Central and Eastern Kentucky
(2010-08-18)
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LEXINGTON, KY
(WEKU) -
The numbers are numbing. 20 million Pakistanis impacted by torrential flooding, and the official death toll is certain to rise. Dr. Jamil Farooqui is with the Association of Pakistani Physicians of North America. Like any disaster, Farooqui, who practices medicine in Lexington, says cash contributions alone are not enough. Relief organizations need a strategy.
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"We don't want to throw the money, because it will just go away very quickly. What we would like to do as an organization is to partner with someone who is on the ground over there and pick up a couple of projects and then own those projects," said Farooqui.
Farooqui heads the social welfare and disaster relief committee with the Association of Pakistani Physicians of North America. He went to Pakistan five years ago when a portion of the country was crippled by an earthquake. He says each disaster poses unique challenges.
"In an earthquake type of situation, it's one given time one given place it happened it happened then all you do is the rescue and the relief. Here it is a constant process started in one province and then keep on going this flood and now involving almost one-tenth of the country," added Farooqui.
A fund raising effort has been launched in Kentucky. Farooqui has a hard time grasping the enormity of Pakistan's disaster.
"Of course initially there was a lot of depression and thinking of helplessness, but once we started working and we have people joining hands and organizations are getting active we are pretty active and enthusiastic and try to get it over there so we have a fighting spirit now," said Farooqui.
Farooqui says a group in Louisville has sent a great deal of water purification equipment to the hard hit areas of Pakistan. He says a clothing drive will be announced publicly soon in central Kentucky. Monetary donations can be made to the Association of Pakistani Physicians of North America through the web site at www.appna.org
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