By Sean Kellem
November 11, 2005
On October 8, an earthquake of ferocious magnitude struck near the city of Muzaffarabad, a state capital in the Pakistani-administered area of the disputed Kashmir region. So far, the quake is responsible for more than 73,000 deaths and almost as many injuries. Most of the American public, having just endured the national crisis of Hurricane Katrina, has been paying little attention to the plight of millions of desperately suffering people who are about to face a brutal winter with next to no shelter or food. 'A second wave of death' due to untreated injuries, lack of shelter, and food may soon hit the remaining survivors. However, Sonia Faruqi '07 has taken action to alleviate this suffering by mobilizing the Dartmouth community to respond to the disaster.
On the day after the quake, Sonia was already on her computer emailing Lynn White Cloud, Assistant Dean of the Tucker Foundation, seeking to direct her sympathetic energies into focused action that would have a real impact. Not long after that she was in the office of Stuart Lord, Dean of Tucker and chair of the Dartmouth Emergency Response Committee. The result of their meeting was Asia Relief.
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Sonia’s concern was that, for the people of the affected region, there would be nothing close to the kind of support that victims of Katrina are currently receiving. Pakistan is a poor country, and for the vast majority of people there is no such thing as homeowner's insurance, no food vouchers handed out by FEMA, nor any temporary trailers or subsidized hotel rooms. While American hurricane victims certainly face monumental challenges in rebuilding their lives, they are at little risk of dying due to starvation or exposure within the next few months. The needs of Pakistani victims are immediate and vital. "Pakistan doesn’t have the sort of structures in place necessary to deal with disasters," says Sonia. "Once the people lose what they have, the loss is irreplaceable."
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Sonia Faruqi '07
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 Therefore, the central goal of Asia Relief is to raise money and give it to organizations that are on the ground providing essential resources to people. Sonia says that she knew there were many organizations on campus that would be looking to help earthquake victims, but she worried about the efficacy of many groups acting individually. Thus, part of Asia Relief's mission is to pool the resources of existing campus groups into a coordinated fundraising effort, in addition to hosting their own fund-raisers,
In order to effectively carry out this goal, Asia Relief has been organized into four committees: Communications, Education, Fundraising, and Donations.
So far, the student groups Milan, Al-Nur, Delta Delta Delta, and the Organic Farm have held fundraisers whose proceeds will be directed to charities through Asia Relief. The fundraising committee has also held fundraisers, and will continue to do so.
For those who wonder why it is so vital that we give money to Asia Relief, Sonia points out three important facts: the scale of the damage, the level of poverty in affected areas, and the lack of a support system for victims.
"In desperate situations such as these, everyone has the moral obligation to help. I have realized recently that there are a number of groups at Dartmouth that serve good causes; everyone should find their passions in them.
Asia Relief has been working very hard to raise money. At the beginning, I focused my energies on finding responsible co-chairs. That was time well-spent.
I spend, on average, 3-4 hours on Asia Relief per day. The earthquake disaster is my top priority and takes away from my sleep, leisure time, other activities, and academics. I remind myself constantly of the pain in that part of the world now and that shows me that my priorities are correct. What I am doing is infinitesimally small compared to the scale of the tragedy, but a number of small efforts add up."
Anyone interested in learning more about Asia Relief’s efforts should contact the group by email at Asia.Relief@dartmouth.edu.
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