News and Views

Video: How to help Pakistan (even better than money!)

Published

August 24, 2010

One of the countless Pakistani citizens who’re working day and night for the flood relief efforts is Fakhre-Alam, a young celebrity known well in the nation. Previously, he’d spearheaded a prolonged and effective relief campaign for the earthquake victims in 2005. Now, he joins Pakistan’s national airline, PIA, to bring focused and effective relief for the millions who’re awaiting help.

This video has been made especially for people residing abroad, who want to help with the relief campaign on the ground. PIA, the national carrier, has declared it will ship to Pakistan free of cost any donations that people abroad want to send for the flood victims. Watch the video to learn more:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCNomdB6V0U[/youtube]

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A summary of the items described in the video above:

1) Get a box, preferable size 12 inches x 15 inches x 15 inches

2) A white sheet

3) Two 1.5 liters mineral water (not more, not less)

4) Twelve-pack of any juice with straw

5) One box of salty biscuits

6) Two boxes of sweet biscuits (1 big, 1 small)

7) One box of chocolates

8) Milk carton (1-1.5 liters) – expiration date should be far off

9) One bag of potato chips

10) Two to four soap bars

11) One box of dates

12) ORS (Oral Rehydration Salts / dehydration-prevention supplement- pedialyte)

13) One pack of disposable cups

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA): Contact details

For details of whom to contact, please visit: http://www.piac.com.pk/Flood_Relief/ERP.htm

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Ameera Khan

Ameera is a final-year medical student and blogger based in Karachi, Pakistan. Having been born and raised in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, her approach towards her Deen has always been rooted in a basic understanding from authentic sources, which was further polished during a three-year weekend course at Al Huda Institute. Her interests, though, seem to know no bounds and range from a passion for the culinary arts and travelling, as well as following current affairs and global happenings. She feels being able to be part of MuslimMatters is one of the major blessings of Allah(swt) upon her, for it has given her a chance to learn and grow. She also maintains her personal blog at http://duskanddawn.wordpress.com.

23 Comments

mystrugglewithin

August 24, 2010 at 9:38 AM

perfect, mashallah.

Reply
HydTech

August 24, 2010 at 9:48 AM

jazakallah

Reply
Pingback: A little box that will make a LOT of difference…(please read!) « Ramadan: The Greatest Month of the Year
Shafkat

August 24, 2010 at 2:13 PM

As salaam alykum,

Alhamdulillah .. Excellent work..

Lots n lots of people want to help our brothers and sisters in Pakistan … But do not trust the corrupt government officials one bit .. whose track record as far as honesty, transparency and integrity is concerned leaves a lot to be desired …

Enough said !

Is this service by PIA available all over the world ??

Would love to get things organised from here in Kenya, if possible..

Ma asalaam

Reply
- Ameera
  
  August 24, 2010 at 11:20 PM
  
  Please visit the website linked to in the post above… I am pretty certain that wherever PIA has flight routes, it will gladly carry the goods Inshaa’Allah. :)
  
  Reply
Hena

August 24, 2010 at 8:50 PM

Thanks for posting this Ameera! This can be sent from each and every place that PIA flies from. He was on the ground during the 2005 earthquake so he knows what he talking about.

As for the bags of rice and lentils send those by ship in containers which will get there in 30 days. That is long term nourishment that they will eventually need. Maty ALlah accept everyones efforts. Ameen

Reply
Salman Aslam

August 25, 2010 at 3:59 AM

Mashallah he has been a true inspiration for us youngsters

Reply
Atif

August 25, 2010 at 10:30 AM

I haven’t seen long-life milk (that doesn’t need refrigeration) on a store-shelf here in the US…if I don’t find it, I might just send soy-milk, or rice-milk (which do come in long-life boxes)

Reply
- Hena
  
  August 26, 2010 at 8:09 AM
  
  Don’t know how well that would go as far as taste- Granola bars from here haven’t been a hit (reports from people on the ground there) so I’m guessing neither will soy milk- maybe dry milk ie Nido would be a better option.
  
  Reply
Farhan

August 25, 2010 at 3:54 PM

What are the drop-off locations for PIA? Are there any near Washington, DC?

Reply
- Mansoor Ansari
  
  August 26, 2010 at 10:06 AM
  
  Contacting NYC office for more details would be ur best option .
  
  Reply
Ibrar

August 25, 2010 at 5:27 PM

MaashaAllah, what a nice video, and what an inspirational guy.

One question I have though, which is related to the traceability and accountability of these boxes once they arrive in Pakistan. Fakhre Alam said that on arrival these boxes will be “distributed to the military and NGOs” so that they can reach the people. Does anyone knows how this will occur? I mean, if I was donating to any NGO then I would expect a report from them (as almost all do) in terms what they are doing on the ground, how they have spent the donations and what projects they are involved with. What we seem to have here is a general appeal for a worthy product (the box), with no one taking responsibility for it once it leaves the country of origin and more importantly no one accounting for what happens to it. I guess my concern is that this could end up being no more than a feel good exercise for the diaspora communities that are getting involved in this campaign in their hundreds, with the people who really need these items actually not benefitting from them. Why do I say that? Well my experience from the 2005 earthquake is that lots of cargo items (including in one instance Â£250,000 worth of orthopaedic equipment from the UK) were “procured” on their arrival in Pakistan and added to the “President’s fund” never to be seen again, and we dont know if any of them reached those they were supposed to. It would be a real shame if the same happened here, and worse if people started profiteering from these generous donations. So. if anyone can answer the question, that would be great.

Reply
- Umm Khadija
  
  August 25, 2010 at 8:43 PM
  
  “International shipments will have to be endorsed by Pakistani Embassies/Consulates/ High Commissions and the consignee should be a registered NGO or Government agency such as National Disaster Management Authority.”
  
  See Here:
  http://www.piac.com.pk/PIA_PolicynTerms/PIA_Flood_Relief.asp
  
  The army comes under the NDMA listed above.
  
  Reply
Shafkat

August 26, 2010 at 1:52 AM

As salaam alykum,

It would really boost our confidence if this effort could go one CRUCIAL step further to show us how the donated items are reaching the afflicted..

Suggestion : Link up with the likes of Dr Shahid Masood ( CEO – ARY ) who was shown on ARY TV ‘on the ground’ – in the effected areas some time ago commenting on the lack of help to the people at that particular time.. Maybe/Hopefully things have changed for the better in the meantime …

I do not think this should be very difficult and will go a long way in encouraging more relief items come in ..

Wa billahi Taufiq.

Reply
Amad

August 26, 2010 at 9:49 AM

It did sound too good to be totally true… at least in Qatar here, we called PIA to get lame excuses of already being “full’ and having too few small planes… They arranged one cargo of 1 ton, and that’s about it…. so basically saying dont bother.

Okay, its probably true for Qatar, but they could have figured out another way to support the effort!

So, pls call the nearest PIA office to check their “compliance”.

Reply
- Ameera
  
  August 28, 2010 at 3:44 AM
  
  That’s bad publicity, for sure! :( I wonder if I can somehow contact Fakhre-Alam and apprise him of this…
  
  Reply
Fathimah

August 28, 2010 at 5:22 PM

Assalamualikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu

This sounded so good to me and thought we should try and organise it here….but just now found that there is no guarantee that the goods will reach the deserving…

After the earthquake in Pakistan 5 yrs ago, Hidaya foundation had shipped their containers to PIA in NYC…but it ended up backlogging in the warehouse and then was sent as cargo…so the promise that it will reach immediately is not so true as they have limited space..and even if it does reach there, it goes to the corrupt officials and then nothing will be heard of the goods again.,….

Reply
Umm Anas

August 29, 2010 at 3:28 PM

wa alaikum assalaam wa rahmatUllahi wa barakatuh,

I would add a few toothbrushes…

Reply
Um Mohammed

August 30, 2010 at 1:39 PM

How about non food items,like cloth,blankets,… do you know any one(airline or others) will deliver them for free.I think people here in USA want to donate those items but don’t know where.

Reply
- Mohammed Hamza
  
  September 3, 2010 at 8:15 AM
  
  Salaams Br.
  Just go to any local Islamic Center near you and you will find an answer Insha Allah, If you live in California please let me know I will send you more details.
  
  Reply
Mohammed Hamza

September 3, 2010 at 8:07 AM

Salaams All,
Let’s not worry about what happened 2005 Earth Quake and what will happen NOW, there is no time for judgment people are suffering, Insha Allah just do our part and pray to Allah and Insha Allah it will reach out to needies. If we were to talk about negatives year after years, people would get discouraged, SO IT IS NONE OF OUR BUSINESS to worry whether it will reach or NOT, just do our part and pray to Allah, Insha Allah May Allah will reward you! And make sure to remember all suffering hearts in your Dua’s, Especially Lailathul Qadr is approaching Insha Allah. May Allah guide us in the right path and give them the speedy recovery and patients during this time! AAmeen

Reply
bohemia

September 14, 2010 at 6:33 AM

koi faida nahi hay sary pisa or cheeza zardari kay pass ja rahy hongy dont waste money in pakistan that country desirve 2 die i hate 2 be a pakistani pakistan ending ho nay ka waqt agaya hay

Reply
Isra Sarntisart

September 15, 2010 at 8:58 PM

The Well-being Foundation for Muslim Thais have collected donation from Thai people, mostly muslims. The amount will be sent through the Embassy of Pakistan in Bangkok next week.

Reply