help_pakistan.
So.
help_pakistan is live for offerings. Bidding won't begin until Monday, but you can now offer fic, arts, and miscellaneous. Do it and spread the word!
In case you haven't been paying attention to the news:
Pakistan was hit by intense monsoon rains that have created devastating floods, wiping out the homes and livelihoods of millions.
1,500 people are dead.
Over 4 million people are homeless.
Overall, the flooding has affected 20 million people.
Whole communities have been destroyed.
As the water stagnates, public health concerns (particularly regarding cholera) rise.
And while it seems uncouth to consider this in times of human tragedy, it is worth considering the consequences of inaction:
This disaster is not like an earthquake or a tsunami. In the 2005 earthquake in northern Pakistan, 80,000 people died more or less at one blow; whereas the immediate death toll from this flood is likely to be in the low thousands. The loss of property, however, is catastrophic. It is as if a neutron bomb exploded overhead, but instead of killing the people and leaving their houses intact, it piled trees upon the houses and swept away the villages and crops and animals, leaving the people alive.
For months and even years, the people of the Indus Valley will not have sufficient income for food or clothing. They will rebuild, if they can afford it, by inches. The corrupt and impoverished Pakistani government cannot possibly make these people’s lives whole again. It’s not hard to imagine the potential for radicalization in a country already rapidly turning to extremist political views, to envision the anarchy that may be unleashed if wealthier nations do not find a way to provide sufficient relief. This is not a problem that will go away, and it is the entire world’s problem. It is said, the most violent revolutions are the revolutions of the stomach.
From here.
help_pakistan is live for offerings. Bidding won't begin until Monday, but you can now offer fic, arts, and miscellaneous. Do it and spread the word!
In case you haven't been paying attention to the news:
Pakistan was hit by intense monsoon rains that have created devastating floods, wiping out the homes and livelihoods of millions.
1,500 people are dead.
Over 4 million people are homeless.
Overall, the flooding has affected 20 million people.
Whole communities have been destroyed.
As the water stagnates, public health concerns (particularly regarding cholera) rise.
And while it seems uncouth to consider this in times of human tragedy, it is worth considering the consequences of inaction:
This disaster is not like an earthquake or a tsunami. In the 2005 earthquake in northern Pakistan, 80,000 people died more or less at one blow; whereas the immediate death toll from this flood is likely to be in the low thousands. The loss of property, however, is catastrophic. It is as if a neutron bomb exploded overhead, but instead of killing the people and leaving their houses intact, it piled trees upon the houses and swept away the villages and crops and animals, leaving the people alive.
For months and even years, the people of the Indus Valley will not have sufficient income for food or clothing. They will rebuild, if they can afford it, by inches. The corrupt and impoverished Pakistani government cannot possibly make these people’s lives whole again. It’s not hard to imagine the potential for radicalization in a country already rapidly turning to extremist political views, to envision the anarchy that may be unleashed if wealthier nations do not find a way to provide sufficient relief. This is not a problem that will go away, and it is the entire world’s problem. It is said, the most violent revolutions are the revolutions of the stomach.
From here.