By Balwant Sanghera
RICHMOND – Natural disasters seem to have become a fairly common phenomenon these days. However, some of the calamities are far more damaging than others. The typhoon in the Philippines, in 2013, wreaked havoc across much of the Central Philippines. In an instant, thousands of people lost their lives and millions of people became homeless. Furthermore, it pushed millions of people further into poverty and debt. Like many other countries, Canada, home to a fairly large Philippino community responded quickly. Canadians raised $85 million to help the people affected by the devastation in the Philippines. In this regard, the South Asian community took a leading role and raised millions of dollars through individual and corporate donations, Sikh temples and radiothons.
In order to deliver the aid to the needy, a number of agencies including OXFAM Canada did a commendable job. OXFAM has been doing this since 1942 and has a lot of expertise in this area. Also, its overhead is relatively smaller compared to some other agencies. Consequently, India Cultural Centre’s Gurdwara Nanak Niwas (#5 Road, Richmond) picked OXFAM Canada for this purpose. The Gurdwara management and congregation had raised more than $10,000 for relief to the victims of the typhoon in the Philippines. On Thursday, May29, 2014, Mr. Robert Fox, Executive Director of OXFAM Canada and his staff visited India Cultural Centre of Canada (Gurdwara Nanak Niwas) in Richmond to thank and update the Gurdwara management about the progress of its relief efforts in the affected area of the Philippines. He also presented a plaque to Asa Singh Johal, Chairman, India Cultural Centre of Canada and Gurdwara Nanak Niwas. The picture (sent separately) shows Fox making the presentation to Johal while members of the management committee look on.
