Linkin Park is asking you to help them bring food, clean water, and temporary shelter to the millions affected by the recent flooding in Pakistan. Monsoon rains have devastated the country, leaving millions without basic necessities like food and medicine. Though the current death toll is about 1,600, aid agencies predict that it will continue to rise as waterborne illnesses like cholera spread.
A boy makes his way through thick mud and debris carrying belongings he managed to salvage from his family’s home, Pir Pai. (Photo: Alixandra Fazzina)
An Afghan family transports their recovered belongings back to their temporary shelter via donkey cart, Pir Pai. (Photo: Alixandra Fazzina)
The ruins of homes destroyed in the worst flooding Pakistan has seen in decades, Tali village, Balochistan. (Photo: UNHCR)
A young boy feels his way through flood waters using a walking stick. (Photo: UNHCR)
At a UNHCR distribution point for flood survivors in Balochistan, children from Tali village rest on a new UNHCR tent while their father fetches help to move it. In Tali, 85 to 90 percent houses have been destroyed. (Photo: UNHCR)
Through their charity, Music for Relief, Linkin Park is working with UNHCR, The UN Refugee Agency, to help the millions of victims. They’ve pledged to match the funds donated by individuals or raised on SocialVibe, up to $10,000.
Despite the enormous number of people affected, global aid has been small compared to other recent disasters so your help is critical. Within ten days of the January earthquake in Haiti, $1 billion had been pledged. Ten days after the start of the flooding in Pakistan, about $100 million had been pledged – one tenth of the amount given to Haiti.
U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke explains:
- "The international recognition of this disaster has not yet been sufficient to its dimensions… floods, unlike earthquakes and tsunamis, are not sudden catastrophes that hit and then the reconstruction begins. They're rolling crises, which grow and are initially underestimated."
Some simply attribute the lack of assistance to donor fatigue but, whatever the reason, the fact remains that there are millions of people in dire need of food, water and medical attention. Many are sleeping outside, next to the goats and cows that managed to survive, others in muddy camps or overcrowded government buildings.
To start earning donations for the victims, support Music for Relief on SocialVibe.
