Photo: SA Relief

Guppu.Com | Action Alert | Int’l Desk
Source/Credit: Muslim Matters
By Aly Balagamwala| September 15, 2011

The floods that hit Pakistan in 2010 were the worst in the history of the country, submerging nearly a fifth of the country under water, affecting 20 million people, rendering over 400,000 homeless, killing around 2000 people, and ruining over 1.6 million acres of crops!

Relief agencies and private individuals in Pakistan and all over the world scrambled to provide aid to the affected. Newspapers were filled with photographs of the flood and its hapless victims, prompting people to do more.

Snap back one year later to the present, as the citizens had yet to return to some sense of normalcy, putting behind the haunting memories of the past year, the skies opened up again and the province of Sindh, specifically the central part of it (in the areas of Thatta, Badin, Tando Muhammad Khan, Tando Allahyar, Mirpurkhas, Tharparkar and Benazirabad) started being deluged once again. As rains continue the area being affected has widened.

Read full original blog post here: Action Alert | Sindh Pakistan Floods 2011 | A humanitarian disaster the world is just waking up to

How may I help?

• Donate your time: start fund raising efforts among your friends and co-workers. Send them a copy of this article so that they may see the videos and pictures of the floods and the relief efforts.
• Donate your money: See the information below for the organizations working below and help them by donating generously.

PkRelief / SA Relief

For further information please email Dr Awab Alvi, Faisal Kapadia, Abdulrahman Rafiq, or Sabahat Ashraf atpkfloods@sarelief.com.

Funds are being collected by Paksef (Pakistan Science and Engineering Foundation) which is a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible non-profit Corporation in California. SA Relief operates under Paksef.

Local Pakistan residents can donate via our local Bank:

Bank: Bank Al Habib

Account Title: Abdul Rahim

Account#: 1078-0081-001670-01-4

Branch Code: 1078

Contact Person: Email Faisal Kapadia at pkfloods@sarelief.com

Karachi Relief Trust

Donation through cheques can be made in favor of Karachi Relief Trust

You can also deposit donations directly to our account:

Title: Karachi Relief Trust

AC#: 0786-79007283-03

Bank: Habib Bank Ltd.

Address: Corporate Center, 2 HBL Plaza, I I Chundrigar Road, Karachi.

For those making payments from abroad:

Swift: HABBPKKA

Rotary Club of Karachi

Rotary Club of Karachi Charitable Trust

Standard Chartered Bank NY USA

ABA No 026002561, SWIFT Code SCBLUS – 33XXX  for credit to

Bank Al Habib Ltd Account No: 3582035242001 for further credit to

BAHLPKKAKHI for ultimate credit to

Rotary Club of Karachi Charitable Trust

Account No: 1001-0081-168218-01-7

Note: Please send an email to rotarykhi@gmail.com with the donation details so we may check with the bank and send you a receipt / accounts / pictures for your record. We can also provide you a Certificate for Income Tax exemption for use in Pakistan.

Don’t be surprised! Hospitality is not the rare thing here. It’s just that we’ve been pocked by the media for so many negative things which has become an obstacle for the positive things to come forward. Here I am taking the opportunity to share something of a recent incident I came across with, while we were on the way to Rajanpur as a part of Pakistan Youth Alliance’s flood relief.

Just around a couple of weeks ago, we were wandering around the roads in our quest to find the easiest possible way to reach the destiny, where we were being en-routed to so many alternate routes as many of the roads were closed due to the destruction done by the floods.

When the clocks were tickling around 3 AM, we started rushing to find the nearest food spot for our Sehri meals! We found one food point called “Food Studio” in the mid of Raheem Yar Khan, and we decided to spot there. The wall painted was giving a CokeStudio kind of a look. While asking us to be seated, the guys over there pointed their fingers towards the sitting area which was an open area outside the food point.

We could see open fields and empty plots around us. The shinny moon, the stars and the sky, wasn’t less than any twilight ;) that is not all, there’s one unique thing which gave it the Pakistani effect, which is a railway track with non-stop trains passing by. All of these things added up to make this one of our best Sehri meals ever had.

When we were done with the Sehri and were heading to make the payment, the shopkeepers came and said they can’t take any money from us for we were going for a noble cause. This was really amazing! Not less than 12 people ate to fill their bellies to the extent, and the shop owner refused to accept even a penny from us. Regardless of the sects, ethnicity, language, color, we all were treated with the great hospitality we had ever witnessed. We left with the lots of prayers and best wishes from them.

I was taking a cursory glance over some TV channels when I halted at a local news-channel. There I saw the first footage of flood waters outrageously destroying houses of innocent villagers and taking away with it, all they had earned by immense hard work.

The scenes were tragic. People hanging on to trees to save their lives from the surging flow of water and on the other hand, survivors of the catastrophe bundling under a helicopter to get hold of something to eat or drink.

I was in melancholy. Here I was sitting in an air-conditioned room with everything I want and there were people stricken by grief at everything they had lost, sleeping on bare land alongwith their cattle. Many questions raced through my mind. Why are we not helping out our brothers and sisters like we have always done?. Have we become some kind of misanthropists?. Or the people affected by this natural calamity are nonentities?.NO! They are people who work all day long for Pakistan. They are the core of our country’s economy. And now they are in need of help. Our help. Looking up to politicians to help them is a thing of the past as they have failed every time. Now it’s our duty to come forward and save this nation and the people living in it. It’s time to remember the quote

“While I know myself as a creation of God, I am also obligated to realize and remember that everyone else and everything else are also God’s creation.”

Here we are listing down the best youth based donating channels which are very trusted and NAMP is continuously coordinating with them.

Pakistan Youth Alliance:

Pakistan Youth Alliance has been amazingly reaching out to the far flung areas, even those areas where no official relief has reached yet. The very trusted source which is bound to make the best use of your donations. Everything is transparent and crystal clear.

The guys have been fearlessly active in the relief work even though their recent relief convoy to Rajanpur was attacked by the looters. I myself happen to be a part of PYA as I provide them the web/social media support as much as I can.

Methods of donating to PYA:

1) Contact Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi, the chairman of PYA and pledge your contribution now. You can reach him using the email address; info@pya.org.pk and phone number: 0092-333-4532030

2) Donate online to PYA by clicking here

Future Leaders of Pakistan:

FLP (Future Leaders of Pakistan) is another aspiring youth organization that is dedicated to the community service for the betterment of Pakistan. The guys over there have really worked hard to make relief deliveries to many areas including Charsadda, Nowshera, Swat and are now making efforts for the relief of the affected areas of Sindh and Punjab too. I also happened to volunteer in their relief trip to Swat and things were quite transparent. So a good and trusted channel to donate.

Ways to donate through FLP:

Usama Khilji 0092 332 513 3506
Zain Saadullah Khan 0092 345 856 2843
Atif Siddique 0092 333 555 2843
Waleed Riaz 0092 334 517 4577

Zimmedar Shehri

Zimmedar Shehri is also a trusted youth organization which has been actively participating in the efforts of betterment of the society. They actively took part to help the Swat IDPs during the military operation last year.

Contact them to pledge your donations:

Jalal Hussain: 0092 300 8429013 (jalal.hussain@gmail.com)
Murtaza Khwaja: 0092 333 4664373 (murtaza_khwaja@hotmail.com)
Usama Mehmood: 0092 321 4558611 (carrot46@hotmail.com)
Shoaib Ahmed: 0092 321 9439787 (shoaib.ahmed.sa398@gmail.com)
Mubin Kumail: 0092 331 4503309

Pakistan Youth Renaissance

PYR(Pakistan Youth Renaissance) is the brain child of Farhan Masood, the CEO of Solosmart. PYR’s also been helping the flood victims and has been creating immense awareness. They have recently launched an online donations portal through which you can donate online to them. Also, you can contact them at jahanzaib@pyr.org.pk

[Update Aug 31]
SA Relief:

I just discovered the guys over there at SA relief aren’t that old to be excluded from ‘Youth Organizations’ ; ) The guys over there are trusted as I have known them for a long now.

There “Online Donations” system through PayPal/ChipIn is all time hit, so the donations can be chipped in using the box below or by going to their website

Don’t wait, start contributing immediately. Bloggers and Netizens, please help spread the word. I, Farhan Janjua, the founder of NAMP(Netizens’ Action Movement) will continue updating this list and coordination with more of such youth organizations. Stay tuned!

The journey started off on August 12 at around 10 PM Pakistan time when I got myself armed with all the necessary gadgets and stuff and left for the bus terminal. There, at around 11 PM, the I left for Islamabad in a passenger bus. At around 3:30 AM, I reached there and started waiting for the rest of the convoy members to show up as we had planned to gather at the Rawalpindi terminal.

After around 3 hours of waiting, the members of FLP showed up and there we loaded a few more relief goods in the bus. The truck prepared with the donations gather by the FLP members was to follow us all the way to Swat. We were 5 members in the bus and 2 additional members were following us in the car.

And thus, the journey began at 7 AM on August 13. We reached there at around 11:30, we were received by the locals who happened to be our hosts and guide to the relief camps.

There we loaded the truck with some additional packages, have a look at the photo of while we were loading the goods:

Half of the goods were contributed to the Pak Army’s relief efforts while others were distributed by ourselves to a camp situated in a small area which they had named as Bangladesh. It was so named because it rains a lot.

On visiting the relief camps, we witnessed the misery of the victims as they were badly affected by the deadly floods. The locals hardly had any water to drink or to bathe. The damage was very severe and victims were large in numbers as we couldn’t cover even half of the families of that camp.

A group photo with the Soldiers

We saw the sadness there which is natural but we never noticed the disappointment in their eyes. They were hopeful of the efforts carried out by Pakistani youth. The patriotism was at its peak as the locals were overwhelmed with the peace, the Pak Army has brought there. We saw little kids wearing the Pakistani badge of Independence day. People were hoisting Pakistani flags and had painted their doors with its designs.

You can see the photographs of the journey in the gallery below:

Disclaimer: Guppu.com is not responsible for the accuracy of the “People Powered News”

Here is the SAC (Student Action Committee’s) official message to Aitzaz Ahsan:

Text to 03008452200, Dear Aitzaz sb, we have long admired your heroics in the struggle for the rule of law. And been inspired, but we cannot be disturbed by the strange lack of grace and inclusiveness verging on base “politicization” that seems to be in operation. We believe that the best way is for the 3 successive presidents of the SCBA to hoist the flag together. Special efforts must be made to facilitate the presence of the reps of the families of the victims and a short simple speech could be read out, perhaps by the CJ’s daughter or by Mr. Kurd, acknowledging the debt of the nation to their courage and sacrifice. If more time is needed for arrangements, the event could be held on the highly symbolic 23rd March. This is a great opportunity to start the process of healing rather then showing doubt in the minds of the supporters of this ideology.

We were supposed to be there at CJP’s house on occasion of flag hoisting but now we are boycotting the ceremony.

This festival mean a lot to me, I, along with my friends and family, have been very enthusiasticly celebrating this event since my childhood. Buying kites and strings, music systems, Barbeque, lighting on Basant night, decorating rooftops, were the things which I used to do energeticly.

This time, my cousins and friends kept on asking to go with them and to celebrate the Spring! But how could I go? half of my nation was on the street to fight for Judiciary and in the events of rising crises, how could I dance, fly kites and celebrate a festival? So I didn’t go and thought it’s better to do my job of live coverage of the events that were taking place.

By posting this writeup, I didn’t mean to glorify myself, I only did what was my responsibility. And this post is intended to give some coverage to the Basant (The Spring season festival). Till yesterday evening, I was kinda sad that Basant is over and I didn’t participate but the real over-joy for me started when it was announced on TV that Judiciary is going to be restored! honestly.

It’s been 2 years since the Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudry was deposed by then President of  Pakistan Pervez Musharraf. Since then people have been struggling for the restoration of independent judiciary. They have witnessed many ups and downs in the past 2 years. The previous and the current government have tried their best to stop and hunt down the struggles and movements, section 144 imposed, people were arrested, shells and tear gas was fired on protesters, sealed cities to stop the protest, even tried to play the Sindh card. 

And with the efforts of people in past couple of days, a strong resistence from people has been witnessed. Thousands of people came out on the streets to record the protest and demanding the restoration of Chief Justice. Today the world has witnessed a sense of change in Pakistan. People have overthrown the dictatorship and have fought for their rights.

At the end, I’d like to congratulate everyone who contributed in this noble cause, special thank to all the active bloggers, SAC members, members of People’s Resistance Karachi, Lawyers, NGOs, Civil Society, Political Alleys and the Media. And as you all know that we, the bloggers have been collectively contributing in Live Coverage of the latest events regarding Long March, so great! great work everyone.  

AND CONGRATULATIONS TO ENTIRE PAKISTANI NATION! WE HAVE PROVED TO BE ALIVE! PAKISTAN ZINDABAD!

As an effort to make it viewable for audience, we have gathered the working links of live streams of GEO NEWS.

To watch GEO online, use the following links.

IN PAKISTAN ONLY:
http://www.geo.tv/geoip/

All over the world:
mms://stream.wmlivesvc.vitalstreamcdn.com/live_stream_geo_tv_GEOVIDEO
http://94.75.220.137/idesitv.com-geonews-333jdd223
http://www.paktvlive.com/geonewslow.html
http://94.75.220.137/idesitv.com-geotv-30ddn3ns