• Candlelight Vigil (October 27, 2005): A joint candlelight vigil for the earthquake victims is being held at each of the following schools -- MIT, Harvard, Wellesley, Mount Holyoke, Tufts, Brandeis, BU, Rutgers, Columbia, Cornell, Berklee, Hampshire, Dartmouth and NYU. Please come and show your support for the victims by lighting a candle at our vigil.

• Raffle Sale (November 2005): Tickets will be sold at various schools for a raffle to be held at MIT

       MASSIVE EARTHQUAKE HITS SOUTH ASIA; OVER 87,000 DEAD

A massive earthquake struck Pakistan, Afghanistan and India on Saturday morning. More than 87,000 people have died and over 60,000 injured in Pakistan, the country worst hit by the earthquake. As communications with remote villages are re-established, the death and injury toll is likely to rise. Tens of thousands of people have lost their homes as entire villages in the Azad Kashmir and NWFP have been wiped out. Pakistan faces an enormous challenge in terms of not only providing food and shelter to those who have lost their homes and families, but also for the future rehabilitation of earthquake survivors, especially the thousands of children orphaned by the disaster.

 

There is an urgent need for heavy-lift helicopters, tents, medicines and food to reach those still alive. Hundreds of children are still trapped in collapsed schools across northern Pakistan and residents are slowly giving up on efforts to rescue them. Reports from the devastated northwestern town of Balakot paint a terrifying picture of stunned residents and parents listening helplessly to children crying out for help from under the rubble of flattened school buildings. Similar stories of human anguish and tragedy keep pouring in, as ill-equipped hospitals and shelters try to deal with the massive influx of injured and wounded earthquake survivors. These unfortunate souls need your help and they need it NOW.

     

A number of Pakistani student and welfare organizations in the Boston area are responding to the disaster by collectively organizing an effort to mobilize resources as quickly and efficiently as possible. In this hour of great trial, we urge you to open your hearts and wallets in this effort to alleviate the plight of thousands of Pakistanis.

The funds collected through these efforts will be given to multiple international and Pakistani charities - individual donations and can be channeled towards the organization of your choice. Some of the charities we are donating to include UNICEF, Red Cross, Oxfam, Mercy Corps, Save The Children, and the President's Relief Fund. Many of the organizations we are working with, such as ADP (the Association for the Development of Pakistan), APPNE (Association of Pakistani Physicians of New England) and SARID (South Asian Research Institute for Development) have been involved with development and charity work in Pakistan and are familiar with the people and the area. We are seeking to make the best use of their experience and contacts in the area in order to ensure we provide help where it is most needed. Please donate online to the cause through the following recommended organizations:

ADP - Association for the Development of Pakistan  
Oxfam -Oxfam UK
Red Cross/Red Crescent    
UNICEF
Islamic Relief  
Mercy Corps
SARID - South Asia Research Institute for Development
KIRF - Kashmir International Relief Fund

For a complete list of organizations working in the area that are accepting online donations, please check out this list.

With every passing minute, hope for the survival of tens of thousands of victims is fading. Time is a luxury that those trapped under building debris, or waiting for urgent medication and shelter, do not have. It is therefore imperative that you find it in your hearts to donate generously to the cause.

While the fastest way to get help to those in urgent need is for you to donate online, there is much rebuilding and rehabilitation work that will need to be done in the weeks to come. Paksmit is putting donation boxes in all the dorms and hopefully at our booths in Lobby 10 and the Stata Center. In addition, we are organizing a South Asia Earthquake Relief Fundraising Dinner. It may not make it in time to help the children still trapped under the remains of what was once their school, but it will go a long way in the rehabilitation of those who were lucky enough to escape alive but lost everything from their family to their homes.

A shattered nation is desperately crying out for your help - will you respond to its call?