Christians raise funds for drought-stricken Sindh

The Church in Pakistan is gearing up to help victims of the recent drought in Sindh province. CWS – a global coalition of churches and agencies engaged in development, humanitarian assistance and advocacy – and the Catholic Church are raising funds to help drought victims.

The famine crisis in Thar, one of the poorest regions in Sindh, started in December last year. Young children and adults are dying due to lack of food and water. More than 120 children have died in the last three months.

The Catholic Church organised prayer vigils and a special mass on Sunday for more than 2,000 villages in Pakistan’s southern most province. Various parishes raised money for relief operations.

CWS’ emergency response team in Pakistan is on standby to start its emergency response activities.

Droughts resulting in famine are a regular occurrence in Pakistan, especially Thar region. But this time it was severe and the local government did not take timely action to revert the crisis. Local media has been reporting the deaths and showing pictures of malnourished children for some time.

According to Mithi Taluka hospital, 38 children died from lack of food and water in December; another 42 victims died in January and 36 in February. So far in March, at least five children have died.

Residents have reported a drastic reduction in the size of cattle. Malnutrition is the main cause of death of cattle too.

Sindh is home to the country’s largest Hindu community with more than 2.3 million people, mostly unskilled farm labourers. Central and local authorities have promised efforts to deal with the crisis but action so far has proven ineffective.

Source: ucanews.it (Mar. 12, 2014)