United Religions Initiative North American - Briefings

Father James Channan, URI Global Council trustee and head of the URI
Multiple Cooperation Circle (MCC) in Pakistan, invites our
contributions. Father James and members of the URI Pakistan MCC will
manage the funds and will provide a report to URI community about how
funds are spent.

One hundred percent of your donation will go to the URI Pakistan MCC.
Please make donations as soon as possible.

Please send your donation by credit card or check to URI office San
Francisco by Oct. 25. We will send collected funds to James on Oct. 26.

1. BY credit card - if you are anywhere in world - please-mail
office@uri.org and provide credit card name,
account number, expiration date and the donation amount. Please state
that the donation is for URI-Pakistan relief.

2. BY check within the USA, make checks out to URI. On the memo
line, write Pakistan Relief. Mail checks as soon as possible to ensure
receipt by October 25. Mail to: United Religions Initiative, P.O. Box
29242, San Francisco, CA 94129 USA

Or you may send your contribution directly to the URI Pakistan MCC.

3. Please e-mail James and inform him of your donation. He will
give you instructions about how to wire URI account in Pakistan.

Here is a message from James Channan explaining how funds will be used:

Certainly it is a moment that URI family from all corners of the mother
earth manifests its solidarity with the suffering victims in Pakistan by
providing funds to supply needed supplies, food and medicine.

I will go, along with a few other URI members, to Muzaffarabad, Mansehra
and Balakot to deliver goods which will be collected for the suffering
people to provide some relief. We will use the donations sent by our URI
family to buy blankets, tents, quilts, socks, shirts, pants, cooking
oil, sugar, tea etc and medicine and hand over to the people. We are
thinking to send 4-5 trucks of goods as relief in the affected areas.
The total cost may come close to US 70,000 plus.

The URI MCC Pakistan is doing its best with limited resources and all
that we can do in our capacity to respond to this disaster. I feel very
satisfied that our URI in Pakistan is fully involved in helping the
victims of this most destructive earthquake in the history of the
country. But much more is needed to be done in providing relief to the
people from disaster areas. Thanks for your appreciation for our
efforts. Actually the URI members in Pakistan are doing this work in the
name of the URI family in the whole world.

ACCOUNT OF EARTHQUAKE DEVASTATION FROM JAMES:

The 8th of October 2005 was the most horrible day in the history of
Pakistan as the entire norhtren area of Kashmir, Balakot, Mansehra,
Kaghan, Muzaffarabad, Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore, Gujrat, Multan, Tob
Tek Singh etc were jolted by a very powerful earthquake, which measured
7.8 on the Richter scale. It lasted for a few seconds only but resulted,
according the various estimates in the death of over 40,000 people.
More than 60,000 are injured and over 4 millions are made homeless. Some
cities such as Balakot are totally destroyed and Muzaffarabad has lost
70 % of its houses and over 22,000 have died.

This catastrophe has shocked the whole world. It is hard to believe that
such thing has happened. Within minutes thousands of people were killed.
The entire Pakistan is in deep shock and sorrow and stunned to what has
happend. Immediatly after the devastating earthquake the relief effforts
started to rescue thousands of people which were trapped under the debri
of the houses and injured and killed. Many countries responded
immediatly and offered help in cash, kind and personel to the people of
these areas and to give medical help, items of daily needs and tents
etc. We are grateful to all countries and other agencies which have
hepled our country. President General Musharraf express his sincere
thanks on 12th of October in his address to the nation, to all
countries, NGO and othe agencies which helped the people of Pakistan who
are caught in this disaster.

Several messages of condolence have been received from the URI friends
from all over the world. Several organizatons and governments agencies
are helping the victims of this earthquake. And we as members of the URI
in Pakistan are also putting all our efforts to giving a helping hand
for the survival of millions of people and thousands who are injured.
The URI MCC Pakistan along with a few other charity agencies have
helped the victims personally in Masehra, Balakot and Muzaffarab cities
and areas around it.

The URI MCC Pakistan want to help much more at this time when the people
are in grave need of help both in cash and things used for clothing,
food, tents and medicine. It would be a wonderful gesture if the URI all
around the world will share the pain, grief and hunger of these people
and help in providing relief to these people by providing relief goods
and money so that they can live and build houses. Part of the money
received from the URI family will be used to buy the food items, tents,
blankets and medicine and for the transportation of trucks and the rest
will be deposited in the relief fund of the President of Pakistan. Let
us open hearts and give genersouly to provide and shelter to the victims
of the horrific earthquake.

Most of the URI members in Pakistan will be contributing one day salary
to the relief fund established in Multan. Food, clothes and medicine
will also be bought for this purpose. We are also working with other
organizations, for example in Multan, Pastoral Institute, La Salle
Parish, Women and Children Disabled Care Center and Multan Peace Network
to raise funds for this noble cause,

I fully agree that it is important for the URI family all around the
world to respond to this disaster and put love and concern for the
people in urgent need into practice.

God bless URI and its members all around the world!

With regards,

fr James Channan OP

URI Coordinator Asia/Pakistan

This entry was posted on Monday, October 17th, 2005 at 10:25 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.