Imagine sleeping out in the open in temperatures touching freezing. Creepy. In the rugged mountains and ruined alleys of Pakistan and Kashmir, an estimated 2.5 million homeless, have been sleeping in the chill for over a week now. With little aid and no roof over their head, these crestfallen people are facing the worst nightmare of their lives. They have lost their children, their extended families, all their belongings are gone. Now they are completely at nature's mercy. As one victim puts it, "It is beyond pain". I can only agree!
"There were up to two million people left homeless by the tsunami, which was spread out over many countries. But just in Pakistan, the government estimates that there are 2.5 million people who are displaced and many more need assistance," notes Mercy Corps' Global Communication Officer Cassandra Nelson. Many journalists, relief workers and aid agencies vouch that the intensity of the Quake and widespread deadh and pain will change them for ever. Already people are calling it one of the worst-ever Quakes ever.
UNICEF said nearly half of those affected by last weekend's quake are under 18 and that the international relief effort must focus on keeping children alive in the weeks ahead. "With wintry conditions arriving in the higher elevations, children are facing a potentially deadly combination of cold, malnutrition, and disease," UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman said in a statement.
As I post, there are reports that it is raining in Muzzafarabad, the worst-hit area in the Quake. It couldn't have been worse for these blokes. Friedrich Nietzsche once marked," The miserable have no other medicine but hope."
These folks have our prayers and that Hope!
sameer bhat
No comments:
Post a Comment