Sponsor |  CHE123 | Oct 25, 2005 8:42am | idrf.ca [idrf.ca]
From the page: "Tents, Tents, Tents
Right now tents are the most important item on the shopping list but unfortunately not many tents are available in the market. According to the BBC News there not enought tents in the world to meet the needs of earthquake survivors. Pakistan is the largest supplier of tents in the entire world but it has also run out of tents. The government has banned the export of tents until the local needs are met.
IDRF has acquired 7,500 winterized, water-proof tents with the ratil value of 1.7 million dollars. These tents have been donated by Maplehurst Homes and will serve up to 45,000 people; each tent can house up to six family members. The cargo is now ready for shipment but we have run into a sudden bottleneck to ship them to Pakistan. PIA is carrying supplies to Pakistan freight-free but it does not have the capacity. Nevertheless it has started picking up as much as it can. So far about 40% of the cargo has been delivered to Islamabad. IDRF is making arrangements with commercial shippers to deliver the rest of them to Islamabad from where they will be trucked to Muzaffarabad by the Rural Support Program Network (RSPN) which is the local partner of IDRF in Kashmir.
Another load of 800 tents has been located in USA and negotiations are underway to buy them. These are larger tents and can accomodate up to 16 people. They will be suitable to set up hospitals and other facilities requiring larger space.
If you are interested in providing tents please remember that they are not ordinary tents used for summer camping. They should be heavy-duty, winterized, water-proof tents and buying one or two tents will not work. The best way is to working with your organization (mosque, church, temple, relief organization, club or association). This way you will be able to get tax-deductible receipts and buy in bulk. When your organization has gathered ten or more tents they should be packaged in a single pack and dropped off at PIA Cargo terminal.
Blankets and winter jackets
Please avoid used items. Buy new blankets and winter jackets and leave them in orginal wrapping. Again think bulk and pack them so that they take the least space.
Physician Travel Bag
One of the most important items on your shopping list should be medical supplies. Instead of warehousing supplies, IDRF is helping other organizations that are doing it. The most sought item is a Physician Travel Pack which contains first aid supplies, key medicines, syringes etc. It is being provided by Health Partners International of Canada (HPIC) for $550 each. However, it is available only to organizations that order large quantities. The correct procedure is that you should get your organization (mosque, church, temple, club etc) to buy them in bulk for you (ten or more). Once you have collected for enough kits your organization should call HPIC, hpicanada.ca [hpicanada.ca] to order the packs. When you receive the kits you can drop them off at the PIA Cargo terminal at Pearson International Airport. IDRF will handle 100 or more kits.
Disposable Syringes
Another important item is disposable syringes with needles in assorted sizes. They keyword is "bulk". If you think that you can buy a few syringes and and send them to Pakistan, you will be causing a great inconvenience for PIA. Get together with your friends, buy in bulk through your organization and pack them in large quantities, prefarbly in original boxes." |
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