Pakistan's worst floods in recorded history began more than two weeks ago in the mountainous northwest and have spread throughout the country. Some 20 million people and 62,000 square miles of land - about one-fifth of the country - have been affected.  Years of low rainfall had left many farmers struggling on the edge of financial survival, and they now face the worst floods in generations. Weeks after massive downpours first battered northern Pakistan, submerging tens of thousands of square miles of crops, over 1600 people have been killed and millions are homeless, as floodwaters continue to swell inflicting layer upon layer of misery to the population.

"Make no mistake, this is a global disaster," Ban Ki-Moon UN General Secretary said at the UN general assembly. "Pakistan is facing a slow-motion tsunami. Its destructive powers will accumulate and grow with time," he warned.

International Blue Crescent (IBC) and KinderUSA, long-time humanitarian partners who have been working in the region since the 2005 earthquake, have submitted an urgent appeal for funding  focusing on the Muzaffargarh district located in the southern Punjab region.  It is reported as the worst affected where more than 700,000 people have been displaced and hundreds of villages destroyed.  Children, women, and the elderly continue to be the most vulnerable in this catastrophic nightmare.

Food, water, hygiene products and shelter are in the greatest need with many families stranded in uninhabitable structures awaiting aid.  IBC has opened an office in Muzaffargarh with an initial three month commitment in partnership with  KinderUSA focusing on 1000 displaced families.  Funding permitted, our goal is to distribute hygiene kits, dried food packages, and bedding items.

“I am deeply saddened by the loss of life and the magnitude of this humanitarian castastrophe.  Many children have lost one or both of their parents and every day that passes they become more vulnerable to disease and malnutrition.  I urgently appeal to all of our donors to respond,” Dr. Laila Al-Marayati, Chairperson KinderUSA.

We are appealing to the generosity of all donors during this crisis to come forward and donate $500, $250, $100, or whatever you can give to help these families who have lost everything.

For years, theatre and drama have been used in conflict areas as a way of working through the struggles with violence and everyday life. Yes Theatre, in the West Bank, works to promote theater and drama as effective tools for improving the psychosocial well-being of Palestinian youth.  Partnering with KinderUSA and War Child Holland, Yes Theater promotes engagement with the dramatic arts in Hebron, producing drama plays with school students, performed for other school students and the community at large. The themes of the plays are conceived by students providing them with an activity outside of school introducing the values of team building, democracy and nonviolence by using drama and theatre.

Hebron is known as a divided city with restrictions on everyday movement for Palestinians due to the proximity of religious sites in addition to the Wall and settlements.  Palestinian children are confronted daily with various forms of conflict: difficulties within the family, aggression in the streets, and the violence of open conflict and war. Yes Theatre in partnership with KinderUSA and War Child has designed the project to give Palestinian children an opportunity to express their individual voice, their sense of self, and their creative life, finding an outlet from the intensity of daily life.

Beginning production early in the year, Yes Theatre students performed 29 shows during the months of May and June.  Reaching an audience of nearly 4800 children, parents, teachers, and local Palestinians in Hebron with 1800 children participating, the project with your generous donation increased awareness that young people are powerful community members who can speak out to all, with reason, sensitivity, and imagination.

"We welcome the recent news of a plan to ease access to civilian goods entering Gaza after more than three years of closure.  But we must not lose sight of the  fact  that severe restrictions in the movement of goods and persons is still in place and that a blockade of any sort is a form of collective punishment which is illegal under international law,” said Dr. Laila Al-Marayati, Chairperson KinderUSA.

KinderUSA is continuing its work in the health sector where there is a steady deterioration of care.  The shortages and rolling black-outs of electricity, the lack of medical supplies, and the appalling condition of medical equipment all contribute to an antiquated system that is functioning at less than half of capacity.

Working in cooperation with a local organization, KinderUSA is supporting a Cystic Fibrosis project in the Gaza Strip that is providing full and comprehensive health services that include consultation, diagnosis, treatment, and psychological and social rehabilitation for children and their parents. Cystic fibrosis is a chronic disease that is deadly if untreated or poorly treated but with regular basic care children can survive into adulthood. Toddlers are the highest percentage of patients being seen by the staff of professionals, though infants and pre-school children are among the treated.

Many parents are unable to cope both financially and with the proper skills to care for children with Cystic Fibrosis who need a clean environment, a regular supply of oxygen and Inhalation therapy which need electricity in order to function along with medications such as enzymes and antibiotics.

Follow-up care for these children, who often times are misdiagnosed, is paramount for improving the quality of life of the family as a whole.

The new focus on Gaza due to the tragic loss of life may give some hope for the next generation. We are doing our best to make a difference but the current situation will only deteriorate and cannot be solved with aid alone.  The only sustainable solution is to lift the closure.