Responding to reports that as many as 150,000 Afghan refugees have poured into Pakistan and thousands more are trying to cross the border daily, a Northwestern student group is preparing a shipment of supplies to assist a humanitarian aid group in South Asia.
Student members of the Medical Supplies Mission spent Saturday in front of Osco Drug collecting soap, toothpaste, Band-Aids and other goods that will be sent to refugees in Pakistan within the next two weeks.
The donated items will be packaged as individual health kits for displaced families and shipped to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, a humanitarian organization working in Pakistan, said Weinberg sophomore Dianna English, who is in charge of the project.
“People realize that what’s going on in Afghanistan right now is a humanitarian crisis of terrible proportions,” said John Broach, who founded MSM. “This is a chance to help those people who are in great suffering.”
Broach, the group’s co-director, said members would probably solicit donations in front of Osco, 1630 Sherman Ave., again this weekend and send the shipment in the second week of November.
The group received about $200 worth of donated items in their first collection outside of Osco on Oct. 20. Broach estimated the group received “several hundred dollars” worth of goods on Saturday.
Students spent the day in front of Osco’s entrance passing out fliers to about 450 shoppers, asking them to buy supplies in the store and donate them. About 60 people purchased items for donation, said Weinberg freshman Jessica Liu, an MSM member.
Liu said it was difficult to reach out to all the shoppers rushing in and out of the store. She said she tried to approach customers who looked willing to help out, but she found that difficult to determine.
“It can be very frustrating when you keep thinking that people should be willing to donate more, but then you realize that they don’t really have to help at all,” Liu said. “When you meet someone who will come out with a whole bag of goods, you become really thankful.”
In the past two weeks, the group has raised $1,500 of the $2,000 needed for shipping costs by holding raffles, manning concession stands at football games and asking people to order from Papa John’s Pizza.
MSM members also have been calling local pharmacies asking for donations of medical supplies, English said.
Members said the U.S. bombings in Afghanistan prompted the group to organize the project to help those affected by the war effort.
Of Afghanistan’s 21 million people, more than 4 million are refugees, and the vast majority have relocated to Pakistan and Iran. Since many have entered Pakistan by stealth, no official figures are available. U.N. officials have put the number as high as 150,000.
Pakistan, which already hosts 2 million Afghans, the largest refugee population in the world, is fearful of a new flood of refugees and wants to maintain tight control of its border.
Afghanistan’s other neighbors have officially sealed their borders. In practice, Pakistan has been allowing in some refugees, though the process has been haphazard. Many refugees have been turned away, only to sneak in illegally by traveling through mountain passes along the porous border.
But on Sunday, the U.N. refugee chief announced that Pakistan has agreed to open its doors to Afghans in need of urgent help.
In Evanston, MSM members said they want to help those refugees in whatever way they can.
Osco shopper Nicholas Dunkas, an assistant professor at NU’s Medical School, said he was touched to see students taking the initiative in helping out during this international crisis.
“I feel it’s a very thoughtful and appropriate thing to do,” Dunkas said. “It’s very encouraging to see students helping out with such a cause.”
Weinberg junior Emily Morgano, who donated soap, said she wanted to help the people affected by the bombings regardless of the political situation surrounding the events.
“With everything that has been happening in Afghanistan, nothing is really the fault of the people over there,” Morgano said. “This is the least we can do.”
MSM’s mission is to improve health care in the developing world by increasing awareness of global health issues, Broach said.
Established at NU two years ago, MSM has sent nine other shipments of medical supplies to nations including Brazil, India and New Guinea. The group currently is working with hospitals in New Mexico to raise money and to promote a greater awareness of health issues.
Rather than trying to make any kind of political statement by helping the refugees in Pakistan through the health kit project, English said MSM is simply fulfilling its mission.
“It’s just one of those situations where we’re showing our support of the president by demonstrating the loving generosity of the American people,” English said. “Our motivation is fairly simple it’s just a matter of helping people who need help.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.