Flood victims receive help through Warwick’s Pakistani Society aid truck

Warwick’s Pakistani Society has donated £4,000 worth of aid to the worst hit areas of Pakistan devastated by the summer’s floods. After donations from family, friends and students at Warwick, 400 relief packs were delivered to the areas of Nowshera and Swat via an aid truck operated by the society itself. President Ghazi Taimoor described the experience as “inspiring” and “emotional”.

The packs contained high protein food such as lentils and high protein biscuits, whilst garments such as 500 ladies’ dresses and 100 blankets were also donated. Army escorts took Ghazi with his family, friends and volunteers to Nowshera, an area devastated by the floods, where they distributed the aid by hand. Swat, which is cut off from transport, received the Pakistani Society’s aid via helicopter, with each pack containing enough to feed a family of six for one week. The aid truck was in addition to an online fundraising campaign which reached its target of £1,500. Ghazi commented that the events were “more of a society effort than an individual one”.

The initial slow international response to help the victims motivated the president of the society to raise money, adding “we are Pakistanis in an international community. It was our responsibility as Pakistanis on campus to organise the relief truck ourselves”. Despite donating being a positive experience for the Society, the impact of illnesses like Cholera and Malaria were unavoidable, with Ghazi commenting on the “pungent smell” left after cattle and farms were washed away. The loss of cultivatable land is a major problem for Pakistan’s economy but “the need of the international community to fund the building of houses is the most pressing issue”, he commented.

Seeing the effects first hand, he described an occasion where victims were selling their own kidneys to fund the building of their new home: “I don’t want to give a bad impression of the doctors over there as there are many inspiring people who have left their jobs to volunteer. However, there are a few who take advantage of people’s situation for personal gain”.

The Pakistani Society’s next goal is to raise £10,000 by the end of the term to fund the building of 10 houses for 50 people. A charity week will be held by the society where all proceeds from events will be donated to the flood relief fund.