Pakistan will NEVER be the same! There are eight million people who are struggling to deal with the flooding of the Indus River from the torrent of rains from the monsoons.

Pakistan has much of the Muslim world pledging billions of dollars in aid and relief funds. But the big problem is that the infrastructure may not be adequate to utilize a vast amount of money in a way that supports a response effort. Many leaders from many countries are concerned that NGOs will waste the money that has been pledged and must either go through these organizations or used by government agencies. This presents a real problem.

If government workers are having a difficult time getting to the areas and the people who have been affected by the flooding; then what makes anyone think that any NGO personnel will do any better. See…this is what happens when there is a major natural disaster. Getting the aid and responders to the area can be virtually impossible or slow at best. They cannot magically make the flood waters disperse, nor can they rebuild the structures that have been destroyed within a short period of time.

It’s going to be years before many areas in Pakistan recover, if ever. Have you seen the images of the damage? It is extensive. No amount of money can do enough today, next week, or even next month. These people’s way of life has changed for a very, very long time!

Even though plenty of money has been pledged, there’s no physical method of doing what needs to be done right now at this very minute to alleviate the problems in Pakistan’s flood areas. People have fled from their homes and lands, people have lost their homes and places of business, and even agricultural lands have been decimated. Daily life won’t be returning to normal any time soon…

This makes my point for me that I keep reiterating to you over an over again. You cannot afford to rely upon assistance AFTER the fact. You must be prepared PRIOR to any natural disaster. If you don’t have your supplies in close proximity to you; they may not be able to be brought into your area by others. It’s as simple as that!

So…let this be a lesson to you. You MUST be prepared in advance. You cannot expect relief efforts to be sufficient to save your lives, your property, or your way of life. It’s just asking too much from any government or any NGO. You will be ‘on your own’.

While you have the ability to prepare, do it sufficiently now to feel that you can deal with anything that comes your way without depending upon others to rescue you. In a perfect world, the white knights would come riding in on their steeds with food, water, clothing, shelter, and fuel for everyone in need under these circumstances to save the day. In the real world in Pakistan, that’s not what’s happening now…or any time soon!

You are smarter than this! You can do what needs to be done to be ready now, instead of weeping in agony for your losses later. There’s no guarantee that you won’t be swept away by flood waters if you happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, but you will have the survival supplies that you need if your local area is inundated by flood waters and no one can get in or out. You’ll be able to eat, you’ll be OK.

It’s been approximately one month since the extremely heavy monsoons began to flood the rivers and alter the landscape in Pakistan. One month…

Are you ready to be ‘on your own’ for one month or longer? Are you going to watch and observe that it could take another month or two or three before the Pakistan people receive the relief they need today? Watch and learn…

Learn what NOT to do! Then perhaps you will take immediate action to prepare for such natural disasters. Begin by acquiring enough food and water to see you through a few months when no one could deliver food or pure water to you under any circumstances.

SundanceGlobal

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 29th, 2010 at 9:46 pm and is filed under Preparedness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.