Whenever people around the world are facing a humanitarian crisis, one organisation always answer the call for help: Khalsa Aid. The international NGO has always been at the service when required.?
The UK-based humanitarian relief charity has been providing support around the world to victims of natural and man-made disasters such as floods, earthquakes, famine and war.?The selfless work they have done for over 20 years hasn't gone unnoticed as they were recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.?Despite winning many accolades through the years, this nomination?comes as the?best news for the charity?working?tirelessly?to make world a better place, for everyone.?
While nominating Khalsa Aid for the prestigious award, Canada's House of Commons in a letter addressed to Berit Reiss-Andersen, the Norwegian Nobel Committee chairperson, mentioned how the organisation has been able to provide crucial aid to millions of people around the world.?
Also read:?Khalsa Aid Nominated For Nobel Peace Prize: Here Are Some Examples Of Their Selfless Work
Based on the Sikh principle of "Sarbat Da Bhalla" meaning well-being for all, the?charity has been helping all those in need regardless of race, religion and borders?since a period of last 20 years.?
While celebrating the work of Khalsa Aid, let us look at the work they are doing across the globe and how they are making meaningful contribution in tackling the humanitarian crisis.?
Khalsa Aid has a team working resolutely in war-ravaged areas of the middle-east offering aid to the victims of the never ceasing conflict. The organisation's?volunteers have been responding to similar crises across the world.?
While the world might have turned away from the catastrophe that is the civil war in Syria, Khalsa Aid has been on ground, providing relief to the people who have had to flee their homes.?
From free food to shelter to health services, the organisation has been serving and rescuing people in war-torn Syria with dedication.??
The organization has said their activity among the Syrian refugees span across Syria, Greece and Lebanon where most of the war displaced are currently living.?Their current activities include providing tonnes of food and shoes for hundreds of refugee children in Turkey.
Khalsa Aid¡¯s industrial bakery set up on the Iraq-Syria border in 2014 continues to provide 16,000 loaves of bread each day to as many Yazidi refugees in camps.??
When Kerala was devastated by floods in 2018, Khalsa Aid shouldered responsibility and helped feed thousands of victims and also provided them with shelter.?
Khalsa Aid volunteers set up relief camps across the state. They set up langars (free community kitchens) and fed 15,000 people with hot meals every day. The group also distributed essential day packs, including soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, sanitary towels, medical kits and mosquito nets.?
The volunteers also assisted in packing and distribution of food packets including rice, dal, tea, salt and sugar. Khalsa Aid volunteers also cleaned churches and temples which were filled with sludge from floodwaters.
The packing of nearly seven tonnes of relief material into small kits was done at the Thevara Gurudwara in Kochi, and 400 to 500 such kits were distributed among the flood-hit daily,? ?
Aided by a few local volunteers, the group is also doled out free medicines and drinking water supplies.?
Also read:?Here Is How Khalsa Aid Is Helping Drivers Stranded At UK Border With Hot Meals Including Pizza
When the Rohingya Muslims fearing persecution fled Myanmar and reached Bangladesh border, Khalsa Aid volunteers from India and other parts of the world reached there and provided them with food and water.??
The volunteers of the organisation, started a community service kitchen called?Guru ka langar?which fed thousands of Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar after Bangladesh government gave the required clearances to begin the relief work.??
During those testing times, Khalsa Aid team made sure that the Langar services do not come to a halt at any cost and the refugees at least do not go sleep without food.?
In April 2015, Nepal was hit by a strong earthquake, which killed over 8000 people and injured more than 20000. Khalsa Aid was actively involved in coordinating number of relief projects. They set up a kitchen and prepared meals twice a day, serving over 350,000 hot meals over a period of six weeks in Kathmandu.?
The team also built more than 500 temporary shelters for displaced families and worked with local government to clear rubble. They collaborated with the United Nations in distributing medicines and infant formula to the needy families.??
The UK-based humanitarian relief agency had set up Langar, or free community kitchen, in Kathmandu which provided food for some?3,000 to 4,000 people daily. Then, its teams initiated building semi-permanent shelters in the rural villages.
In September 2014, due to heavy monsoons and flash floods, over 400 people lost their lives and thousands of homes were destroyed.?
Indian Army was deployed to conduct search and rescue missions. Khalsa Aid, along with the Jammu Kashmir Sikh Professionals (JKSP), responded to the emergency and supported the relief work by initiating two projects.?
The team actively participated with the local government and rescued over 50 stranded people. It also provided emergency relief packs, containing clean drinking water, food and sanitary items, to over thousand families.??
Expressing gratitude towards the Sikh community, the flood victims, of whom a majority were Muslims, were indebted to the community as they helped them without discriminating on the basis of religion.??
Also read:?How Khalsa Aid Is Working To Soften The Blow Of COVID-19 Pandemic On Poor Across The World
Phalombe region of Malawi, a country in southeastern Africa, was hit by floods in February 2015, which uprooted many families and destroyed their homes, forcing them to relocate.?
An estimated 230,000 people were affected. Due to damaged infrastructure, people there no longer had access to clean drinking water and had to walk for miles to fetch clean water.?Khalsa Aid volunteers, along with local communities, contractors and government, mobilized resources to drill water wells and build handpumps across rural Malawi. This made it easy for the local people to fetch water.??
The work Khalsa aid has done in the country extends beyond relief material.?Malawi, is one of the poorest countries in Africa. and the people were overjoyed at the mere sight of a water pump, which was installed by the organisation in 2019.?
With their project Water4Africa, NGO?Khalsa Aid?is working hard to bring water to the rural communities in Africa.
In September 2018, a powerful earthquake of an intensity of 7.8 on the Richter Scale hit Indonesia. It created a huge Tsunami which devastated the areas of Palu and Dongalla.?
Khalsa Aid International worked closely with the local population and ensured that relief measures reaches the most needy ones. They set up langars in Palu and Dongalla and served food, provided blankets and makeshift shelters to people who were displaced by the Tsunami.??
Chennai was ravaged by floods in 2015. Over 150,000 people were affected by this calamity and were in need of dire help. Khalsa Aid volunteers provided much-needed relief to the needy by distributing fruit, bread, clean water and bedsheets.??
Khalsa Aid members are distributed emergency supplies to the people of Chennai. Khalsa Aid volunteers also provided food rations to thousands of people.?
In 2007, Punjab faced catastrophic floods which affected over 50,000 people. Many villages were severely hit and more than 11,000 hectares of agricultural land with standing crop suffered severe consequences.?
Khalsa Aid came to support the people of Punjab in this tragic time and supplied food rations (rice, wheat, lentils, cooking oil etc.) along with blankets and clothing to affected people.??