Just Back from Pakistan, human rights activist and filmmaker Feryal Ali Gauhar describes the suffering thusly:
"This Is the Worst Catastrophe to Hit Any State Since Biblical Times"
http://www.democracynow.org/...
UNICEF has the sad facts:
More than 100,000 children left homeless by Pakistan's floods are in danger of dying because they simply do not have enough to eat, according to UNICEF. Children already weak from living on too little food in poor rural areas before the floods are fighting to stay alive, as diarrhea, respiratory diseases and malaria attack their emaciated bodies.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...
Photo: Aaron Favila / AP |
Please read this:
Help Pakistan is a group dedicated to getting needed humanitarian support to flood ravaged Pakistan, and disseminating information pertaining to the floods to the dailykos community at large. Our goal is getting donations to those people who need it most.
If you have a negative comment pertaining to Pakistan, its people, its culture, or its relationship with the United States, please refrain from making it here. If you would like to be a part of our group, please click the picture at the very bottom of this diary. We would love more volunteers to help us with the burden of getting a diary up every day.
The U.N. Secretary-General called "the worst disaster I've ever seen.". We here at Dkos who support the Help Pakistan efforts want merely to get aid to those starving women and children in desperate need. Comments to derail such kindness will be considered threadjacking and will be treated accordingly.
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Is the populace teetering on the edge of a watery civil war? The NY Times wusses out by using the term "Class Dispute".
http://www.nytimes.com/...
The "superflood" has reopened longstanding disputes over water management all along the Indus River, which runs the length of Pakistan, and many of the poorer victims fear that they will once again be ignored in favor of rich and powerful interests.
Pakistan’s government will have to grapple not only with the needs of millions of people who suddenly lost homes, crops and livelihoods, but also with the explosive political repercussions over water distribution and how to spend reconstruction assistance fairly.
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The world continues to ignore the "Worst Humanitarian Disaster In Recent History", so the victims fend for themselves in a hostile, hot and desolate waterworld.
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Democracy Now! -Watch Amy Goodman's
interview with Pakistani human rights activist and filmmaker Feryal
Ali Gauhar:
There are some disturbing revelations made in this interview, about which I had heard nothing before one of the members of this group brought them to our attention:
FERYAL ALI GAUHAR: So, he actually mentioned to me that the River Indus, which is one of the largest rivers in the world, carrying now a volume of water which has not been known in contemporary history, was breached on the left bank deliberately in order to protect the base, which is on the right bank.
And the breaching caused, consequentially, the inundation of an entire
district, which resulted in the displacement of millions, not
thousands, but millions, because we have 170 million people in the
country, and this particular district is one of the most densely
populated. So, yes, there is a connect between, you know, what is
considered to be a natural disaster, but then the management of that
disaster is not natural at all.
"AMY GOODMAN: And this is a base that is used, run by US military, to
run its drone attacks?
"FERYAL ALI GAUHAR: Oh, absolutely. In fact, it is a base where non-US
military personnel are not allowed.
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It's not just the bigotry of the Islamophobes that have hurt the victims in need not getting help, but the fact that the corporate media is burying the climate change story of the century in its ongoing "fair and balanced" reporting about whether or not the Earth is flat.
I'm with Kristof.:
I’m Sorry
Muslim aid workers in Afghanistan who risk their lives to educate girls; a Pakistani imam who shelters rape victims; Muslim leaders who campaign against female genital mutilation and note that it is not really an Islamic practice; Pakistani Muslims who stand up for oppressed Christians and Hindus; and above all, the innumerable Muslim aid workers in Congo, Darfur, Bangladesh and so many other parts of the world who are inspired by the Koran to risk their lives to help others. Those Muslims have helped keep me alive, and they set a standard of compassion, peacefulness and altruism that we should all emulate.
I’m sickened when I hear such gentle souls lumped in with Qaeda terrorists, and when I hear the faith they hold sacred excoriated and mocked. To them and to others smeared, I apologize.
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If you can spare a couple lattes' worth of cash, you will be making a big difference in someone's life today.
Greg (Three Cups of Tea, Stones Into Schools) Mortenson's non-profit (CAI ) recommends supporting a local (Pakistani) group to which donations will likely have a large, immediate, and lasting impact-
Human Development Foundation
http://www.hdf.com
(800) 705 1310
DONATE
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Other groups that deserve support as well.
Doctors without Borders (MSF):
DONATE
OXFAM:
DONATE
Direct Relief International:
DONATE
Mercy Corps:
DONATE
UNICEF:
DONATE
Toll free: 1-800-FOR-KIDS (1-800-367-5437)
Text: "Text FLOODS to 864233 (UNICEF) to donate $10"
Shelterbox:
DONATE
ShelterBox tents in Shishkat upper Hunza, Pakistan
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From the US State dept.
How You Can Help:
Text "FLOOD" to 27722. Your $10 will go to the State Department Fund for Pakistan Relief that Secretary Clinton announced August 19, and is part of a new effort to bring attention to the need for aid.
Text "SWAT" to 50555 ; $10 goes to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees fund for flood victims
Don't have money to spare?
That's OK.
Please consider signing this petition to forgive Pakistan's debt so they can instead use their scant resources to aid the suffering millions of people in their country.
Sign the Avaaz.org Petition
Click
< ===== HERE
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Some of us at Daily Kos use a Google group to help organize relief for the crisis in Pakistan. Anyone who would like to get involved, share resources, or get alerts when a new HELP PAKISTAN diary is posted, please join.
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