Sikhs Join Relief Efforts in Britain Flood Disaster
SOMERSET, UK (KP) – Residents of Somerset and Burrowbridge expressed their gratitude to Sikh volunteers from humanitarian organization Khalsa Aid after they delivered sand bags and emergency supplies to the flood victims of these south western resort towns.
Khalsa Aid was one of the first NGOs to have provided relief and hands on assistance for these flood ravaged communities which have been devastated by the recent floods.
The charity helped distribute sand bags, bottled water, food, warm clothing, antiseptic fluid and other essentials to those in dire need.
Khalsa Aid, director, Ravi Singh, in an interview to Sky News, stated that "this is our community; these are our countrymen who are in dire need."
"I never knew the amount of devastation until we drove around to get to this place, we had to go several different routes and it’s amazing. The floods … the fields are like lakes. It’s unbelievable, how they will recover from this disaster?” stated Ravi Singh.
In a seperate interview with BBC Radio, Ravinder Singh stated "We are basically here to show support four our countrymen because we work at international level normally. The main message is we all need to do something. This is a huge disaster and we ned to get involved and help to get people back on their feet."
“When you turn up on the door of someone who is going through a hard time one thing you can offer is hope, you are not alone.”
“I think people are a bit amazed to see us with turbans and flowing beards, but at the end of the day what they see is a human being, and we see our fellow countrymen suffering.”
Commenting on whether the UK Government should redirect overseas assistance funds to these local national disasters, Ravinder Singh commented: “If they are giving money to the Indian regime with a nuclear weapons programmed and they are giving foreign aid it makes you wonder on moral grounds why don’t they give half of that £250 million to these people who need it. The people in the country who make that foreign aid possible are suffering.”
Khalsa Aid, which was launched in 1999 by volunteers and extends humanitarian aid, has coordinated relief efforts in disasters and emergencies in various parts of the world, including the Philippines, Haiti, Gujarat, Orissa, Punjab, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Syria.
