Baptist World Aid Australia - update on the Pakistan Floods

14 September 2010

Local Christian partner, Conscience International, continues to respond to the devastation caused by the Pakistan floods through teams based in the Punjab and NWFP regions.

Three key priorities for Conscience International are food security (phase 1), public health (phase 2) and water purification (phase 3).

For hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis forced by the floods to abandon their homes, food remains a primary concern. Some families have gone for days without meals, and according to the United Nations, some 6 million people are in need of food. Hasan Baloch has a 2y/o child and he recently reported, “The situation here is terrible. We left our home in Jafarabad District [Balochistan Province] two weeks ago and have lived off almost nothing since then. My son is now sick with fever and we have no food to give him”*.

Conscience International has been focussing their current efforts on emergency food distribution during the initial phase of the response. The relief teams have been distributing food packs within the target communities, benefitting approximately 1,200 families and 6,000 individuals. Combined with food has also been the distribution of basic necessities including soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, towels and mosquito coils.

Conscience International is now commencing the next two phases of the project, which involve mobile public health clinics and the installation of Water Purification Systems in selected villages and camps in Punjab and NWFP regions. Waterborne disease risk is growing, requiring close coordination between health programs and water and sanitation programs. The implementation of the Water Purification Systems includes monitoring as well as community training.

Already, Baptist World Aid Australia’s faithful supporters have generously contributed over $300,000. These funds will go a long way in providing for the needs of those who are displaced.

Please continue to pray for the people of Pakistan. Pray that effective, efficient and necessary help is given to children, women and men who are suffering. Please also pray for the work of Conscience International and the safety of staff as they distribute funds where and how they are needed most.

Please give generously today to help those in desperate need.

* http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=90358

Image: Courtesy www.irinnews.org. A family tries to escape the floods in northwestern Pakistan water, there is very little that is safe to drink. September, 2010