoon rains, five times higher than average, generated one of the most disastrous floods in Pakistan in decades. A true catastrophe that, despite the enormous difficulties, has not dampened the desire of many people on the ground to take concrete action for others. A fundraiser by the Emergency Coordination of the Focolare Movement was also launched.
What Pakistan finds itself experiencing today is a real humanitarian and health emergency. Monsoon rains also caused by climate change, which began to break out as early as mid-June 2022, have brought a third of the country to its knees. About 33 million people are displaced, or 15% of the entire population, and there are more than 1,500 deaths and more than 700,000 homes destroyed. The danger of diseases such as typhoid, cholera and dengue fever is growing by the day, and needs are becoming more urgent.
The megalopolis of Karachi, one of the places where the reality of the Focolare Movement has been present for some time now, has not been hit as hard as other centers, which are already difficult to reach under normal conditions, such as the provinces of Sindh, southern Punjab and Balucistan; however, “the displaced people are arriving here as well and we are moving to organize aid in reception camps,” some Focolare members recount. IIn addition, many of the Focolare members, of various ages and vocations, are doing what they can to be able to respond as a community to the most impending needs, some even opening the doors of their homes if necessary, as happened to Abid, a young family man, who took in sixteen Muslim people in the second floor of his house who had lost everything.
The largest city affected by this flooding is Hyderabad. Matthew, a gen, i.e., one of the local Focolare Movement youths, writes, “Now the situation in the city center is safe, but the neighborhoods near the Indus River are still in danger and some parts have been evacuated. The next two weeks will be very difficult.”
In these days, fear is mixed with a lucid awareness, generating an internal, instinctive force that looks to the other and, with renewed courage, mobilizes and creates network.
“As Youths for a United World a few months ago we set up a group called ‘The Spirit of Giving,’ composed of Catholics and the Anglican Church of Pakistan,” continues Mathew’s brother Hanan, “we met together to make a plan, to figure out what and how to help. You might think that we can’t do much or that it is too little, but we told each other that everyone can give something, that we have to move hearts.”
And so it was that these young people, knocking on every door in their neighborhood, entering stores, collected about 5,000 rupees, while another 2,000 came providentially in response to a flyer shared on social media. A desire to donate, which starting from an experience of dialogue, turned into service and action.
Among the many people in distress, it should not be forgotten that one of the most at-risk groups in these areas are the nomadic Hindu communities, “Our families’ tents were on a plain. With the flooding, people took refuge on an elevated part of the land that is now surrounded by water, it is as if they were on an island from which they can no longer leave,” recount some young people belonging to these communities.
Squeezing in around those affected and initiating targeted relief and support initiatives, especially there, where resources to be able to do so are scarce, is not just a desire, but seems to be a real priority, for everyone.
In response to these sufferings in Karachi, in a rather poor neighborhood on the outskirts of the city, a small group of gen moved immediately: We activated a collection point from which a lot of people came by: those who brought food, water or clothes; some left money in a box placed at the entrance,” says Rizwan. “Ho visto che non c’erano tanti vestiti per i bambini – racconta Soiana – allora mi sono messa a cucire per loro, utilizzando della stoffa che avevo e che era avanzata dal mio lavoro”.”I saw that there were not many clothes for the children,” Soiana says, “so I started sewing for them, using fabric I had that was left over from my work.
Maria Grazia Berretta www.focolare.org
foto ansa
Emergenza Pakistan” “Azione per Famiglie Nuove Onlus presso
Banca Etica – filiale 1 di Roma – Agenzia n. 04
IBAN: IT 92 J 05018 03200 000016978561
BIC/SWIFT ETICIT22XXX