SOLIDARITY WALK FOR PAKISTANI EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS
By Jeremy Reynalds
Monday, November 7, 2005
PAKISTAN (ANS) -- More
than a thousand victims of the Pakistani earthquake and children who
attended now devastated schools participated in a “solidarity walk.”
The event,
which took place on Nov. 2 at Balakot, Pakistan, was organized by the
All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA). A news release from the
organization said the event was intended to “express solidarity with
the destitute survivors of (the) earthquake. The purpose was to
encourage these victims and school children to overcome their
traumatized experiences of earthquake devastation and situation of
despair.”
According to APMA, a number of school children from a variety of
schools at Balakot and surrounding villages, including injured victims
with the bandages still on their bodies, participated enthusiastically.
They carried banners reading slogans such as, “Goodbye to sorrows,”
“Rebuilding Balakot is a way to happiness,” “We stand united in this
tragedy” and “We will bring happiness.”
Other event participants included Pakistani military relief officials,
relief organizations and national and international media
representatives.
The solidarity walk, APMA stated, started at the org anization’s relief
tent village and ended up in Balakot. There, the news release from APMA
read, walkers formed a symbolic solidarity chain to show their unity
with the victims of the earthquake. “Participants and victims were in
somber state with tears in their eyes when they passed by the collapsed
buildings and debris of schools, where their loved ones were buried.”
The walkers pledge to rebuild Balakot reignited a new spark of
enthusiasm in victims, APMA said. “It was (the) first (public) event
... after this devastating earthquake, which has helped to mitigate the
sorrows of victims and has spread the much needed message of
solidarity, love, peace and confidence to move forward.”
The news release from APMA further commented, “The solidarity walk has
encouraged many victims and children to come out of state of shock,
fear and grief, and start rebuilding their lives with the love and
affections of those surrounding them.”
APMA is providing ongoing support for more than 300 children, the news
release fr om the organization stated. In addition, APMA is also
opening a tent school at Balakot to provide continuity of education for
those children whose school buildings were devastated by the
earthquake.
APMA is also continuing to deliver relief goods to affected areas,
providing shelter and feeding hundreds of people daily at its base camp.
According to the World
Evangelical Alliance (www.worldevangelical.org/persecute/persec_pakistan_ii_28oct03.html),
“APMA is a coalition representing Pakistan's non-Muslim religious
minorities (Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Balmeek, Bheel, Maingwal,
Zoarastrian, Bahai and Kelash communities). Using advocacy and
lobbying, APMA “raise(s) minorities’ issues and concerns with the
government authorities, parliamentarians, human rights organizations
and media.”
APMA, the World Evangelical Alliance statement continued, is assisting
many victims of “discriminatory laws and blasphemy laws, and also
supporting and protecting victims of terrorist attacks of Islamic
militants especially since 11 Sept. 2001 ... APMA is struggling to
protect and ensure religious freedom in Pakistan.”
According to International Christian Concern (www.persecution.org/Countries/pakistan.html),
97. 6% of Pakistan's people are Muslims. Hindus comprise 1.5% and
Christians 1.7%. 70% of the Christian population is in the poorest
segment of society. The growth of the Christian church is calculated at
3.9%.
| Jeremy Reynalds is a
freelance writer and the founder and director of Joy Junction, New
Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org
or http://www.christianity.com/joyjunction.
He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New
Mexico and is a candidate for the Ph.D. in intercultural education at
Biola University in Los Angeles. He is married with five children and
lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact: Jeremy
Reynalds at jgreynalds@aol.com. Tel: (505)
877-6967 or (505) 400-7145. Note: A black and white JPEG picture of
Jeremy Reynalds is available on request from Dan Wooding at danjuma1@aol.com. |
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