Hello
David,
I just
got home to Massachusetts from seeing the floods in Pakistan -- and
what I saw there was as devastating and gripping as the last
humanitarian crisis I emailed you about. Even as I sit here I'm shaken
by the fact that this is Pakistan's Katrina.
It's
not just that one fifth of the country - an area larger than all of New
England, New York, New Jersey and Maryland combined - is submerged
under historic flooding, or that with weeks left in the monsoon season,
it could get even worse.
None of that captures what I saw and heard when our helicopter touched
down. I went to Multan in the Punjab plains. This is no isolated
hamlet, but an ancient city, a district capital with a population of
over 1.5 million. And it's inundated with water.
I spoke
to the people, heard their stories, their desperation for food and
water. They talked of the joy when they saw American Chinook
helicopters - distinctive for their two big rotors - because they knew
help was arriving. But the scale of the disaster hit me as I flew over
the city and surrounding valley, mile after mile of Punjabi plains
turned into a massive lake, this large city covered in water. Roads
were washed out, vehicles abandoned, tall buildings turned into places
of desperate refuge. Any flat surface high enough to escape the waters
became a life-raft, often packed with people willing to bake in the hot
sun rather than face the barrier of the flood-waters. The scene
stretched on and on.
You can get a look at some of this - just get a small sense of it -
watching this NBC News piece:
MSNBC
In the
face of all of this suffering, so much remains to be done - and the
world isn't keeping up with the size of the challenge. The United
States government is doing its part by leading international donor
efforts with $150 million so far, including funds from the
"Kerry-Lugar-Berman" aid package for Pakistan that we passed in
Congress last year. But today, we need your help to do more.
This is
a hard time to ask Americans to give money -- yes these are tough
economic times for so many here at home -- but what I saw in Pakistan
calls out for the very best that we are as Americans, that we dig down
and pitch in because if we don't, people will die. It's just that
simple. Already more than 20 million people are affected, more than the
Pacific Ocean tsunami, the Haitian earthquake, and the 2005 Pakistan
earthquake combined.
And the
political and economic consequences for Pakistan - a nuclear-armed
country in a volatile region - will be catastrophic if we don't act.
Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton announced the creation of the
Pakistan
Relief Fund to give you a chance to help. You donations will go
directly to help the people of Pakistan. With a donation of $5, you can
buy 50 high energy bars providing much needed nutrition; $10 can
provide a child or mother with a blanket; and about $40 can buy
material to shelter a family of four.
Or --
send $10 through your mobile phone by texting the word FLOOD,
F-L-O-O-D, to 27722.
You can
also donate directly to many of the great non-profit organizations
supporting the effort. A list of qualified organizations can be found
online here:
Thank
you for your time and contributions.
Sincerely,
John Kerry