Student groups team up for Pakistan flood relief

“Pakistan, Pakistan. Isn’t that where Borat’s from, right? That dude is hilarious!”

Members of the IU Student Association and its coalition partners point out just how little students understand about the flood crisis in Pakistan in a video created to promote the upcoming event IU Helps Pakistan.

In July, Pakistan experienced heavy flooding that left more than 20 million injured or homeless and more than a million homes destroyed.

U.S. donations have been slow to accumulate, said Rishibha Chadha, IUSA’s chief
of coalitions.

IU Helps Pakistan will attempt to meet the need caused by the devastating floods in Pakistan with an outdoor fundraiser that will take place in Dunn Meadow on Oct. 28.

The carnival themed event will cost $3. For the price of entry, attendees will receive one voucher for food and one voucher for a carnival game.

The event will feature food provided by ethnic restaurants, such as Amol India and Taste of India, and franchise restaurants such as Panda Express and Chipotle.  

Attendees will see booths displaying information about the floods and relief efforts, and will have the opportunity to play traditional Pakistani games.

All proceeds will benefit the Pakistan-based Edhi foundation.

“We thought it would be more relevant to donate to a Pakistani organization,” Chadha said.

Chadha explained that after examining several possible recipients for the fundraiser, the Edhi foundation was chosen because of its reputation in Pakistan, its knowledge of the area and the fact that unlike some better-known world organizations, it operates without administrative costs.

This allows the foundation to allocate 100 percent of its profits directly where aid is needed most.

Chadha said the event began as an effort to raise awareness of the crisis in Pakistan by selling wristbands on campus. But Chadha said she thought more needed to be done.

“The size of the disaster should be proportionate to the size of the event,” Chadha said.

With that in mind, the effort began to involve more student groups and grew into a
larger benefit.

The event now involves the efforts of the Muslim Student Union, Pakistani Student Association, Sigma Beta Rho and Kelley Management Skills Development Group.

The video created to promote the event is a great example of the combined efforts of a variety of student groups, IUSA President Michael Coleman said.

“Most of the people aren’t involved in IUSA, they’re involved with different groups across campus,” he said.

The video includes short blurbs from representatives of Straight No Chaser, Alpha Phi Omega, Kelley Management Skills Development Group and professors from the Kelley School of Business and the College of Arts and Sciences.

Walter Ballard is the face of the “Borat” comment at the beginning of the video. Ballard is also IUSA’s director of athletic affairs.

Ballard said he was “oblivious to how much damage and destruction” had been caused by the floods before he stepped in to fill a vacant spot in the video.

“If you have the capability to help, you should help,” Ballard said.