It is a tale of loaves and fishes. As stories of refugees and other displaced persons in Pakistan hit the newspapers in May, Presbyterian World Service and Development’s Guy Smagghe called the Pakistani branch of Church World Service and asked if there was some way the Presbyterian Church in Canada could help.
There was. The two organizations drew up plans to reach 4,500 families. (An earlier rapid response program reaching 300 families was implemented quickly.)
Drawn with a local Pakistani partner, the plans included an ecumenical contingent: “We then invited other denominations to contribute equity towards this project,” Smagghe told the Record. Four churches responded—the development and relief agencies of the United, Anglican and Mennonite churches and the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada.
“So in the end, PWS&D will contribute $100,000 to the project.” However, through long established relationships with ecumenical partners, PWS&D’s contribution becomes multiplied to approximately $900,000, with the added assistance of the Canadian International Development Agency.
“With those resources, we could develop a project to help 4,500 families for three months at a cost of $11 per person per month,” said Smagghe. The per person cost for the rapid response program to 300 families was higher, due to economies of scale.
In May, fighting was escalating in portions of northwestern Pakistan as government troops clashed with Taliban members, driving an estimated 2.5 million people from their homes. Many took refuge outside of established camps, often with host communities who struggle to support the influx of displaced people. The United Nations Refugee Agency worried it may become the largest displacement of people since the crisis in Rwanda.
PWS&D’s relationship with CWS in Pakistan “began after the earthquake of 2005,” Smagghe said. “After a field visit to the affected areas, and an exploratory visit to Pakistan, we had further discussions to look at other areas of need. Furthermore the director of CWS (Pakistan), visited national offices in Toronto as well as CFGB in Winnipeg and I went with him to CIDA headquarters in Gatineau. Since then we’ve taken on food security projects in Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as a Girls’ Education Project in Afghanistan.”
Ken Kim, director of PWS&D, travelled to Pakistan with Siggi Holzhaeuer of CFGB in February. “Both Siggi and I have seen projects in numerous countries,” Kim told the Record. “And we were still impressed by what CWS was able to accomplish with the resources provided. So when this latest need came along, CFGB had no doubts about the quality and capacity of our local partner to deliver the goods.”
