FOCUS ON PAKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN
Water, Food, and Emergency Aid
Aid from Comfort Aid International (USA) donors was on the ground within a week of the catastrophe that engulfed Pakistan last week. Emergency potable water, food, and shelter have / are being distributed to the survivors of the floods. Sharing a few photos.
Blankets and Shelter
Now comes the more difficult times. Even the people who survived this calamity will perish if they are left vulnerable in the coming winter. The winters in Pakistan can be killers, especially for the infirm, the elderly, and infants who are homeless. CAI is scrambling to get the following logistics in place before the winter months:
A. Rebuild the destroyed homes using the undamaged intact bricks, door and window frames, and labor provided by the beneficiary. Falling back on our experience from the 2010 Punjab floods, CAI donors rehabilitated 410 homes at about an average of US$550 per home. This time, the estimate for a similar effort is about US$1,400 per home. Please help us rebuild a home or two if you can.
B. The homeless victims will need a tent and blankets to survive. CAI is targeting 14,000 blankets between Pakistan and Afghanistan at about US$32 for a large, thick blanket to shelter 2 adults and a child. This cost includes transportation to remote areas of both countries. Please help save lives by sponsoring a blanket or more.
Food Aid for Afghanistan
Although Pakistan has been rightly in the limelight for the flood disaster, Afghanistan is in a mess regarding food availability and affordability. Hunger was already a mammoth issue since the Taliban took over and international aid agencies abandoned the country. Recent floods have washed away and destroyed the fragile fall harvest of this year. There is a real danger of starvation in the coming winter without wheat flour and cooking oil to see them through, until they can sow again in the spring.
CAI donors have been feeding the most vulnerable in very remote parts of this luckless country since September 2021. There are funds to see this program continue through October 2022. CAI must have additional funding in place to continue this life-or-death program. Please help if you can.