‘The need is right now.’ How South Florida is getting aid to people in flooded Pakistan
Syeda Hussein noticed rain when she was in Pakistan in July.
But she — and almost any Pakistani — couldn’t have imagined that the annual monsoon rains would cause one of the worst natural disasters the south Asian country has seen in years.
Massive flooding across Pakistan has left one-third of the country underwater and more than 33 million Pakistanis — 15% of the population — displaced. Since June 14, more than 1,100 people have died and 1,600 have been injured due to the floods. Pakistani officials estimate the disaster has caused about $10 billion in damage and destroyed more than a million homes.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees on Monday rushed in desperately needed aid to the southern part of the country, which has been ravaged by floods.
READ MORE: For Pakistan flood victims, waters hit swiftly and brutally
Hussein and other members of South Florida’s Pakistani community gathered at Ellie’s Halal Restaurant in Cooper City Thursday evening to raise money for those affected by the floods in Pakistan. The proceeds went to Akhuwat, a nonprofit that will be setting up medical camps and providing families with 4,000 rupees ($18.26 in U.S. currency) and food rations.
“It’s easy to look at the news and social media and talk about how bad a situation is,” said Hussein, who lives in Cooper City. “But we have to come up with a solution and get them back to where they were.”
Akhuwat, which has more than 800 branches across Pakistan, is focused on the urgent needs of people, said Mian Mushtaq Javed, the nonprofit’s Eastern U.S. representative.
Families need tents and emergency care for the next month, Mushtaq said. As the flooding calms, the nonprofit will focus on rebuilding homes and administering its usual services.
“We’re different than other NGOs because we focus on uplifting people,” Mushtaq said.
The nonprofit funds three universities, and students get free food and books, he said. However, the most notable initiative is its interest-free microloans, which are offered to vendors, like tailors and shoemakers. In 2001, Akhuwat provided 10,000 rupees (U.S. $45.64) every month but upped that figure to 1.5 million rupees ($6,846.03).
Akhuwat also funds housing loans for low-income Pakistanis, Mushtaq said. About 35,000 homes, most of which cost anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000, have been built since 2001. In villages, that cost drops to $500 to $1,000 per home.
Ashraf Amdani, a Weston resident and board member of the Pakistani American Association of South Florida, also was at the fundraiser, an opportunity to gather, donate and spread awareness about Pakistan’s plight.
“They have no other hopes there,” Amdani said. “The need is right now.”
Amdani is no stranger to charitable giving. He is a founder of the Pakistan nonprofit Childlife Foundation. And he hopes to turn to his regular donors in Miami to respond to the flood.
Childlife has 13 emergency rooms across Pakistan, he said. So far, workers have seen more than 100,000 patients this year, and the $12 million to $13 million budget will likely grow as needs worsen.
Most of the patients visiting the ERs are falling ill after drinking dirty water, Amdani said. Pakistani officials fear the spread of waterborne diseases among thousands of flood victims.
Five of the ERs, located in Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Larkana, Sukkur and Quetta, are overcrowded, Amdani said. The 500 medical professionals working there are treating 3,000 children daily — twice the normal volume — around the clock.
Amdani is now looking into what he and Childlife can do to respond to the emergency.
The nonprofit may put up a camp to treat medical emergencies and provide basic medications in heavily affected areas, he said. It may also provide sustenance like biscuits and dates as well as clean water, Amdani said.
“If we can collect more monies, that will really help us sustain them,” he said. “This is not going to go away in a week or two.”
Despite aid efforts, Pakistan’s rural communities feel like they’re left behind. Dr. Saima Chaudhry and her husband have had families reaching out asking for help since the flooding began.
Chaudhry’s husband is from Balochistan, a southern province of Pakistan. It’s an area mostly populated by farmers, but their land — and their livelihoods — are destroyed.
The Cooper City resident is hoping to raise money in South Florida to transfer directly to affected families in Balochistan. Non-governmental organizations and nonprofits often don’t have the resources to service the remote area.
“We have an obligation to help poorer countries,” Chaudhry said. “We have certain privileges and advantages here that others don’t have.”
This story was originally published September 2, 2022 at 3:13 PM.
