Homeless families need tents, beds, food and hygiene items
Central Asia is suffering from unusually heavy monsoon rains this summer. The floods have caused nearly 1,200 deaths in Pakistan, and there is a report of nearly 200 deaths in Afghanistan. In both countries, the international Christian relief organization Shelter Now wants to increase its emergency aid. With tents, food, kitchen utensils and first aid kits, Shelter Now has already been able to ensure the survival of 50 particularly needy families in the city of Quetta in western Pakistan.
According to media reports, one third of the country is under water in Pakistan; one in seven citizens is affected by the floods. “Countless people have lost everything,” says German Shelter Now director Udo Stolte: homes, food, household items and other property. The situation is increasingly deteriorating as further heavy rains caused flooding and landslides, reports from the country said.
A Christian partner organization in Pakistan has turned to Shelter Now with an urgent request for support: For a tent village of flood victims in the northwest of the country – 50 families with about 300 people – among other things seat mats, bed frames, mattresses, pillows as well as water tanks are needed. For this purpose, the relief organization is asking for donations of about 62,000 euros. In addition, Shelter Now wants to participate in emergency aid for 500 families in three provinces of Pakistan, Stolte announces: In addition to tents and blankets, they need cooked meals, hygiene and kitchen utensils.
Shelter Now operated in Pakistan itself until 2016. The relief organization provided emergency aid for tens of thousands of people during the country’s previously largest flood disaster in 2010 and built simple mud houses for flood victims as shelter for the following winter.
In Afghanistan, 13 provinces in the southeast and center of the country have been particularly hard hit by the floods – including Laghman province in the border region with Pakistan. Here, Shelter Now plans to support 400 families who lost homes and belongings in the floods. Experts attribute the frightening scale of this year’s monsoon rains to intensifying global climate change.
Brunswick, September 7, 2022
Shelter Now is an international relief organization with a coordination office in Germany. It was active in Pakistan from 1983 to 2016. Work began in 1988 in Afghanistan and in 2014 in the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan (Northern Iraq). The name of the organization in Germany is “Shelter Now Germany e.V.”. Shelter Now finances its relief efforts to a large extent from private donations. Shelter Now’s efficient and project-related use of funds is certified by the German Central Institute for Social Issues (DZI) with the donation seal.