Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association relief news update from Pakistan.

When a heavy landslide pummeled Attabad in northern Pakistan’s Hunza Valley a year ago, it claimed the lives of 20 people and buried the Karakoram Highway, a key link to China. The flow of the Hunza River was also blocked, causing the formation of a barrier lake that spread 23 kilometers upstream, submerging four villages and prompting the Pakistani government to evacuate 45,000 people into a dozen shelters.

Upon hearing of the situation, Supreme Master Ching Hai had conveyed her sorrowful prayers as she donated US$15,000 for emergency supplies. In accordance with her instructions, our Association members had traveled to the region twice, working with the local organization All Green to bring relief and assistance. However, as of November 2010, the displaced were still unable to return to their homes, with their survival further threatened by lack of food and temperatures that had rapidly dropped to below zero degrees Celsius.

Knowing of the Supreme Master Ching Hai from our relief teams’ previous visits and the SOS flyers they had received, the local Pakistani governments contacted our Association asking for help. Supreme Master Ching Hai immediately donated an additional US$15,000 with all her love, asking that our Association members please go to offer comfort to the most desperate. This combined amount of US$30,000 could acquire US$535,000 in vital materials if obtained in the United States, based on Pakistan’s cost of living.

Our Association members from Formosa (Taiwan) went as soon as possible to conduct the relief work, covering their own travel and related expenses of US$5,540. While waiting for a permit to enter the affected area, they were asked by the local government to meanwhile visit the Skardu District, which they were told was even more critically affected than Hunza. The relief team purchased rice, flour, oil, sugar, beans, salt, and other daily life necessities, which they prepared into 400 packages, along with 160 blankets to keep the victims warm.

As the Skardu and Hunza areas were highly restricted, the relief team requested the kind assistance of the All Green personnel, whom they had worked with previously, to help distribute the supplies. Four members of the All Green organization thus handed out 200 packs of food and 100 blankets in Skardu where local temperatures had dropped to minus 11 degrees Celsius, and 200 packs of food and 60 blankets in Hunza to the appreciative disaster victims there.

We are grateful, regional Pakistani governments and All Green personnel, for your caring efforts as we also thank Supreme Master Ching Hai for her heartfelt care of the Pakistani people and our Association’s relief team for their selfless endeavors. We pray for the smooth recovery of daily regularity to the Pakistani people’s lives, and that such devastating events may soon be a thing of the past as humanity acts with gentler regard for all beings.