Pakistan Flood: PAKISTANI STUDENT WORRIES ABOUT LASTING IMPACT OF DISASTER

The deadline for school was approaching, and I was worried about my classes. The sad expression could be seen on my face. Mere hours after reaching the United States to study at Madison Area Technical College, I heard about the floods in parts of Pakistan.I came from the semi-autonomous Gilgit-Baltistan region in northern Pakistan. After hearing about the flood, I tried to contact my family that was still living there, but was unable to reach them for several weeks. Recently, I got through to them.It is the third week since I arrived at Madison College, and I still hear news about the flood and its damages back home. And the situation is not yet improving. The floods have swept away many villages and towns, and rendered millions of Pakistani people homeless. The roads and communication infrastructure in the country have not yet been restored.

Floods have submerged one fifth of the country. The flooded area is around the size of the state of Florida. The United Nations reports that the damage done in Pakistan is much worse than that of the Haitian earthquake and Hurricane Katrina combined. Around 2,000 people have lost their lives and the number is increasing with each passing day.

More than 20 million people have been affected by the flooding. According to UNICEF, over 3 million children are at risk of catching water borne disease. Many children have no shelter to live in, no food to eat, and no clothes to wear.

Food shortage is going to be the prime issue for the coming years. Pakistan has an agricultural based economy, and the flood has destroyed all of the crops. Due to this, Pakistan is expecting to face a difficult economic situation. The effects of these floods have devastated the already crippled economy. Pakistani trade and transport in some parts of the country is null and void.

The United Nations has appealed to the international community for donating to rebuild Pakistan. Many countries, including India, China, U.S., UK, UAE, Germany, France, and Saudi Arabia, have started to donate to repair the damages done. Still, that has not been enough to compensate for the large-scale flood damage in Pakistan.

I still worry about the situation in my home country, but I think that it is good that I am here. Being in the U.S., I have a better chance of helping people back home.

Recently, Pakistani students from Madison College and the University of Wisconsin worked in collaboration with Student Life to start an awareness and fund raising campaign. The Madison College students and staff are expected to take an active role in the campaign.

With a mere $5, you can feed one family for one day. Even a dollar from your pocket money can be a great help to the flood victims in this time of crisis.

How to help?

1. For more information, and to donate, visit: http://pakistan.rso.wisc.edu or http://www.akdn.org/focus

2. Text FLOOD to 27722 from your cell phone to donate $10.