Adnan Shamsi, Princeton
I just finished reading “ZEITOUN” by Dave Eggers, a vivid accounting of life experienced before, during and after the flooding of a major American city in 2005. This year was the fifth year anniversary of the decimation of New Orleans, brought on by Hurricane Katrina.
Now flooding resulting from monsoon rains has engulfed one-third of the country of Pakistan. To put this into perspective, these flooded areas are an area equivalent to the entire combined land mass of Austria, Belgium and Switzerland. In U.S. geographic terms, it’s as if the entire state of Florida were now underwater. If you can’t possibly imagine that, consider that to be equivalent to the flooding of the entire state of New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Delaware, Rhode Island, Maryland and the capital, Washington, D.C., combined.
It started raining on July 22 and only eight days later U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson had issued a disaster declaration. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon upon visiting the country soon after stated, “the world has never seen such a disaster.” Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown calls it “The World’s Biggest Emergency” while The Economist writes that “social, economic and political misery will endure for a long time yet (and) the threat of epidemic disease lurks.” I recall watching the forceful and mighty Indus River from its banks during a trip to the northern areas of Pakistan in the 1990s, the same river which has run over its banks and spread outwards by scores of miles.
Princeton is a giving community, helping to raise nearly a quarter million dollars last year during a visit by author humanitarian Greg Mortenson when he stopped by at the Princeton High School performing arts center to speak to nearly 1,000 local area school children; speaking at Nassau Presbyterian Church the same day, and soon after speaking to nearly 800-plus fans at a gala charity event at the New Brunswick Grand Hyatt.
This month, musician and author Salman Ahmad performs at Princeton Library (Oct. 6), while journalist Ethan Casey (author of “Alive and Well in Pakistan” and “Overtaken By Events: A Pakistan Road Trip”) and humanitarian Todd Shea, founder and executive director of Comprehensive Disaster Response Services/SHINE Humanity speak at Princeton University (on Oct. 8).
Simple ways for you to be a difference-maker, are either monetary contributions to a trusted charity like UNICEF: $25 would feed a family for a week, while one payment of $200 would provide life-saving medication for up to 200 children; or attending one of the events at the Princeton Library or Princeton University, to hear what these changemakers have experienced on the ground upon their recent return from Pakistan. And of course, say a little prayer, and when Thanksgiving comes around this year, give gratitude for not being caught in a natural calamity, or man-made one for that matter, and being able to enjoy the comforts we have on a daily basis.
Adnan Shamsi
Princeton

