~CSI News - Pakistan Flooding Update

Pakistan Flooding Update

8/24/2010
Appeal - Pakistan Flood Relief

Greetings,

Recently, Brother Aslam Malik and Allan Shalm, along with two of their pastors, made a preliminary trip into the Northern Regions of Pakistan to assess the flood damage that has occurred. Below is their report of this trip.

Brief Facts About the Flood

**20 million people have been displaced

**According to UN estimates, up to 20% of the country is presently under water

** More people have been affected in this flood than with the tsunami, the Haiti and Pakistan earthquakes and Katrina combined

**Entire villages are under water and national road system has been badly damaged

**Water-borne diseases such as typhoid, and other diseases, i.e. cholera, are now confirmed

**Much of the agriculture has been destroyed, and it is extremely difficult to transport what has been saved because of the damage to the roads

Our trip on August 13th

**We traveled for 12 hours, and saw massive devastation everywhere we went

**We visited Nowshera, a town near Peshawar that was severely affected because a nearby dam had to be opened to prevent it from bursting

**Water from 15 to 50 feet deep flowed through an area twelve miles wide

**We visited some nominal Christian people who up until that time had had no one come to offer them any assistance

**I made a small donation to these people for food from the funds I have already received from CSI

**The Indus River, at this stage much higher than normal, is presently 150 feet below the bridge. Just a few days prior, as the flood went through, the river was 50 feet over the bridge.

**To reach this area, we had to drive over several flooded causeways. Many of the bridges have been washed away, which has isolated the people who live in those areas.

**We made contact with a nominal Christian group in the city of Abbottabad which has organized some aid. They were able to give us information on the peoples needs and prices for some goods.

How YOU Can Help

**We would like to put together food, health and bedding kits. The Food kits would contain basic items such as rice, lentils, tea, sugar, cooking oil, wheat flour and milk powder. The health kits would contain body and laundry soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes, towels, oral hydration packets, aspirin, diarrhea medication and other necessary items. The bedding kits would contain cotton mattresses, pillows and bed sheets

**It is easier and cheaper to buy these items locally rather than having them shipped from the US

**Since so many people have lost their homes, the affected people told us that tents were one of the most urgent needs because so many are living out in the open.

Please pray for the country of Pakistan, the people affected by the flooding, the churches, leaders and saints of God who are doing everything they can to HELP those displaced in this natural disaster.

When God puts it in your heart to HELP please send all monies to:

Pakistan Flood Relief
Compassion Services International
8855 Dunn Road
Hazelwood, MO 63042.