There is ALWAYS something you can do!

For the most efficient ways to help
send tax deductable donations to -


in Pakistan :

"Ipswich Rotary Charitable Trust"
mark "Pakistan Flood Relief" on the check.
Send to the Ipswich Rotary Club, PO Box 543,
Ipswich, MA 01938


in Afghanistan :

helpwomenheal.org

Afghanwomensmission.org

charityhelp.org/afceco


Plus, educate your elected officials
and those around you to the reality
of the situations!

Do not rely on television to
keep you informed ....

Winter to worsen threats against children: Unicef

The News : Pakistan
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
Our correspondent
Islamabad

More than four months after the worst floods in the country’s history, Unicef warns that winter will worsen the threats against Pakistani children who already suffer high rates of acute respiratory infections and malnutrition.
New polio cases are spreading rapidly with 126 this year compared to 89 in 2009 — an enormous cause for concern especially as Pakistan had made significant strides towards eradicating polio. Pakistan is one of the four polio endemic countries in the world, and low ongoing coverage in areas experiencing difficult security in the north, overcrowding, and poor sanitation as a result of the floods have exacerbated the threat for children.

“This crisis is far from over. It has just evolved in very different ways from one part of Pakistan to the next, and the humanitarian effort has had to adapt swiftly to reach children and women most in need as their needs change,” said Daniel Toole, Unicef’s Regional Director for South Asia. “Although most people have returned to their home areas, many have returned to near total destruction — with no homes, no crops, no food and no cash. In the north, snow has fallen and we are delivering winter clothes and supplies to help families prepare for a harsh winter, while in the south very slow receding waters have meant over a million lives are still on hold. The coming cold months will sharply increase the numbers of respiratory infections and malnutrition, two of the biggest killers of Pakistani children.”
One-fifth of Pakistan’s land area was ravaged by the monsoon floods that affected 20.3 million people. Some 10,000 schools and rural health centres were damaged by the floods, and important infrastructure was destroyed or badly damaged, including water and sanitation systems, bridges and roads.

In preparation for winter, Unicef has started to distribute warm children’s clothing and blankets. However, millions of families still need assistance in the form of water, medicine and nutritional supplements to survive the coming months, especially those living in the north of the country as harsh winter conditions approach.
UNICEF needs $82.1 million if it is to continue with its life-saving and recovery programmes in Pakistan. In addition, to expand urgently needed support to improve widespread malnutrition and to stop polio spreading, additional urgent funds are required for continued needs in 2011.

Things are worse in Afghanistan....

This year alone 700 NATO troops have died and a much greater number of Afghans.

Here is a radio program done by Sonali Kholhatkar of the Afghan Women's Mission:

http://uprisingradio.org/home/?p=17809
(I am sorry but you will need to copy and past this elsewhere to listen!)

Pakistanis love to discuss politics with Americans

In Pakistan, politics is a national sport, like cricket. The political scene in this country, as well as the rest of the world, is always followed very closely by the majority of the population. There are over 30 different political debate programs on local TV stations.

The only government they dislike as much as their own is the government of the USA. They know much more about American Foreign Policy than many Americans do. They look forward to discussing politics with each and every American they meet.

The myth of "anti-American sentiment" is in reality, "anti-American Government sentiment". Pakistanis love Americans and are politically astute enough to differentiate between the citizens of a country and their government. When I travel, I always let people know that I am an American and end up in interesting and educational conversations.







When I travel I am never in any danger! If I am by myself and anyone even looks at me cross-eyed, bystanders would jump in to help me immediately.

THE ONLY THING WE HAVE TO FEAR IS FEAR ITSELF!!!!!

Distribution of the Kitchen Recovery Kits

On the morning of Dec.8, fellow Ipswich Rotarian Christyne Vachon and I distributed 50 of Kitchen Recovery Kits in the yard of DOSTI’s Tangi School. Also with us for the event was members of our partner club the Rotary Club of Unitown Peshawar, Zamarud Shah (brown suit jacket and sunglasses) and Mansoor Kahn(short beard and hat) Villagers of the Charsadda region of North West Frontier Province (now known as Kyber-Pakhtunwa or KPK) were picked out according to who was in the direst need.




Helping with the giving were also teachers and students of the local government school. The teachers worked as volunteers to run the DOSTI Tangi School for the poorest children.




I had looked forward to a happy experience of giving but felt immensely inadequate in the face of the massive loss suffered by the people at the gathering. One of the great moments I felt at the end of the event was when the last of my small speech was translated to Pashtu. I had said at the end that we Rotarians in American know that we are all alike. To see all those bearded men with their turbans and robes nod their heads in agreement brought tears to my eyes!








Purchase of the kits suffered from incredible and unprecedented inflation as prices were quoted 4 months ago. The size of all items shrunk by about 30%. The Federal Bureau of statistics reported in an article in today’s paper that from Oct. 2009 to Oct. 2010, prices win went up on the following items in the kits by : 80% for sugar, 160% for lentils, 10% for cooking oil, 14% for compressed natural gas, plastic products 13.7%, 6.5% for rice, 3.2% for flour. This inflation is due to lack of government infrastructure, massive flooding which damaged 30% of the nations crops, inflated transport costs, as well as a shortage due to the smuggling of essential items to Afghanistan where even greater prices can be obtained.