Water is Precious, Water is Abundant

We take water for granted. We get to drink it whenever we want. There is plenty available everywhere and in all forms, shapes and even flavors. We are told to drink at least 8 glasses a day. We use water to make our coffee, our tea and our juices and all those energy drinks and fizzy drinks. But today, we learned a new meaning of this commodity. See this video



See it closely and notice what we are doing. As our medical van moved from Noshehra to Pabbi in NWFP for medical relief, we found literally hundreds of people stranded on the road after their homes were swept away by the floods.

Notice their clothes, which are wet up to their waist. They have recently waded through water to reach dry ground. Even after 6 days, people are struggling to get to dry land in NWFP. So we did what we had never thought we would do. We started distributing fresh water to anyone that seemed needy on the road. We did not wait to get to a relief camp, we just started distributing impromptu.

Most of these people have not had a chance to drink any fresh and clean water since last week when their lives were devastated by floods. And this short clip that we shot is testament to the devastation that is faced by Northern part of Pakistan.

Our relief efforts are meager compared to the crisis that is out there. Over 5 million stranded and one small Suzuki van with a few dozen bottle of Aquafina mineral water. We will be back tomorrow and will repeat this process till we get to our destination.

Maybe, everyone should donate one bottle of fresh water for every affectee. Maybe, we can again make this precious water a commodity for these poor and needy people.

For more information on our activities, please visit our website at

http://www.umtrust.org/relief

Assitance Required for Flood Relief Efforts in Pakistan

The monsoon has hit Pakistan particularly hard this year and there is already much devastation because of it. Here is a description of what is going on with the flood in the NWFP, Pakistan and our relief efforts. Please do spread this email and reach out to your network for supporters.

UM Healthcare Trust is setting up a medical relief camp in out skirts of Risalpur, where the flood water reached its maximum, to treat and help victims of the flood disaster.

On July 31, 2010, our needs assessment team visited the region to get detailed information of the crisis. We quickly realized that no major relief effort has begun so far and only Abdus Sattar Edhi has showed up. The situation is dire on the ground. No relief effort has begun by the government or internal agencies like Red Cross, United Nations or anyone. So far, everyone is helping each other. All victims are helping the new ones being rescued. Yes, even after three days of floods, new survivors are found and brought in. Click survey Analysis for the report of what we found out today.

Survey Analysis

A Photostream of Flood Devastation can be seen here

Our (UM-Healthcare) Plan of Action

After completing our survey, here is what we plan to do:

• We are setting up a field medical clinic in a closed up Children’s play school immediately.
• A medical team from UM Healthcare will start treating patients immediately and will man the clinic untill the crisis is over.
• We estimate to be there for at least a month since the local facilities will not become operational anytime soon (even when the flood waters recede).
• Todd Shea and CDRS have pledged to join us and we will work together to help the flood victims get better care. We are encouraging other organizations to join us in this time of need.

What We Need Urgently

A list of all the items that we need is listed here.

http://tinyurl.com/umrelief

How To Donate

The instructions of how to donate are listed here. Please download this document to get details of various methods for making a donation.

UM-Healthcare Background Information

Please spread the word as we need your help and assistance at this time.