BanglaBhoot
RETIRED TTA
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KARACHI, Pakistan | A grim reminder of Pakistan's economic crisis arrived in the last 10 days of November, when three mothers from the same extended family abandoned eight children in one day at a welfare center.
The sobbing children clung to their mothers desperately, grabbing their shawls and wailing miserably. One little boy cried hysterically, refusing to let his mother leave.
Eventually, the mothers left, saying they were unable to feed the children and begging the Edhi Foundation to take care of them.
Bilquis Edhi, wife of the foundation´s patron, Abdul Sattar Edhi, told journalists that in all her years of serving the poor, this incident was the most shocking.
"So many children of living parents being left at a center in one day is unprecedented," she said. "It's never happened before. I almost cried myself as I saw the mothers and children cling to each other."
As tensions rise between Pakistan and India over accusations of Pakistani involvement in the recent terrorist massacre in the Indian city of Mumbai, Pakistan's economic crisis has a security as well as a humanitarian dimension.
Nonprofit groups here say the situation has worsened in recent months with a sudden peak in the prices of food and fuel and a new civilian government unable to provide sufficient subsidies.
The Edhi Foundation is the largest nonprofit humanitarian organization in Pakistan. Funded solely by donations, the foundation provides 24-hour emergency assistance in many cities, women's shelters, free schooling and medical care.
The eight children who arrived at the center recently spent their first few hours huddled in corners, refusing to talk or eat. The crisis was resolved when the center gave each mother the equivalent of $1,200 and they agreed to take their children home.
A thousand dollars is a fortune for the poor in Pakistan, where according to the World Bank almost one-third of the population -- about 40 million people -- live below the poverty line.
Washington Times - Economic strife devastates Pakistanis
The sobbing children clung to their mothers desperately, grabbing their shawls and wailing miserably. One little boy cried hysterically, refusing to let his mother leave.
Eventually, the mothers left, saying they were unable to feed the children and begging the Edhi Foundation to take care of them.
Bilquis Edhi, wife of the foundation´s patron, Abdul Sattar Edhi, told journalists that in all her years of serving the poor, this incident was the most shocking.
"So many children of living parents being left at a center in one day is unprecedented," she said. "It's never happened before. I almost cried myself as I saw the mothers and children cling to each other."
As tensions rise between Pakistan and India over accusations of Pakistani involvement in the recent terrorist massacre in the Indian city of Mumbai, Pakistan's economic crisis has a security as well as a humanitarian dimension.
Nonprofit groups here say the situation has worsened in recent months with a sudden peak in the prices of food and fuel and a new civilian government unable to provide sufficient subsidies.
The Edhi Foundation is the largest nonprofit humanitarian organization in Pakistan. Funded solely by donations, the foundation provides 24-hour emergency assistance in many cities, women's shelters, free schooling and medical care.
The eight children who arrived at the center recently spent their first few hours huddled in corners, refusing to talk or eat. The crisis was resolved when the center gave each mother the equivalent of $1,200 and they agreed to take their children home.
A thousand dollars is a fortune for the poor in Pakistan, where according to the World Bank almost one-third of the population -- about 40 million people -- live below the poverty line.
Washington Times - Economic strife devastates Pakistanis
