Are your eyes open?

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.  

Continue reading Are your eyes open?

For the people of Pakistan

 

As per my own weird-little-norm-of-obsessive-news-following I have been tracking the floods in Pakistan for a couple of weeks. I quietly did my part, sending what I could to help affected families.

But it wasn’t until this morning that I decided to come out publicly and urge people to get involved.

Why?

Because according to numerous new reports, like this one from Canada’s Globe and Mail, two major reasons relief agencies are having such a hard time raising funds to help people in the affected areas are:

Not enough global media coverage.

Pakistan suffers from an image deficit.

Continue reading For the people of Pakistan