January 12, 2014

People happy in town Kimse Yok Mu helped build

Officials from Turkish charity Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There) paid a visit to the town of İkbaliye in Pakistan, a newly built town inaugurated in September, as part of efforts to heal the wounds of a devastating flood that hit the country in 2010.The Kimse Yok Mu officials, who were received with affection in the region, carried out a sacrifice ceremony of 50 cattle with prayers. Afterwards, meat was distributed to about 100 families in İqbaliyye and the city of Lahore.

In the wake of a flood that killed nearly 2,000 people and affected at least 20 million Pakistanis in 2010, the Kimse Yok Mu foundation rushed to the country to provide immediate aid including shelter, food and medicine. With $7 million in donations from Turkish benefactors, Kimse Yok Mu built a small housing complex on a 110-decare area in the Multan area of Pakistan's Punjab province. The model village, named after Mohammed Iqbal, the spiritual founder of Pakistan who led a nationwide campaign to help Turkey during World War I, has 296 houses, a mosque, a school, a market place and parks.

“We have no more problems. Thanks to our Turkish benefactors, we now have a home. Our needs have been met. We pray a lot for those benefactors. We pray every day so that God increases the wealth of those people,” a flood victim who lost his house during the flood told Today's Zaman.

Despite some shortages in resources, education at the town school has begun, Özcan İnan, a representative of Kimse Yok Mu in Pakistan, told Today's Zaman. “Students will be provided with educational materials such as school bags, books and notebooks as soon as possible,” he said. Adults will also be offered various courses so that they can earn a living.

Kimse Yok Mu has been operating in Pakistan since October 2005, when an earthquake devastated the north of the country. The foundation has so far dug 178 wells in Pakistan, and there are 86 wells currently under construction. Across Pakistan, 800,000 people benefit from the clean water provided by the foundation and its donors. The total aid provided by Kimse Yok Mu to the people of Pakistan exceeds $30 million.

Published on Sunday's Zaman, 12 January 2014, Sunday

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