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Letter from Sister Rebecca in Pakistan |
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To all who responded to needs in Pakistan following the earthquake |
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Dear Friends, Greetings and blessings from Pakistan! I wish to thank you for the way you responded so generously to the earthquake here in Pakistan. I pooled all the donations from various sources and please God we will make a difference together to the lives of the people who are victims of the earthquake. Now you are very much part of life here. |
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I have Good News for you. On Feb.11/12 a truck travelled from Lahore to a place called Manu Jabar, which is a valley situated about a 45-minute journey up into the mountains north west of Balakot, with ‘family packs’ of food, household goods etc. on your behalf. I sent Rs.100,000 (€1,389) and your contribution as part of this. In this area there are about 225 families. All the houses were destroyed in the earthquake and the people have been living in tents over the winter. Amer Syed, a Muslim lawyer, who has worked with the Salesian priests at times while living in Lahore invited the Salesians to come and help out in Abbottabad where he now lives. They responded to the invitation bringing some of the students to help construct a medical camp at the back of one of the hospitals. Amer then invited them to help out in Manu Jabar, an area he knows well. They brought up some food rations and then the idea of building houses arose. Fr. Miguel invited a group : Papal Nuncio, Salesians Fathers, Columban Fathers, Jesus and Mary Sisters and Jesuits to become partners in a project to build houses. The goal is to build about 70 houses and because of the winter there is just one built. There will also be a school built in the area. The hope is to get the houses finished by May. In the meantime there have been three further trips to bring food supplies to the 225 families, which were listed after an extensive survey of the area. These trips were on December 20th, 2005, January 22nd and February 11th 2006. This last trip brought 12 tons of food in 2 trucks, within which your contribution went. Fr. Liam said that he was impressed with the orderly way in which the food was distributed according to the list and with the authority of the village leaders. The housing project was moving on well and the design of the house is very good, using a lot of the material i.e. stones, timber, clay from the fallen houses. Manu Jabar is more an area than a village, spread out over a big mountain area, an area of stunning beauty and amazing to think it has witnessed so much suffering and pain. Working with and through this group, your money will get straight to the people in need. Thank you for your support and may God bless you and your families for your kindness to those in great need here in Pakistan. Thanking you sincerely, Sister Rebecca |
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To contact the Columban Sisters in Pakistan |