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Sikhs join in relief efforts for
Pak IDPs
WSN Network
 Islamabad:
In keeping with the universal core value of Sikhism, Sarbat Da
Bhala, United Sikhs has taken the lead in reaching out to
Pakistan’s
Internally Displaced People (IDPs) as conditions worsen in the
camps. It has sounded an urgent call for immediate help to
rehabilitate people living in make shift camps.
“It’s very hot and
we are living in miserable conditions without a cooler or a fan. Our
children and women inside a tent feel they are in a clay oven,” said
Kareem Khan, an IDP at the Jalozai camp. The Jalozai camp has 21,000
families with more than 140,000 IDPs. The camp has been divided into
4 sectors and was an Afghan refugee camp during the Soviet- Afghan
war. The Camp Director, Mr. Muhammad Tahir Orakzhai has requested
United Sikhs to supply 800 pedestal fans and 800 water coolers.
A Sikh community
relief team found that there is a shortage of food, drinking water
and hygiene facilities at the campsites. The camp toilets are in a
squalid condition and due to the summer heat contagious bacterial
infections have increased among women and children. A significant
number of women and children are suffering from diarrhea, scabies
and high fever.
 “The
conditions at the camps are deteriorating because of the weather and
the onset of the monsoons. There is an increase in cases of snake
and scorpion bites. “During our visit to the camp sites with the
team of local doctors from the National Trust for Population Welfare
(NATPOW), we learnt of the increase in the number of people
requesting medicines for treating scabies, malaria, insect bites and
diarrhea,” a United Sikhs release said.
“Some people have
not taken a bath for more than a month,” said Sundeep Singh, United
Sikhs Projects Media Coordinator, who returned from Pakistan this
past week.
Mr. Iftikhar
Durrani, CEO of Pakistan’s National Trust For Population Welfare
(NATPOW) commented, “The humanitarian aid to be provided needs to be
more humane, we need assistance, today!”
The non-profit
outfit said the IDPs need kits that have clean towels, antibacterial
soaps, bed sheets and clothing to stop the spread of contagious
bacteria. Each Mother and Child Health (MCH) clinic is expected to
cost $9,200 USD to build, maintain, and run, and a minimum of 20
clinics are needed. Some IDPs are staying at the Panja Sahib
Gurdwara.
 Herdyal
Singh, a resident of Peshawar who has family in the Orakzai Agency,
said, “There are 12 Sikh families who are from Orakzai and are now
living in
Peshawar; we left our homes from the fear of the Taliban. Right now,
we have to rebuild our lives from scratch and don’t know what’s in
store for the future. We don’t know when we will be going back to
our homes. Our home articles have been auctioned off by the Taliban
and we have no means of recovering them. We look forward to any
assistance that can be provided to help us start again. “
United Sikhs said
it needs to raise about $215,000 USD to support the relief efforts.
8
July 2009
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