Current news reports about the floods in Pakistan show a harrowing situation. One third of the country is under water, with 33 million people affected – displaced and facing loss of homes.
Among the dead, bereaved and homeless will be loved ones, families and friends of our Pakistani and Kashmiri brothers and sisters who are our neighbours here in the Diocese of Leeds.
The love of the Body of Christ knows no boundaries and the Church community is reaching out to help.
In the immediate short term, as a member charity of the UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), CAFOD has already released £100,000 for a partner organisation in Sindh Province to support efforts to provide food (cash assistance) and emergency medical assistance – but we know that such a scale of flooding will also have a significant medium and long-term effect. Crops have been damaged: it is estimated that 45% of the cotton crop has been washed away, and the impact on production of food has yet to be truly calculated.
Despite the difficult times for all of us now facing the challenges of higher food and fuel costs, many will be thinking about the situation in Pakistan, offering prayers and looking for practical ways to respond.
PLEASE consider supporting the appeal which CAFOD has launched today on their website: Pakistan Floods Appeal | CAFOD
