Rotary Club of Inverness responds to appeal to help avert Afghanistan disaster where 8million face famine
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THE Rotary Club of Inverness has responded swiftly to the appeal for help towards the humanitarian disaster which is worsening in Afghanistan with eight million people on the brink of famine this winter.
The situation is so bad since the British and US forces pulled out of the conflict-torn country and the Taliban returned that the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has mounted a massive appeal.
The Rotarians in pre-Covid days would chip in for a weekly lunch, but when social distancing stopped that, they used the lunch money to aid good causes.
Their publicity officer Thomas Prag said: “Just over 100 years ago in 1919 the British left Afghanistan.
“At about the same time Rotary came to Inverness and the Rotary Club of Inverness is celebrating 100 years of community work and fellowship in the town.
“Last month they had their Christmas lunch meeting, sadly back to a ‘virtual’ meeting after running ‘hybrid’ meetings for some months. It was well attended and they marked the occasion by sending in their unspent lunch money and topping it up to a magnificent £1000 which has been given to the DEC appeal for Afghanistan.”
The club’s president Alan Nelson says it was a strong, heartfelt response from his members.
Mr Nelson added: “We have heard talks recently about Afghanistan and my own son Iain worked there for a few months.
“We have other members with connections to that country, so we felt a quick response to the DEC appeal was a no-brainer.
“The situation there is horrendous with people starving and it is getting worse.”
After leaving Afghanistan, Iain Nelson (31) worked in Pakistan, and currently is in Kenya managing international aid projects.
The DEC said: “Afghanistan is heading for catastrophe this winter.
“Children are dying today, and a million more under the age of five are at risk of dying. We need to act now to save lives. The situation will only get worse as the freezing weather sets in.”
