Home  »  Where We Work  »  Pakistan  »  Building for the Future

Islamic Relief raised over $1 million in February to support development projects in Pakistan during the nationwide fundraising tour, “Building for the Future.”

The dinners were held in six major cities across the United States, including Dallas, TX; Chicago, IL; Secaucus, NJ; San Jose, CA; San Diego, CA; and Orange County, CA and featured guest speaker and world-renowned Pakistani cricket player, Shahid Afridi.

“Our goal was to raise $1 million in ten days to help decrease the rate of infant mortality in rural Pakistan and Alhamdulillah (praise be to God) everyone worked very hard and it was a tiring ten days, but we reached our goal,” said Anwar Khan, National Development Director for Islamic Relief.

Over 2,400 attendees and over 300 volunteers nationwide were present at the dinners, all eager to lend their support.

Eager to get a glimpse of their favorite cricket player, fans swarmed around Afridi as he entered every venue. Determined to get an autograph, donors purchased memorabilia signed by Afridi for as much as $7,000.

“The volunteers and the donors are doing a great job helping needy people in Pakistan,” said Afridi.

Islamic Relief began working in Pakistan in 1992, and since then has implemented a variety of both emergency and long-term development projects in Punjab, Baluchistan, Sindh, the Northwest Frontier Province, and the Pakistan administered areas of Kashmir.

In 2005, Islamic Relief was one of the first aid agencies to respond to the earthquake that devastated areas of Pakistan administered Kashmir. To date, Islamic Relief has raised over $70 million in aid for earthquake victims, of which more than $20 million came from donors within the United States.

This aid has been used to provide victims with food, clean water, medical assistance, transitional and long-term shelter, livelihoods recovery, income generation projects, and community support.

In July 2007, Islamic Relief invited Afridi to visit flood-affected areas of Baluchistan. During his trip, Afridi assisted Islamic Relief in distributing over $100,000 worth of aid and supplies to flood victims.

“When I went there [to Baluchistan], there were lots of people just standing and waiting for us to help them and give them some food and grain. These people had no shelter, they had no drinking water, and no health facilities,” said Afridi.

Unfortunately, due to a recent lack of funding and support for aid efforts in Pakistan, some of Islamic Relief ’s operations in the region have been forced to be cut, leaving many poor and impoverished families without assistance.

“I’ve been to Kharan, the poorest part of Pakistan, and I’ve seen the people and the children there struggling to survive. The best thing we can do is to keep supporting Islamic Relief because they are doing a great job to help those poor people,” said Afridi.

Funds donated during the fundraising tour will be used to further sustain long-term development projects throughout rural areas of Pakistan, including water and sanitation, education, disaster preparedness, orphan sponsorships, rehabilitation of homes, food distributions, healthcare, and income generation projects.

“By providing clean water to children living in rural areas, we lessen the number of children that die from waterborne diseases,” said Khan. “By constructing water pumps and reducing the time it takes to fetch water, we increase the time a child can spend in school. And by reconstructing irrigation schemes, we’re helping to make the desert green.”