PAKISTAN: More than 1,200 people receive aid in wake of devastating flooding
Salesians responded immediately to the emergency, providing what they could locally
(MissionNewswire) Salesian missionaries are still helping flood victims with shelter and other supplies in the wake of the devastating flooding that impacted Pakistan in late August, killing more than 1,700 and leaving one third of the country underwater with at least half a million people homeless. The government said a total of more than 33 million people were affected and indicated there was at least $10 billion in damage, including more than 1 million animals killed and crops wiped out.
Salesians responded immediately to the emergency, providing what they could locally. Internationally, others organized to provide aid. Brother Piero Ramello, a native of Italy who has been a missionary in Pakistan since 2020, immediately contacted the Salesian Mission Office in Turin, which took immediate action, ensuring that those in need in Pakistan would receive initial help through its emergency fund.
Bro. Ramello said, “With the funds received from Salesian Mission offices in Turin, Madrid, South Korea and Switzerland, we will be able to help many families in need. In Jacobabad, Sukkur, and Shakarput we’re reaching 100 families for a total of 720 people, including many children and older youth. In the city of Sukkur, the money has been delivered to the parish priest and the distribution has been taken care of directly by the parish. In Jacobabad and Shakarput, the distribution is taken care of directly by the Salesians in Lahore who, with the help of some past pupils and older boys from the boarding school, are in charge of delivering the material, avoiding gatherings and trying to make the recipients comfortable.”
The materials distributed consist of food (flour, rice, lentils, oil), camp tents, mosquito repellent tents, and personal hygiene supplies. Medicine has also been distributed, especially medicines for the prevention and treatment of cholera and dengue fever.
A similar project supported by funding from Don Bosco Mission Bonn, the German Salesian Mission Office, is being led by the Salesians in Quetta. Bro. Ramello said, “Through the two initiatives, the Salesians in Pakistan are bringing relief to more than 1,200 people.”
Salesians in Pakistan operate schools and centers in Lahore and Quetta. Salesian schools provide economic benefits, scholarships and accommodations for students from the poorest families so that education is not only accessible but also an incentive for parents to send their children to school. Pakistan has one of the lowest literacy rates in South Asia at less than 50 percent. Although the country’s constitution acknowledges free and compulsory education between the ages of 5-16, the rule is often not followed in rural areas for those over age 13.
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Sources:
ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)
World Bank – Pakistan
