Dr. Shahnaz Khan (center), a family practice physician in Zephyrhills, Florida and co-chair of the Human Development Foundation, with Ethan Casey at an HDF location at Kharol War outside Lahore, April 2009

Dr. Shahnaz Khan, co-chair of the Human Development Foundation, has sent me this message:

Pakistanis all over the world were mobilized into action. I decided that sitting in front of the TV and watching the disaster and crying was not the way I wanted to contribute.

Two nations, two earthquakes, one humanity

I have been thinking about the earthquake in Haiti. It reminded me of October 8, 2005, when a similar disaster hit Pakistan. I watched the images on the television of the crumbling buildings, people trying to dig out their loved ones from under the rubble with their bare hands, children buried under school buildings and crying for help, people in shock and disbelief. The disaster unfolded slowly, and the number of dead, injured, maimed and homeless kept creeping up slowly.

I kept thinking: How will this poor nation cope with it? How will life be ever normal again? But then I also saw the images of the rest of the nation jumping into action. Peeple all over the country collecting food, clothing, blankets, tents and money. Trucks filled with supplies lining the roads and almost chocking the entry and exit points. True, it was chaotic and disorganized, but it was also how the nation found a way to heal itself. People coming together; victims feeling they were not alone. If nature had been cruel, human beings were kind and generous.

Pakistanis all over the world were mobilized into action. I decided that sitting in front of the TV and watching the disaster and crying was not the way I wanted to contribute. So, as the co-chair of the Human Development Foundation, I called an emergency conference call. Everyone pretty much had the same feeling. There were some initial reservations. HDF is not a relief organization; its charter is sustainable development. But then I said, “When the house is on fire, you put out the fire first before you decorate it.” So HDF officially became a part of the community of organizations and individuals who were trying to help the victims.

My heart goes out to the people of Haiti. But I take comfort in the fact that the rest of the world is not going to stand by and leave them feeling alone. And yes, there is chaos and disorganization as is almost expected in a third world country, but still people are better off with it than without it. I also hope that people of Pakistani origin are feeling the pain and doing their best to help out.

I think back to the Pakistan earthquake and know that life is not and perhaps never will be normal again for some of the victims. But what frustrates me is that the same people who get all energized during the acute stage of a natural disaster are mostly indifferent to what happens to these people in the longer run. Children who lost their parents, families who lost their breadwinners - what is happening to them? Perhaps there are neighbors and some charitable people who are still supporting them, but no one really knows. There is no systematic follow-up or data available. Pakistan does not have an organized welfare system.

I am afraid the same will happen to Haitians. Hundreds of NGOs who are there, and without whose help Haiti will have a difficult time getting over the acute stage of this disaster, will move on in a few months, because people stop donating after a while and the resources dry out.

Todd Shea of CDRS Pakistan is on the ground in Haiti leading what is, as far as I can tell, the single most intelligent relief initiative since the earthquake last Tuesday. (Read the joint statement from Todd and me titled “How Pakistanis Can Help Haiti - and Why”.) He has opened a supply route for medical and relief supplies across the border from Santo Domingo, capital of the neighboring Dominican Republic. Todd’s latest email tells why his effort needs your support NOW - even if you’ve already, and admirably, donated to the Red Cross or Partners in Health or Medecins sans Frontieres:

I’m sad to report that the situation in Haiti is acute and worsening. People are beginning to get even more desperate and frustrated. The leadership of the Government of the U.S. and its partner nations are ”forming up” great things that will take shape in a week or so down the road, but they really need to quickly work through the current paralyzing logistical challenges. Many large agencies are failing to think selflessly and share their financial, operational resources with smaller but super-effective agencies. This attitude is not helping anyone. Quite frankly, I would have thought some of them would have learned an important  lesson from other disasters where some of the same mistakes were made.

Here’s the bottom line: If things don’t start improving very rapidly, then life and limb-threatening infections and deadly dehydration and unnecessary conflict will likely emerge on a scale that has the potential of becoming rampant and widespread. The correct option would be to stage multiple and overwhelmingly robust and well-managed multi-national supply lines and helicopter sorties using locations and bases other than Port au Prince airport, particularly from the Dominican Republic through the border near Jumani. It’s a darn good road compared to the roads in the Pakistan earthquake-affected areas that I’ve been traveling on for the past four years. Distributing aid from several points over a more widespread area can reach far more people far more quickly.

Why should Pakistanis in particular be doing this? There are several good reasons, including your experience of a similarly devastating earthquake in 2005 and the fact that many of you in the U.S. are highly skilled physicians. The Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) answered the “Why?” question best, though, when he said, “He who sleeps on a full stomach whilst his neighbor goes hungry is not one of us” and “A believer wants for his brother what he wants for himself.”

I’m proud to say that quite a few Pakistanis of my personal acquaintance are already responding. Dr. Salman Naqvi, Laila Karamally and others are taking the lead in Southern California. Tahmena Bokhari in Toronto is leveraging her new position as Mrs. Pakistan World to recruit volunteers and raise funds and awareness for a relief trip from Canada soon. Speaking of Canada, my friends at the Pakistan-Canada Association in Vancouver have launched a fundraising initiative locally and on their website. In an email exchange Raza Mirani, the PCA’s general secretary, told me: “This Haiti situation has really hit home, and this is what I see myself doing community work for.  Not putting on events or having dinners. If we can’t help out in this type of  situation, then what are we good for?”

What should you be doing, right now? For starters please, now, give money through this link - any small or larger amount - to support the relief convoy Todd Shea of CDRS Pakistan has established from Santo Domingo. Time is of the essence.

And in the weeks and months ahead, Haitians will continue to need our help and attention and active human sympathy - just as Pakistanis need and deserve the human sympathy from Americans that is the purpose of this blog and my books. You can be sure that as I continue to write and speak around North America, I’ll be continuing to call Haiti to your attention - beginning later this week in Detroit and Ann Arbor, where I’ll be covering for Todd on several speaking engagements. Batool Raza of the South Asian Awareness Network at the University of Michigan told me by phone last night how proud she and others at SAAN felt of Todd when they learned he was dropping everything - including his commitment to speak at their annual conference - to go to Haiti. Let’s all express our pride in Todd by supporting his crucial relief convoy concretely with money, supplies, and our volunteer time.

Postscript: I’m planning to set aside a portion of the proceeds from sales of my books in a fund to make donations to the Pakistani nonprofit organizations whose work in Pakistan I support. For now, because of the urgency of the Haiti situation, I’ll be donating 20% of the retail price of all sales of Alive and Well in Pakistan and Overtaken By Events to Todd Shea’s emergency relief work in Haiti.