CMS partners are among those struggling to bring aid to thousands of families made homeless by yet more severe floods
Pakistan’s government has appealed to the United Nations for humanitarian aid in the wake of increasingly severe flooding in Sindh province, which has now reached Karachi.
More than four million people have been displaced by this year’s floods, according to BBC reports. CMS partners in the Primary Education Project of Hyderabad Diocese have already helped 1,050 families with emergency aid, 300 of them thanks to generous donations by CMS supporters.
PEP staff want to help 2,500 more families in need but they do not have the funds.
New Pakistan floods hit partner projects Staff at Kunri Christian Hospital, 150km east of Hyderabad, report serious flooding on the hospital premises and surrounding area.
“The areas around KCH are inundated with 4–5ft flood water. The diseases like malaria, diarrhoea, allergy are increasing day by day,” reports Naveed Khurram, hospital administrator.
Many patients are being referred to hospitals in Mirpurkhas district, 80km away, because flood water has caused serious damage to the electrical systems at the hospital. Judith Looser, a worker with New Zealand CMS, based at Kunri, says it is the worst flooding she has seen in over 20 years in Sindh.
“Many people are dying (of starvation/exhaustion and exposure – especially the young and elderly) and we’re inundated with people living in Sakoon Ghar (our training/prayer house) and anywhere we can put them!
“All who can are fleeing to Thar [desert] where the sand absorbs the rain rather than drowns the crops.”
There are some very distressed people, she reports, and others who are taking advantage of them.
A line of people living along the roadside near Kunri were given a meal of cooked rice, which had been drugged. The displaced people were soon unconscious, and when they woke all their goods had been stolen.
“Desperate people are stopping cars and demanding anything and everything be given to them. Some relief trucks have disappeared, along with their drivers. Such are the times.
“One woman went around the bazaar yesterday trying to sell her jewellery so her kids could eat. She was offered so little that she went home without selling it.
“Today we’ve had people come to our door who haven’t eaten for five days: their houses have disintegrated and they no protection against the elements.”
CMS will forward any money donated to help the Primary Education Project reach more families in areas where they work and to other partners to enable them to support people they work with.
CMS manager or Pakistan, John Hayward, reports that a disaster risk reduction training programme will be delivered during the winter after several months of planning with local partners, in order to help inhabitants of the rural districts of Sindh be better prepared to survive future natural disasters.
Please help local Christian partner organisations help more devastated families.
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