I wanted to share this note that came out yesterday from Acumen Fund Country Director Aun Rahman about the floods in Pakistan.
It’s shocking how muted the global response has been to this crisis, one in which 20 MILLION people, most of them poor, have been displaced and are now homeless.
And for more context on the floods:
- A blog post by Chris Anderson, the curator of the TED Conferences
- A recent New Yorker article by Steve Coll sharing a different perspective on Pakistan
- More on-ground stories are being added every day at: ontheground.pk. Please add your stories.
Here’s the letter:
Dear friends,
The world has been slow to react to the enormity of the floods in Pakistan. Acumen Fund wants to help change that, and in the process take a small step toward changing the way the world sees Pakistan.
I know that all of us have been putting our thoughts and actions towards flood relief and rehabilitation. To create greater awareness globally on what is happening on the ground in Pakistan, Acumen Fund has launched a website www.ontheground.pk to capture both news and first hand experiences about the impact of the flood as well as the flood relief efforts.
The website allows you to post your stories or photographs in Pakistan as well as news updates regarding the flood. This information will build a compelling tapestry of what is happening on the ground in Pakistan, and will reach out to the global Acumen Fund community.
Please share what you are hearing or doing on www.ontheground.pk. Doing so will help demonstrate to the world that people (Pakistanis and non-Pakistanis) are taking action to help. We are rolling this out to our global community and leveraging Acumen Fund’s networks outside of Pakistan to get the word out and advocate for action!
At the same time, do help spread the word about this. Anyone is free to post what they are seeing/doing on the site. I believe that our message to the world will be stronger if we all come together to share what we are doing.
After all, Pakistan needs the world to act now.
Sincerely,
Aun Rahman
Country Director, Pakistan | Acumen Fund