A SMALL BUT EFFECTIVE RELIEF EFFORT IN DHARAN

By Salma Shakir, SARID, Dharan, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 14, 2005

The relief effort described below is typical of the many small endevours going on all around the world by non resident Pakistani and other communities to aid the victims of the earthquake in Pakistan.

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There are about a 100 Pakistani families living within the 10 mile radius of the Saudi Aramco Community in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. On Saturday, most of them found out, only later, that an earthquake had hit Pakistan.

While the the extent of the damage was still not apparent by nightfall, the very next day the horror of what had happened stunned everyone. The community was immediately mobilized namely by Yasmeen and Anjum Akmal, Nuzhat and Noman Waheed, Sobia and Mateen Akthar.

Flyers asking for donations of cash, blankets, clothes etc., were hand delivered to community members. Within four days 133 thousand riyals were collected, 600 boxes packed with clothes, shoes, socks, blankets, toiletries, medicines and bedsheets. Men, women and children worked late into the night packing boxes.

All packed items were sent to Islamabad on Thursday, free of charge, by various establishments in Dhahran (Freight Cargo, Moajil and Tamimi). Blankets were shipped by Ziyad Travels, again free of charge.

The money that had been collected was distributed evenly between the Edhi Foundation and the Presidents Relief Fund.

Efforts to help the earthquake victimes will continue, but the immediate response of the Pakistini community of Saudi Aramco to the destruction and devastation in Pakistan is extremely commendable.