Caritas Pakistan
Encyclopedia
Caritas Pakistan opened in 1965 and has many years of humanitarian assistance in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. It is affiliated with Caritas Internationalis, a Roman Catholic humanitarian organisation and one of the largest networks dedicated to reducing poverty and injustice in the world.

Asian Tsunami

The organisation’s work sometimes extends beyond national boundaries. On January 12, 2005, four doctors from Caritas Lahore left for Sri Lanka to assist survivors of the Asian Tsunami. The doctors took medicines and US$ 8,448, which they handed over to Caritas Sri Lanka. The doctors planned to stay in Sri Lanka for two weeks.

2005 earthquake

In 2005 Catholic school children in Pakistan showed great solidarity with earthquake victims in Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...

. In Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

 pupils in Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....

 Schools organised school bazaars to collect funds for Kashmir. They collected 3,000 bottles of mineral water which Caritas distributed to people in affected areas. Christian school pupils provided Caritas with food, medicine and also funds for schooling since most schools collapsed in the quake. Catholic school teachers have contributed to the solidarity efforts giving one day’s wage to the fund for earthquake victims. Many of the volunteers involved in assisting people in areas affected by the October 8 quake are Catholics operating with Caritas and other Christian humanitarian agencies.

A Caritas Pakistan team arrived the village of Balakot
Balakot
Balakot , is a town in Mansehra District in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The town was destroyed during the 2005 earthquake and later rebuilt with the assistance of the Government of Pakistan and Saudi Public Assistance for Pakistan Earthquake Victims , a Saudi relief organization...

 to assist patients at the Leprosy Centre completely destroyed in the earthquake. The team, brought food as well as medicines to patients entirely without access to nurses and doctors. Caritas provided medical assistance, calling in medical and nursing personnel from other parts of Pakistan and even from India.
They put up a field hospital in North West Frontier Province and asked local people to lend a room for patient care. A Caritas team in Battagram village supplied medical equipment and medicine, walking 24 km on foot along mountain paths. Caritas personnel work with the Pakistan Army
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army is the branch of the Pakistani Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The Pakistan Army came into existence after the Partition of India and the resulting independence of Pakistan in 1947. It is currently headed by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The Pakistan...

 which provided logistical help and transport.

Caritas Pakistan continue to help earthquake-affected people by providing temporary shelters and warm clothes, but also focused their efforts on longer-term health and livelihood work, including the running of mobile health clinics, the rebuilding of three basic health units, kitchen garden training and seed and fertiliser distributions.

Caritas in Pakistan in 2007 opened the Multan Padre Pio Medical Centre to provide basic medical care to the underprivileged. The inauguration was performed by the Catholic Bishop of Multan, Bishop Andrew Francis
Andrew Francis
Andrew Francis is an actor and voice artist from Vancouver, British Columbia. He has appeared in many television shows including Poltergeist, Dark Angel, Twilight Zone, The L Word, Smallville and Kyle XY...

. The Centre will be open six days a week with male and female doctors on duty on alternate days.

2010 Floods

In August 2010 the heaviest rains in 80 years caused the worst flooding the country has ever seen. Caritas will provide much-needed relief to 2,500 families in the Islamabad-Rawalpindi and Multan dioceses as well Quetta vicariate.
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