Stuff Purchased, Packed & Ready to Be Shipped

It was heartening to see stacks of flood relief supplies stored in the Balouchistan room, filling up the entire area. All categorized, neatly packed and stacked. Ready to be shipped out to PAF. One cannot imagine the hard work and logistics that went into purchasing the items, transporting, packing and arranging them, considering the weekend break. Great Work Indeed~

Amount Collected So Far - Update

A positive update was shared by one of the team members regarding the amount we have raised so far (that is just four days):




Cash Received (In-person)


1, 72500/-


+ 1,00,000 = 2,72500/-

(also includes received amount pledged earlier)


 

Cash Received (Collections in box)


Rs. 8,500/-



Amount Pledged (by different individuals)



3, 500/-



TOTAL



Rs. 2, 75500/-



The total figure comes around Rs. 3, 08, 785. This means we can reach out to approximately 221 families.As a first shipment, our target is to reach out to 441 families. 

Links of Charities seeking Donations for Flood victims~

Here are a few links of the international organizations working for this cause:
https://secure.unicefusa.org/site/Donation2?idb=982019742&df_id=8320&8320.donation=form1&JServSessionIdr004=kjitg6mj53.app228b


http://www.oxfam.org/en/emergencies/pakistan-floods-2010


http://usa.humanityfirst.org/

http://www.savethechildren.org/emergencies/asia/pakistan-floods-2010/?gclid=CMHmlKuetqMCFclS6wodTQ4EcQ&WT.mc_id=gg_e_cp&WT.srch=1


Local and International detailed information regarding donations can be found here too:

www.chowrangi.com/donation-links-and-relief-resources-for-pakistan-flood-victims.html

http://secularpakistan.wordpress.com/flood-relief/

the power of small ideas

The power of small ideas is enormous. Our members proposed two campaign:

Donate the lunch money who would have spent on lunch, if you weren't fasting.
(Status: If I am not wrong, we raised near about Rs.10,000 through this method.)
‘Coins or <10’ campaign, where staff members would be asked to contribute loose change to the donation box.
(Status: A few of our students have decided to pitch in and they would go office to office (and cubicles) to collect loose change.)

The two campaigns also send out the message that the size of your donation doesn't matter; but the size of your heart does. Kudos!

Positive News - Amount Collected so far

A positive update was shared by one of the team members regarding the amount we have raised so far (that is just two days):


Cash Received (In-person)

Rs. 17,000/-

Cash Received (Collections in box)

Rs. 10, 785/-

Amount Pledged (by different individuals)

1, 27100

TOTAL

1, 54885

The total figure comes around 1, 54885. This means we can reach out to approximately 221 families.As a first shipment, our target is to reach out to 1000 families.  
 
We have requested for donations in kind, so we received numerous items such as candles, towels; match boxes; biscuits; powdered milk; medicine; juices, etc. An inventory is to be developed.

Posters developed and sent

We created Two Posters. The panaflex poster was placed at the entrance of the institue. The second one was a flyer and was sent to PTAN school network via snail mail. The response is slowly gathering momentum. Thanks are due to the the individuals who helped us in conceptualizing,designing, printing and distibuting the said posters.
(The message and call for help was sent to 60 schools in the PTAN network~)

List of Items Needed

Here is a rough list of items we circulated.


Here is what is needed:


Food items

• Mineral Water

• Biscuits

• Short Cakes

• Buns

• Potato Chips

• Juices

• Milk(tetra packs or powder)

• Dry fruit

• Sugar

• Rice

• Rice,

• Flour (Atta)

• Onions

• Potatoes

• Cooking oil

• Tea

• Safe drinking water


*Tinned/ packed….with expiry dates properly checked)



Medicine

• Water purification tablets.

• Life saving drugs.

• Vaccines for malaria, cholera, typhoid, influenza.

• Pain killers including strong ones like Aspirin, morphine derivatives, tremadol, pethadine, kinz .

• Antibiotics e.g. tetnus, amoxil, gentamycin.

• IV cannulas

• IV Drip sets

• IV drips: normal saline, ringerlactate

• Local anesthetics (injections)

• Cotton bandages, cotton.

• Surgical instruments: e.g needle holders, forceps, tweezers.

• Suturing materials, Skin staples.

*(Properly sealed…with expiry dates properly checked) Other basics


Other Items
• Insect repellent coils/ mosquito net

• Matches

• Clothes,

• Blankets/ sheets,

• Pillows,

• Tents

• shoes

• Utensils: Jerricans (large plastic cans that hold 20 liters of water or other liquids)

• Crockery

• Buckets

• Toiletries: Tissues, Soaps, Dettol (antibacterial cleaners), Towels

From Despair and Helplessness to Initiation - the PK Flood Relief Effort

As images of flood swamped areas were constantly beamed in through our TVs, despair was eminent and natural. We have had a vague idea as to 'what' needs to be done but the 'how' part wasn't that clear. We wanted to donate but weren't sure where to go and whom to contact. Some of the faculty members at the Aga Khan University-Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED) decided to launch a campaign at a personal level. Received an email from a faculty member regarding a rough list of items we could possibly donate to the flood victims. Monetary donation of course was also considered viable. While we expanded and altered the list in terms of items of priority, we also questioned as to whom we were supposed to contact for donating these items.


Another faculty member shared with us that he had just talked to PAF museum flood relief camp to a certain Squadron Leader, Mr. Amjad. We came to know then that PAF is collecting items and will arrange a drop in the needed areas. We considered this option the most suitable for two reasons: credibility and centralization of efforts. This set the ball rolling.

At this point the purpose of the blog is to record how we are going about the process.