A lot has been written about the relatively lukewarm response to the monsoon flooding in Pakistan that uprooted over 20 million people and destroyed the lives of millions of families: Pakistan suffers from a reputation deficit, the disaster didn’t unfold rapidly like Haiti’s earthquake, and/or donors are just tapped out after the string of massive natural disasters over the last decade.
And sure, every single one of those reasons/excuses/arguments reflects a portion of the truth.
But behind all the handwringing and suppositions lies the most important truth of all:
Millions of mothers and fathers continue to ache every second of every day
because they cannot feed, clothe or house their children;
they cannot protect their families from the ravages of exposure and disease.
That is the truth that Salman Ahmad, lead singer of the rock band Junoon and one of Pakistan’s most effective – and dedicated – global ambassadors, wants us all to remember.
And the man has a point ….
Salman, who can be found of twitter as @sufisal, recruited recording legend Peter Gabriel (@itspetergabriel)to record a new single Open Your Eyes to benefit the relief effort and the people of Pakistan – which you can purchase from iTunes for a whopping $0.99.
A dollar. That’s it. That’s all it costs to stand up and demonstrate a commitment to our common humanity, to the concerns that plague us all regardless of ethnicity, color, language or religion.
“This is a huge tragedy and maybe because of the worst association [with] terrorism with Pakistan there’s been a pathetic response. These are people suffering in extraordinary ways and I think we’ve failed terribly,” Gabriel told CBC’s Radio Q.
I couldn’t agree more.
If you’ve got a moment, please take a look at the video produce for Open Your Eyes below.
Me? I’m off to the iTunes store … I hope to see you there.
simply awesome………….