‘Food and clothing are not enough’
The relief effort in the flood-hit areas needs to move beyond food and clothing.
LAHORE:
The relief effort in the flood-hit areas needs to move beyond food and clothing and start teaching the affected communities to learn the skills and education needed to cope with such disasters in future.
Dr Rasul Bakhsh Raees, political science professor at Lahore University of Management Sciences said this on Saturday. He was speaking at a fund raising tea organised at Lums as part of its Flood Relief Drive.
The event was hosted by the students and faculty of the university. It was attended by CEOs of prominent multinational companies.He said that the Lums Flood Relief Drive (LFRD) was launched by the students because the flood affected people needed long term and sustainable support. He added that Lums wanted to stay engaged with the affected communities and stressed that the ultimate aim should be to empower them so that they could be self sufficient.
The LFRD is a joint initiative of students and faulty. The LFRD members stated that they have started construction of houses in Kararinoon village, in Bhakkar district, and Bhaksar village, in Rajanpur district. They said that in the long run the LFRD intended to initiate community empowerment projects such as schools and healthcare centres.
Referring to Gandhi’s saying that ‘you have to be the change that you want to see in the world’, Dr Qinza Najam, a faculty member at LUMS, said students needed to make relief effort a part of their lives. She said that such acts could only lead to a real change if they were not stopped half way, adding, “You have to keep the progress of social change going, and it must not stop”. This, she said, would provide hope to others as well and motivate them to undertake such acts. The LFRD later carried out a pledge drive to raise funds. Lums vice chancellor Ahmed Jan Durrani and DHA residents Tariq Sheikh and Arif Alvi made monetary contributions and Native Art Gallery owner Nabeel Ahmed and Dr Najm donated art pieces for the cause.
A Kararinoon resident who had lost his house to the flood was also present at the occasion. Besides his house, the LFRD has completed 14 houses in the village. He said that he had travelled all the way from Bhakkar to thank the people who were helping rebuild his neighbourhood.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2010.
The relief effort in the flood-hit areas needs to move beyond food and clothing and start teaching the affected communities to learn the skills and education needed to cope with such disasters in future.
Dr Rasul Bakhsh Raees, political science professor at Lahore University of Management Sciences said this on Saturday. He was speaking at a fund raising tea organised at Lums as part of its Flood Relief Drive.
The event was hosted by the students and faculty of the university. It was attended by CEOs of prominent multinational companies.He said that the Lums Flood Relief Drive (LFRD) was launched by the students because the flood affected people needed long term and sustainable support. He added that Lums wanted to stay engaged with the affected communities and stressed that the ultimate aim should be to empower them so that they could be self sufficient.
The LFRD is a joint initiative of students and faulty. The LFRD members stated that they have started construction of houses in Kararinoon village, in Bhakkar district, and Bhaksar village, in Rajanpur district. They said that in the long run the LFRD intended to initiate community empowerment projects such as schools and healthcare centres.
Referring to Gandhi’s saying that ‘you have to be the change that you want to see in the world’, Dr Qinza Najam, a faculty member at LUMS, said students needed to make relief effort a part of their lives. She said that such acts could only lead to a real change if they were not stopped half way, adding, “You have to keep the progress of social change going, and it must not stop”. This, she said, would provide hope to others as well and motivate them to undertake such acts. The LFRD later carried out a pledge drive to raise funds. Lums vice chancellor Ahmed Jan Durrani and DHA residents Tariq Sheikh and Arif Alvi made monetary contributions and Native Art Gallery owner Nabeel Ahmed and Dr Najm donated art pieces for the cause.
A Kararinoon resident who had lost his house to the flood was also present at the occasion. Besides his house, the LFRD has completed 14 houses in the village. He said that he had travelled all the way from Bhakkar to thank the people who were helping rebuild his neighbourhood.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2010.