ASIA/PAKISTAN - Catholic religious and laity working in flood relief

Lahore (Agenzia Fides) – "The religious, missionaries, nuns, and lay Catholics are all working on the forefront in offering relief to displaced people. They give with all their heart, mind, strength, helping the families of flood victims, putting Jesus' words into practice: Love one another as I have loved you." This is what Fides was told by Fr. James Channan, OP, President of the Conference of Religious Major Superiors in Pakistan, in describing the many activities undertaken by Catholic religious congregations for humanitarian aid.
"A great effort is under way: we help the refugees without discrimination - whether they are Christian, Muslim, or Hindu. From about 43 religious congregations, both male and female in the country, over 100 religious are working on relief, coordinating aid projects in various provinces of Pakistan," Fr. James told Fides. "They are assisted by hundreds of religious and lay volunteers," notes the Dominican.
Among the male orders, there are nine missionaries of the Missionary Society of St. Columban that are working mainly in Hyderabad, where the alert remains maximum, following the floods of recent days. Fr. Robert McCulloch told Fides that the St. Elizabeth Hospital in Hyderabad, where there are Colomban Fathers, at least 18,000 refugees from the surrounding area are being cared for. Medical care particularly affects the most vulnerable, such as the elderly and pregnant women.
Further north, in Quetta, there are Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), led by Fr. Aloysius Roy, Superior of the delegation, caring for the survivors, especially in the villages around the city. "Over 1,500 refugees have arrived and are currently sheltered in local parishes and schools run by religious, and will remain there until the flood emergency has ended,” the missionary told Fides.
In Quetta, there are also Salesians who, through the work of Father Peter Zago, assist over 100 families a day. With the help of the "Jugend Eine Welt," the Vienna-based Salesian NGO, the Salesian team led by Fr. Zago offers food and medicine to the over 50,000 families stationed in refugee camps in Sibi and other surrounding areas. Another Salesian community of Pakistan, in Lahore, is preparing to deliver assistance in areas of Sindh and northern Punjab.
The Dominicans are also active, with eight brothers and hundreds of lay Dominicans, especially in Faisalabad, where the Christian village of Kushpur was submerged by the floods. In Faisalabad, in the Christian quarter of Warispura, the parish led by Dominican Fr. Pascal Paulus has opened its doors to hundreds of displaced persons, while the religious have established a partnership with a local NGO of doctors, the “Uzma Anam Welfare,” to bring medicines and aid to refugees in the city of Noshera.
The Jesuits and Capuchin friars, other religious orders in the country, have also launched campaigns to help and are involved in aid work, especially in areas of Lahore and Multan.
Among the female congregations working to assist the thousands of flood victims are the Sisters of Jesus and Mary, the Dominican Sisters, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, Sisters of St. John of God, the Sisters of Charity, and the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 04/28/2010)