| Pakistan Flooding Aid Update |
“Roads, buildings, bridges, crops - millions of livelihoods have been lost. People are marooned on tiny islands with the floodwaters all around them. They are drinking dirty water. They are living in the mud and ruins of their lives. Many have lost family and friends. Many more are afraid their children and loved ones will not survive in these conditions” said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday. While news channels continue to broadcast the latest video feeds from Pakistan and the world body mobilizes a mammoth relief effort it’s becoming apparent that current efforts are only scratching the surface. Many government and NGO leaders visiting the flood ravaged Northern regions are reporting they’ve never seen anything like the devastation left in the path of this flood. The death tolls sits at over 1,400 people with over 900,000 homes completely washed away or made uninhabitable leaving 20+ million people affected by the floods.The desperation for clean drinking water is rapidly increasing among the people as the fear of a cholera outbreak increases. Many young children are showing the early symptoms of this deadly disease with the first full cholera case being reported this past weekend. Acknowledging this growing threat a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that “up to 3.5 million children are at high risk of deadly water-borne diseases including diarrhea-related, such as watery diarrhea and dysentery". In response to these rising threats Crossroads together with our partners, Iftikhar and his team, continue to work hard bringing water, food and supplies to families left stranded.  To date Crossroads has raised $2,950.00 for the Pakistan Relief Aid Project. But of course more is needed. With the threat of deadly diseases compounded upon starvation we race against the clock. Your help is needed! Please consider what you can do to help families and children of the floods in Pakistan.Crossroads will continue raising funds for this Pakistan Relief Aid Project throughout this coming week and will follow up with any further updates we receive. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support. Continue to pray for the people of Pakistan as they fight daily to survive these horrific conditions.  |
