By Anwar Akhtar

The Samosa is supporting Photo Encounter Pakistan, an initiative by DawnRelief aimed at raising funds for Pakistan’s flood-affected people. The exhibition will feature more than 300 pictures by Pakistan’s top photographers including Arif Ali, Umair Ghani, Ayesha Vellani, Tapu Javeri, Pervaiz A Khan, Arif Mahmood and Mahmood Qureshi at the RAG factory in East London.

Capturing both the rural beauty and urban diversity of Pakistan, its varied landscapes and expressive people, Photo Encounter Pakistan is a breathtaking journey that encompasses the stark beauty of the Thar desert in Sindh, the unspoiled beaches and sapphire waters of the Makran Coast in Balochistan, the shifting sands of the Cholistan Desert in Punjab, and the majestic heights of the Himalayan peaks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

It is also an encounter with the diversity of Pakistan’s people, including the mysterious Kalaash tribes of Chitral, the gypsies of Thar and the ecstasy of devotees as they dance to the drummer’s beat at Sufi saints’ shrines along the Indus as it courses through Pakistan. Photo Encounter Pakistan is a rare opportunity to experience the diverse cultures and hidden splendours of Pakistan.

DawnRelief, officially known as the Dawn Relief Earthquake Welfare Organisation, was established in October 2005 by the Dawn Media Group. It is a non-political, non-sectarian, voluntary social welfare organisation.

The objectives of DawnRelief are to provide relief and rehabilitation to people affected by natural and man-made disasters in Pakistan and Azad Kashmir. In pursuing these objectives, DawnRelief draws upon the expertise of a pool of volunteers based in Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore and Azad Kashmir and is ready to fan out and provide assistance wherever it is most needed.

Set up in extraordinary times to cope with the consequences of the 2005 earthquake in northern Pakistan, DawnRelief did not start off as a conventional relief agency with established expertise in disaster management and backed by an existing pool of donors. Its strengths were its proven competence in project management, its ability to identify and attract top flight human resources across multiple levels of expertise and a formidable reputation for organisational capacity and transparency. Today, DawnRelief has established competence in mobilising the resources and support services required to carry out long term reconstruction work.

Since 2005, DawnRelief has extended relief and support to the people affected by the earthquakes in Azad Kashmir in 2005 and Balochistan in 2008, and to the refugees from Swat, Malakand and their adjoining areas in 2009.

In response to this year’s unprecedented floods, DawnRelief is currently providing over 6,000 people with food, clean drinking water and shelter at camps in Nowshera (Pir Sabaq), Hyderabad (Bhitai Nagar), and in the Thatta and Makli areas.

DawnRelief is aiming to build around 3,000 residential structures/units for flood victims who have lost their homes. In addition, DawnRelief plans to build basic education units in Sujawal and other flood hit areas. Each of these residential units along with basic amenities is expected to cost in the range of US$1,500.

Although we primarily use our own resources and locally generated funds, we would also like to draw as much support as possible from overseas Pakistanis.

To this end, DawnRelief is holding a fundraising photographic exhibition from 2-10pm on Saturday 4th December and from 10am-10pm on Sunday 5th at the RAG Factory, 16 Heneage Street, London, E1 5LJ. Photographs on display can be seen at dawnrelief.dawn.com/dawn-uk-exhibition. You can pledge for these photographs by sending an e-mail to masood.hamid@dawn.com - each photograph has a donation price of £200.