{"id":340,"date":"2020-12-03T12:14:26","date_gmt":"2020-12-03T07:14:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/perspective\/?p=340"},"modified":"2020-12-18T17:44:01","modified_gmt":"2020-12-18T12:44:01","slug":"unsung-christian-heroes-who-contributed-greatly-to-pakistans-covid-19-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/perspective\/unsung-christian-heroes-who-contributed-greatly-to-pakistans-covid-19-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"Unsung Christian Heroes Who Contributed Greatly to Pakistan\u2019s Covid-19 Fight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Christian philanthropists, social workers, and community activists in Pakistan contributed their time, resources, and efforts to reach out to people in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Below are some of the heartwarming stories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cOur team covered 13 districts across South Punjab, where around 7,000 families were provided with food packages and cash grants including Muslims, to manage the economic crisis in the wake of COVID-19,\u201d told Bishop Leo Rodrick Paul. Bishop Paul chairs the Multan Diocese Trust Association (MDTA) \u2013 a development wing of Roman Catholic Diocese of Multan, Church of Pakistan. \u201cOur relief fund campaign was initiated on a self-help basis and we did everything we could possibly do using the available resources,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAround 1,700 families living in urban slums of Islamabad and Rawalpindi were handed out ration bags,\u201d told Pastor Samson Sohail, Executive Director of United Council of Churches (UCC). \u201cDifferent groups of individuals including sanitary workers, pastors, transgenders, and differently-abled persons were provided support through cash grants, regardless of their religious beliefs,\u201d he informed with a suffuse of content over his expressions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWhile providing financial assistance, we covered different regions across Pakistan including cities of Rawalpindi, Rahim Yar Khan, Multan, Khanewal, Jhelum, Faisalabad, Lahore and Kasur in Punjab, Peshawar, Mansehra, Shangla and Swat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, Tando Allah Yar, Umerkot and Thar in Sindh, Quetta in Balochistan, AJK in Muzaffarabad and Federal Capital \u2013 and Islamabad,\u201d told Asher Gill who is currently working as a Program Manager for Disaster Relief and Management with Pak Mission Society. \u201cThrough this outreach, more than 5000 families were supported,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost of the beneficiaries were Christians, however, non-Christians were also facilitated. We initiated the campaign upon learning that non-Muslim minorities in Pakistan have been facing discrimination in getting COVID-19 relief funds due to their religious and ethnic origins,\u201d explained Gill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While talking about the challenges, Gill informed that they faced a shortage of funds and resources from the donor organizations as the financial implications of COVID-19 certainly had a global dimension. \u201cChoosing beneficiaries to provide assistance and mobilizing the available resources was also an exhausting process,\u201d said Gill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaking door-to-door visits of the destitute and neglected households was not easy as there was a risk of coronavirus spread,\u201d told Pastor Samson. \u201cIdentifying and mapping people who were actually in need came as a challenge due to complex community dynamics,\u201d he further added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnother issue was nonobservance of the SOPs that was putting everyone\u2019s safety at risk. Except for some isolated cases, the identities of beneficiaries were also revealed without their consent that breached their privacy and confidentiality,\u201d told Samson. \u201cStrangely, the spread of misinformation about the deadly disease only added to the trouble,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n