GUYANESE have once again demonstrated their humanism and concern for the suffering of others by generously making financial donations to Pakistan which has been hit by a most terrible disaster. And the organisers of the NCN telethon must be highly commended for such a fine initiative which saw some $21M being raised.
Guyanese have always been known for their hospitality and willingness to give a helping hand in the true spirit of international solidarity and the telethon is a further demonstration of this.
Haji Fazeel Ferouz, who is the President of the Central Islamic Organisation (CIOG), spearheaded the initiative which is not surprising as he has had a history of being deeply committed to social and charitable causes.
The government also committed help with President Bharrat Jagdeo committing US$30,000 to the efforts which is another manifestation of the growing public/ private sector partnership approach to challenges and development in Guyana.
Secretary of the Guyana Relief Fund for Pakistan Bishop Juan Edghill noted that in addition to the pledges received through the telethon, persons wishing to donate money can do so via the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) account # C 1AK-084457, or through any branch of any commercial bank in Guyana.
Bishop Edghill said the latter was an arrangement made thorough the Bankers’ Association of Guyana.
The first on-air donation of $5000 came from Flint Bacchus of the East Coast of Demerara.  Students and brothers-Gibran and Rizwan Azeez, donated $10,000 each which they indicated came from their savings.
The telethon attracted panelists from across a broad spectrum of social, religious and political organisations in Guyana.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has dubbed the tragedy in Pakistan worse natural disaster of our generation and from what is happening across the globe it is likely that similar disasters would follow. Unfortunately we cannot predict when they will happen, but what happened in Pakistan is another message to the world that adverse effects of global warming and climate change are here upon us. Therefore, it is an issue that has to be addressed with great urgency as such those countries that are in the indecisive and vacillating mode have to come out of that mode and change to treat global warming and climate change as priority issue because the financial and other costs of not addressing will be much more than if it is addressed with expediency.
According to a CNN report a United Nations representative on Saturday pleaded for more international aid to help the millions of Pakistanis displaced from flooding that has ravaged the country for more than a month.
“We still have millions of people out of their” houses, said Jean-Maurice Ripert, the U.N.’s special envoy for assistance to Pakistan. “We have hundreds of thousands of people that we have to feed, take care of on a daily basis.”
Ripert said that while the international community has given more than $1 billion in relief, “it’s far from enough.”
“We need more money, we need more response,” Ripert said, “and the U.N. … certainly is launching a new appeal. We need your help. We need the help of the countries for emergency needs, for food, shelters, water purification. We need planes to bring the goods in Pakistan and to distribute them into Pakistan. We need teams to operate medical facilities. We need everything.”
The death toll has climbed to 1,738, the Pakistan Disaster Authority said Saturday. Officials said this week that 17 million have been affected nationwide. The death toll is expected to rise significantly as flood waters continue to recede and more bodies surface.
If this tragedy does not send a wake up call to the world of the need to deal with global warming and climate change in a decisive manner what else will?