Quake Banquet Draws Crowd

An Earthquake Relief Dinner attracted a large crowd to Kirkland Dining Hall on Saturday, raising $3,600 for a Pakistani emergency service organization called the Edhi Foundation.

Thirty-four organizations co-sponsored the event, which included speakers, dinner, and information about how to help victims of the Oct. 8 earthquake that devastated South Asia.

One of the evening’s speakers, Beena Sarwar, displayed graphic images of orphans and victims of the earthquake who had missing limbs.

“The situation in Pakistan is going to be so desperate that I’m going to do all I can to help,” said Sarwar, who is a fellow at Harvard’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism.

She said that some of the ways that people can contribute to the earthquake relief include adopting a tent for $5 and writing letters to politicians.

But Sarwar also emphasized that there was a short period in which people could solicit help.

“The window of opportunity for effective action is closing soon...very soon,” she said.

“If we don’t get aid to these people by December 1 the world will be tacitly consenting to an additional million or so deaths,” Owais Siddiqui ’07 added.

Huma Farid ’06, who organized the event, said the media response was insufficient in comparison to Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami that hit the region last December.

“People don’t know that over 80,000 people have died, that over 70,000 people are injured, that children are being operated on without anesthesia, that people don’t have food and shelter and other such basic amenities,” Farid said.

Farid and others handed out black bandanas last Thursday to raise awareness.

Jyothi L. Ramakrishnan ’06 said she thinks the difference in media coverage was due to Pakistan’s location and political status.

“Because the earthquake [was] in a remote and controversial place there hasn’t been as much awareness of the death tolls and the desperate situation of the people who are now facing a harsh winter,” she said.

But Siddiqui said that he was encouraged by the success of the banquet.

“The event shows Harvard students do care,” he said.

Several other campus groups including the South Asian Association (SAA) have contributed to the relief effort in other ways. A charity auction and dinner was held on Friday in Leverett Dining Hall. The money raised by the auction of a one week stay in Hawaii will go to aid for the earthquake victims.

Farid also helped plan a clothing drive last week that collected 60 boxes of clothes.

Although Saturday’s banquet was co-sponsored by many groups, the event was conceived when the Harvard Islamic Society (HIS), the SAA, and Dharma came together to raise money and awareness.

HIS aims to raise $50,000 for the earthquake relief, according to Farid. She added that they plan to display posters at the Science Center, and a vigil will be held on Nov. 9 to commemorate a month and a day since the earthquake struck. Students can also donate money to the South Asian Quake Relief Fund, she said.