Welcome to Kirsistan: Message from a Flood Relief Camp

I am so excited right now that I cannot sleep. Something spectacular happened today which inspired me to take action and do something concrete to help the flood victims. I have talked about the massive scale of the catastrophe that keeps on continuing because the flood waters are shifting and thus causing danger into new areas. More and more people are affected by this calamity every day so the number of people who need help is growing reaching 20 million to date. Although the world has been slow in waking up to help fellow citizens of the human race, Pakistanis are doing their fair share in helping their nation to get back on its feet.

Today I had the pleasure to meet and interact with active and motivated Pakistanis of the local Rotary Club. They had put up a Flood Relief Camp for 3 days (Fri-Sun) by a main road and were collecting donations in the form of money and clothes from morning till night. The spirit and atmosphere in the camp was positive, exciting and you could almost touch the determination of these fine young change agents. Many of them worked hard by the road under the scorching sun while fasting the whole day. I received so much energy from them that I ventured out to the streets and nearby shopping malls with my team of four to collect donations. I was given a Rotary t-shirt and a cap and off we went.

The response from people was mainly positive and encouraging although the standard reply seemed to be "I've already donated so much". Nevertheless, we managed to collect a rather swift sum of money in less than 2 hours which makes me proud of my team and the whole Rotarian team, who selflessly donate their time and effort in reaching out the people in need. The feeling afterward was divine and the best feeling one could ever imagine. To have this amazing feeling feels like one of the meanings of life. To be able to make a change and actually do something to help others.

The people of Pakistan have to come together to overcome this natural disaster and join forces, no matter whether they are Sindhi or Punjabi or from somewhere else... this time it is about Pakistan as a nation and we need everybody in this battle for survival. This is Pakistan's chance to show the world its true colours and unite. The world will follow.

A small note, the cutest thing we witnessed was a small street vendor boy, aged maybe 10 and his line of business is selling elastic band, donating from his very limited earnings to us. Respect.

Stay tuned for more news from Kirsistan.

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Check out the pictures from the Flood Relief Camp.

Everyone was so focused and motivated to do their share and the atmosphere was amazing.