Despite the logistical hurdles of withdrawing money, our team has begun the critical work of giving food supplies to those in need. Initially the team had a great idea of giving out card vouchers for families to redeem at local shops for a set of staples. But the shops were not able to agree to the system because they could not receive bank transfers for paying for the food.
So eventually, our team of Fahim (yes, Fahim, our manager at the House of Flowers for many years, is back to help!) and Nik Mohammad simply took trucks with bags of food to neighborhoods and gave it out to needy families who had been identified earlier. Families received lentils, oil, rice and flour, enough for a week. Due to the limitations on how much cash could be withdrawn each week from the bank, the team was able to give to 39 families. But nearly 100 have been identified, once the funds are released.
This work will continue, as long as we have the funds to do it. To date we have collected about $17,000. Each family, which is on average 7 people, is receiving about $50 worth of food.
