Project: Flood Relief, Sindh province, Pakistan Date: September 2010 Place: Hyderabad, Sindh province, Pakistan Province: FIS (Lahore)

Note: There are two Salesian presences in Pakistan, once based in Lahore the other in Quetta.  Both communities responded vigorously to the most disastrous floods in living memory. The material in this FOCUS, however, is of the specific response given by Salesians and young men from Don Bosco Technical Centre in Lahore.

Letter from Fr Miguel Angel Ruiz sdb
"The Muslim Eid celebrations throughout Pakistan have been very low-key and without the traditional fanfare. Eid has been celebrated with fear as well. But we know in the Don Bosco Technical Centre of Lahore that many families will have a smile in their faces thanks to so many donors who have made possible a large-scale operation to reach out to 30,000 people plus in a few days.

The days might have been few but they were definitely very intense… As happened at the time of the Northwest Frontier Earthquake, Don Bosco has led the large-scale Outreach Project of emergency relief thanks to the operational capability that 170 boarders in the Hostel can allow. The work has been done in cooperation with the Pakistani Army who came personally to retrieve about 2,000 Family Bags with about 50Kg of food in each at the Hyderabad Cathedral. Another 700 bags were delivered to the different Parishes of the Diocese as a contribution for the tribal people affected by the floods, especially in the Franciscan settings. And a large convoy with 8 tracks loaded with a further 1,200 bags were carried and delivered personally to the different camps of IDPs, always under the escort and protection of the Army".
   
"As the General who welcomed and briefed as in the Camp told us 'What you do today is a great contribution and Pakistan will never forget it. If it brings a smile just to one human being, I am sure it has been well worth all the work of the past days…'. And he was absolutely right… We saw many beautiful smiles that paid back  one full week of work, work, work to have everything ready. Our 30 youths have now become heroes in the Christian Community, have received uncounted praises from Muslim authorities and, what is more important, have built important bridges of tolerance and respect between peoples of different faiths: Hindus, Muslims and Christians".

Contact details:
(Pak): email: migsnm@yahoo.com
(Cebu, Philippines): Mail address: Salesian Society of St. John Bosco - Philippines South P.O. Box 267 6000 Cebu City, Philippines
Fax: 00 63 32 3462944
Email: dbfiscom@yahoo.com