Lahore Catholic schools collect water for quake survivors
Today, one week after the quake, Pakistan unites in prayer, while the official death toll climbs to 38,000.
Lahore (AsiaNews) A week after an earthquake struck Pakistan, the nation rose above religious differences to come together to pray for their dead. Meanwhile, a commitment to solidarity, expressed in aid delivery to survivors, continues. The official death toll of the quake has now reached 38,000. This was declared by military spokesman, General Shaukat Sultan, who added that the number of injured was now at 62,000. In North West Frontier Province, one of the regions hardest hit, more than 12,000 people were killed and 500 villages are still out of reach. The last official death toll supplied by Pakistan was 25,000.
This morning, precisely one week after the disaster, the country united in prayer.
"O Allah, forgive us our sins," read the Imam of the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad a few hours ago. "Offer paradise to those who perished and give courage and patience to their dear ones". Hundreds of people gathered in the mosque for the prayer, which started at 8.52, the time of the earthquake. The event was broadcast live throughout Pakistan.
On 14 October, a special prayer meeting was held in Lahore for 1000 children of all religions, organised by the National Council for Inter-Faith Dialogue. Prayers were offered for the dead, the injured and foreign relief workers.
Meanwhile, Catholics continue to show solidarity: on 13 October three days of activity for quake survivors, organized by Lahore schools run by Capuchin brothers, came to a close. Under the supervision of the Vicar-General of the Order, Br Francis Nadeem, the pupils of four schools collected 3,000 bottles of mineral water one of the most urgent needs in the initial emergency relief phase. The young students pledged to continue their work of collecting goods for quake victims. Teachers donated part of a day's wages to the emergency fund set up by President Musharraf.
Br Nadeem is also coordinating the input of Christians and Muslims in a relief camp set up by the National Council for Inter-Faith Dialogue (NCIFD). Around 50,000 rupees worth of aid clothes, food, blankets have been collected by the camp. Goods collected are sent to a centre run by the army in Lahore, which undertakes to ferry them to worst-hit zones in the north. Muslims have also donated supplies to the camp.
Meanwhile, the women's wing of the NCIFD intends to organize a joint campaign to collect funds for quake survivors, together with Muslims, Christian, Hindu and Sikh religious leaders.
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01/01/2005
31/12/2004
