Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association relief news update from Pakistan.
Persistent heavy rainfall throughout the summer has claimed dozens of lives while causing extreme hardship for thousands of residents in areas that include the eastern province of Punjab and Sindh province in the south.

Zameen Gul – Relief recipient (M): This area has been heavily destroyed because of the heavy rainfall. This area and many other areas are still submerged under water. The government is helping us but a few things are beyond their control. Some areas have not even received the relief packages yet.

VOICE: Just after the rains first struck, Supreme Master Ching Hai had donated US$10,000 in August, asking our Association’s relief team to assist with urgent necessities. In early October, she offered another US$15,000 to extend help to flood victims in Vihari and Badin, located southwest of the capital Islamabad. On October 5, covering their own travel and related expenses of US$4,100, a relief team from Formosa (Taiwan) reached Vihari District in Punjab province, where no aid had yet arrived, and they distributed 20,000 kilograms of wheat flour to 2,000 affected households.

The relief team next went to the low-lying area of Badin in Sindh province on October 8. There, two months of continuous rainfall along with flooding from upstream areas had inundated vast swathes of fields and homes, affecting 900,000 people.

While children could be seen playing in the flood waters, not fully aware of the hunger and disease threatening their health and futures, many of the adults were overwhelmed with helplessness and filled with worry about facing the coming winter without adequate basic materials.

The relief team swiftly purchased 11,000 kilos of wheat flour and distributed the packaged supplies to 1,100 households, where they were heartened to see renewed joy and hope on people’s faces.

Zameen Gul – Relief recipient (M): Supreme Master Ching Hai has helped us a lot. The relief team visited the areas themselves and have seen the situation there. Thanks a lot, Supreme Master. May she live long.

VOICE: As we join in thankfulness for the government’s emergency response efforts, we are also grateful for Supreme Master Ching Hai's loving care for the flood-afflicted, and our Association’s relief team for their dedicated work. Our prayers for the Pakistani people’s protection and recovery, and that such weather extremities subside through our increased efforts of care for the planet.