Houston Collaborative Efforts for Flood Victims in Pakistan

Houston: Gifts of Medical Equipment’s & BrandNew Medical Supplies were sent by Houstonians to Floods Ravaged Pakistan through the partnership of Alliance For Disaster Relief (AFDR), Houston Karachi Sister City Association (HKSCA), Medical Bridges (MB), and Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD):

To continue efforts to support victims of the devastation caused by the Super Floods of Summer 2022 and to help people suffering from waterborne and other diseases as an aftermath of said floods. Gifts of Medical Equipment’s & brandnew medical supplies sent by Houstonians to Floods Ravaged Pakistan through the partnership of Alliance For Disaster Relief (AFDR), Houston Karachi Sister City Association (HKSCA), Medical Bridges (MB), and Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD):

This was the first official event of the new Consul General of Pakistan in Houston Mr. Mohammad Aftab Chaudhry just a few days after his arrival into Houston. Present at the occasion were Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Businessman, Philanthropist & Chief Patron AFDR Syed Javaid

Anwar, Coordinator AFDR Muhammad Saeed Sheikh & Director Dr. Yakoob Shaikh, President Walter Ulrich of Medical Bridges, Ilyas Hasan Choudry and Saad Ansari representatives of HHRD, as well as local and international media.

Occasion was to send two 40ft containers of brand-new medical supplies worth about half a million dollars, after two earlier containers of relief items were sent worth another half a million dollars. Speaking on the occasion was Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee who visited the flooded areas in Pakistan last year with a Congressional Delegation. She stressed the needs of more help from the United States Government and pledged to continue her efforts.

Newly appointed Consul General Mohammad Aftab Choudhry spoke as well on the needs of the victims and pledging to continue collaborative efforts to provide aid. Chief Patron Syed Javaid Anwar praised the collaborating partners’ efforts and saluted their hard work in serving humanity in need.

The AFDR coalition has also raised $1 million of cash assis-

Pakistanis Abroad Send $2.5 B in Aid

IslaMaBad: Pakistanis living abroad have sent $2.5 billion home in March, responding to the cashstrapped government’s appeal for more hard currency remittances, the country’s central bank said Monday.

The sum represents a 27.4% increase compared to February and is the highest in seven past months, according to a tweet by the State Bank of Pakistan. The announcement offered some hope for improving Pakistan‘s ailing economy, officials said. The remittances came mainly from Pakistanis living in the United States, Britain and the Middle East.

tance through HHRD, where more than 50,000 people have been helped through relief goods, 35 homes made, and now another 155 homes are getting built.

The medical supplies in these two containers are in addition to the two containers of daily necessities items sent earlier marked to achieve the goal of in-kind donation of 1 million dollars.

Others who participated were Dr. Naveed Zafar, President, APPNA - STC, Siraj Narsi & Mehmood Ahmed- AFDR, Shahzaib Sheikh, Bina Shaikh, and Media.

Pakistan is grappling with one of its worst economic crises, exacerbated by last summer’s devastating floods that killed 1,739 people, destroyed 2 million homes and caused $30 billion in damages.

Pakistan is in the final phase of talks with the International Monetary Fund to secure a crucial installment of $1.1 billion loan from a $6 billion bailout package. The tranche has been on hold since December over Pakistan’s failure to meet the terms of a previous deal, signed in 2019 by then-Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Economists fear a failure to get the IMF loan would spark a surge in inflation. About 21% of Pakistan’s 220 million people live in poverty. -- Washington Times