Greek Australian individuals are reaching out to support victims of the recent floods in Pakistan according to a senior World Vision Australia official.
The Director of Media and Communications at World Vision Australia Yianni Rigogiannis said Greek Australians have been among the Australians who have contributed $3.24 million to the World Vision Australia appeal.
The funds raised from the appeal will allow World Vision to coordinate a relief program for the more than 17.2 million people affected.
“World Vision and the Greek community aren’t necessarily intertwined, although there are a lot of Greek supporters of World Vision,” he said.
“Greeks are a very cosmopolitan people and quite aware of what’s going on around the world and are very generous,” he said.
Rigogiannis said World Vision has so far distributed food and emergency items to more than 33 000 people, as well as establishing four medical clinics and one mobile clinic to treat the diseases borne out of flood conditions.
He urged individuals to get involved with the appeal, as the disaster continues to unfold. “The reality is, this is just the beginning for Pakistan,” he said.
Increasingly, support from individuals seems to be a trend with international aid donation.
This week a survey found Australians ranked equal first with New Zealand in a survey across 153 countries about individuals giving to charity.
There’s also popular websites such as Peter Singer’s The Life You Can Save, urging individuals to donate, rather than rely on community fundraisers.
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia spokesperson, Dimitri Kepreotes, said the church has responded to previous international crises with appeals for financial support, and while they haven’t planned an appeal for Pakistan, it’s something he’s thought about.
“We’re always with our ear to the ground, and we’re not ruling anything out as a church,” he said.
But he said members of the Greek Diaspora care about international events as individuals. “Greek Australians are always compassionate where we can be,” he said.
He said the tragedy in Pakistan was that the story was slow to unfold, as diseases spread and the lack of food and clean drinking water leads to dehydration and malnutrition.
“Pakistan may well need a lot more help down the track, not just the next two weeks,” he said.