Caritas builds water tank for St Michael’s parish, Karachi
The reservoir will enable the local community to erect its own church and survive during difficult times. Locals, of any religion, will now own and manage their water supplies.
Karachi (AsiaNews) – In Karachi, Caritas Pakistan runs a project called “Wash” as part of its outreach programme to help communities affected by COVID-19. The plan entails improving access to water.
The latest project saw a water tank inaugurated in St Michael’s parish, New Youhanabad. Caritas stepped in to relieve the severe water shortage affecting the local community although it was not directly targeted by the Wash Project. The parish itself contributed 20 per cent of the cost.
Residents don’t have access to basic necessities and the lack of water storage facilities has prevented the local community from building a church.
For this reason, Fr Asher Iftikhar, parish priest of St Jude’s, asked for assistance in building an underground reservoir that would store water for the community during difficult times and in emergencies.
“We live in very poor conditions and there are no facilities,” said Ms M. Rehman, one of the beneficiaries. “Thanks to Caritas, our needs have been recognised; Christians and Muslims can live in peace and brotherhood, helping each other,” she added.
The inauguration ceremony was held on Tuesday during which some greenery was planted near the reservoir.
Speaking on that occasion, Caritas executive director Mansha Noor thanked the community as well as Javed Iqbal, a local social activist for carrying out his work “with great diligence and dedication”.
In his address, Fr Iftikhar also told his parishioners that “Now you can use this tank according to your needs, but you will have to take care of it all the time.”
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23/11/2017 17:44
