Humanity comes first
Two students from Unitec have put aside their cultural differences and rallied to support the millions of people in Pakistan who have been devastated by floods.
A month ago Pakistan was hit but the worst flooding the country has ever seen, an estimated 20 million people have been affected, the United Nations estimates around six million of those are children.
Umar Ayub and Dilbagh Ashplani have been collecting donations in the Mt Albert Hub during their lunchbreaks and have raised just under a thousand dollars.
Pakistani Ayub, 24, is completing his masters in computing, while Ashplani, 25, is studying post graduate business and is Indian but was born in Pakistan.
The pair had never previously met and were put in contact when they both spoke to USU President Pete Hodkinson about a shared desire to fundraise on campus.
Ashplani says there is typically tension between Pakistan and India, but when faced with such extreme natural disaster it is important to put aside their differences.
“Humanity has to come first,” he says.
“One thing I love about New Zealand is no one cares what country you are from when something like this happens.”
The two have been collecting donations to be sent to Ayub’s former University in Pakistan.
There is a need in Pakistan for more volunteers to pack and distribute donated supplies, a task which the Signalian Alumni Association and current students are undertaking.
So far they have raised enough to distribute food and medical supplies to almost 3000 families, as well as water purifiers which will generate clean drinking water.
Unitec students have been very generous says Ayub.
The largest donation was $100 from a single person.
Because of the exchange rate (1.00 NZD = 60.1181 PKR) even small 10 cent donations make a difference, something the pair made clear to cash-strapped students.
“We are grateful to them all,” says Ayub.
Ashplani says that most students at the very least took the time to learn a little about the extent of the devastation.
“Some students even just came to talk to us to see if there was another way they could help besides money, a way of volunteering.”
The Pakistan emergency is said to be more devastating than the Boxing Day tsunami or the Haiti earthquake.
There is an urgent need for shelter, clean drinking water, sanitation facilities, food, and medicine. Additionally, the country’s agricultural economy will take years to rebuild.
Despite growing international relief efforts millions of people are still without aid and at increased risk of water-borne diseases such as cholera and diarrhoea.
To donate to the Signalian Alumni Association Flood relief visit http://www.signalians.org
If you would like to make a online donation the following New Zealand humanitarian agencies in Pakistan are: The Red Cross, Caritas, Christian World Service, Oxfam New Zealand, Save the Children, Tear Fund, Unicef NZ (UN Children's Fund), and World Vision.