On Thursday, Mehwish Hayat had shared a video in collaboration with Penny Appeal – a Muslim charity organization providing aid to people in over 30 crisis-hit countries – to make an urgent appeal for flood victims in Pakistan. Her video was also shared by popular Indian rapper Hirdesh Singh, who goes by the alias Yo Yo Honey Singh. “Big up!” Hirdesh wrote on his Instagram Stories tagging Mehwish.
Now, the Ms. Marvel actor, who is also a global ambassador for Penny Appeal, has made an appearance on Sky News and BBC to inform the global audience about the devastation caused by the climate crisis at home. Mehwish acknowledged that she needed to do more than simply tweet about a calamity that has left 50 million homeless.
Taking to the photo-sharing app on Friday, she shared clips from both her interviews. On Sky News, the London Nahi Jaunga actor informed viewers, “One third of the country has drowned under water, 50 million people are displaced, 1,500 deaths that we know of but there are so many areas that people and help agencies are not being able to access to get to the people who really need help right now.”
Citing a report, the actor added that “more than 70,000 pregnant women are expected to deliver next month and currently, those women don’t have shelter, food or clean drinking water.” Relaying how they have “lost everything,” Mehwish pointed out that “these people will now have to rebuild and restart their lives.”
“I really wanted to do something about it and I felt that I needed to do more than just tweet and that’s why I’m working with the charity organisation Penny Appeal to get help wherever needed. Penny Appeal is on ground in 13 most affected areas and according to a recent report, out of 160 districts, 72 have been declared as disaster zones by the government. You can imagine the scale of the damage, the disaster and the fact that so much help is needed on every front.”
She also vowed to visit the flood affected areas herself to find out firsthand what the flood victims need most and how they wish to be assisted. “In this time, we really need the world and all the viewers to rise to the challenge and help people in need because I believe that if you save one life, you save the world and with your little help, whatever little you can spare, that can help save thousands of lives. Right now, they don’t even have basic medical aid, the women who will be delivering will be needing medical care, help and assistance,” she requested.
She also informed viewers about waterborne illnesses that are on a rise due to the inundation of still water. Shedding light on the consequences, she further warned of the upcoming winter season that could intensify struggles of those displaced. “For these areas, winter is actually one of the toughest months of the year and imagine they don’t even have shelter, the camps don’t have the tents for them to sleep at night or have any sort of normality to their life and I think a lot is needed to be done. It’s $10 billion worth of damage as per the government estimates, so it will take time to get back to any normality, it’s going to take years,” added Mehwish.
The Actor in Law star shared similar points on BBC, additionally insisting on the need for immediate medical aid, sustainable food, clean drinking water and shelter. She reminded everyone how the displaced, having also lost their livelihood, would now need to start from scratch and require our assistance.