THE LOCAL branch of Oxfam has asked the Manx public to support the appeal for the flood victims in Pakistan.
Oxfam is accepting donations at its shop in Castle Street, Douglas to support its campaign to help the Pakistan people tackle the aftermath of the worst floods in living memory.
A spokesman said, “The Isle of Man folk have always been exceptionally supportive to tragedy around the world and I hope that this situation will have a similar response. Please do come into the shop in Castle Street, Douglas and donate what you can. Whatever you give will make a difference.”
Half a million people have been forced to flee the monsoon floods which have devastated the Sindh province where hundreds of thousands of the poorest inhabitants live near the River Indus.
Embankments and protective walls have been weakened by rain and 400 relief camps have been set up for evacuees. The floods have spread to the southern province after sweeping through Punjab in the east and north-west regions.
Oxfam’s Disaster Emergency Commission have launched an appeal with other aid agencies to raise as much money as possible to help and support the displaced people of Pakistan. All the money raised will be shared amongst the 11 members of the DEC.
All the money Oxfam raises will be used on the ground to help with clean water and sanitation. Every penny will be used for aid purposes and none of the money will be filtered through any government sources.
Oxfam is currently delivering clean water to almost 100,000 people. In total, Oxfam aims to reach around 400,000 people with clean water, sanitation kits and hygiene supplies. The emergency response includes trucking water and installing tanks to help prevent the spread of water-borne diseases.
Oxfam is also providing hygiene kits to help people who have lost everything in the floods, and planning to distribute cooked food as well as running cash-for-work programmes.
In the Punjab District, Eastern Pakistan, Oxfam have been helping to evacuate people affected by the floods to camps where it is carrying out hygiene promotion and distributing health and hygiene kits. Hand pumps and toilets in the camps are also being repaired.
In the Sindh Distrct, in central Pakistan Oxfam is working with a forum to help evacuate people from the north western area and has installed eight 'de-watering' machines with local partners to clean out contaminated wells.
Oxfam is currently carrying out water tankering and repairing damaged water supplies. It is also providing families with water purification tablets and carrying out assessments on impact of the floods on people's livelihoods.
Neva Khan, Oxfam's Pakistan Director said, “Our staff and partners have years of experience providing relief in the most difficult emergencies and we are already there working round the clock to reach those cut off from help.
“We are providing water purification sachets to people who are reduced to drinking from ponds and dirty standing water. At the same time, we are training people on how to clean the water and how to stay as hygienic as possible in such a chaotic and dangerous environment.”
