Pakistan: One Year After the Earthquake
24 October 2006
Kashmir: A New Beginning
“Save us! Get us out!” Tasweer Jan listened to her eldest son’s frantic screams for six hours as neighbors desperately dug through the pile of rubble that had been a school at the beginning of the day. Trapped under the debris were her nineteen and one-and-a-half year old sons.
She could not see them. She only heard the screams. Every
hour that passed was sheer agony.
“I tried to get them out, but I couldn’t remove them,” Tasweer recalls with a vacant look in her eyes. She looks out the door of the simple mountain village home in the Bagh District of Pakistan. She focuses on nothing in particular. “They all gathered but we were helpless to help my boys.”
By the end of the day Tasweer, only forty years old, had no home or family. Her two boys were part of the more than 82,000 that died as a result of the October 8, 2004 earthquake that struck the disputed Kashmir region of Pakistan. Like so many people affected by the devastating earthquake, she was left with nothing.
The earthquake struck parts of Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan. Although all three countries were greatly affected, the brunt of the damage occurred in the Pakistan-administered Kashmir region where the epicenter was located. As many as 15,000 villages suffered damage and many were completely destroyed.
The people of the mountainous district of Bagh were not spared from the powerful temblor. Bagh is a region surrounded by picturesque green, snow-capped mountains. The distant sound of sporadic mortar and gunfire serves as a constant reminder that the Kashmiri people have suffered through a decades-old struggle for control of the territory that lies sandwiched between Pakistan and India.
By some estimates more than 12,000 people died in Bagh and at least 360,000 people—imagine the entire city of Arlington, Texas—were left without a home or adequate shelter in a region that experiences severe winters. ADRA’s response team on the ground in Bagh estimated that as many as 95 percent of the structures in this area had been completely leveled.
2005 began with ADRA’s largest response ever to a natural disaster after the Indian Ocean Tsunami. Thanks to the generous contributions of ADRA’s loyal supporters, ADRA responded to bring immediate aid to the survivors of another major disaster.
ADRA RESPONDS
Immediately after the earthquake ADRA airlifted 20 boxes of medicine in its first international shipment from Malaysia to the Pakistani capital of Islamabad’s airport located about 60 miles southwest of the epicenter. ADRA dispatched small medical teams to the Kashmir region to assist with the distribution of medical supplies and attend to the health concerns of those injured in the earthquake. These medical teams fanned out across hard-to-reach rural areas to treat the injured and people that succumbed to illness and infection in the days that followed.
It became clear in the early days of the response that access to many of the affected areas would be difficult. In order to respond effectively and manage aid distribution, ADRA established a base close to the areas in need. One office opened in Rawalpindi, a city neighboring Islamabad, and a field office in the Bagh District, where authorities gave ADRA permission to begin relief activities.
The residents of this area desperately needed emergency supplies. ADRA’s first phase of relief operations provided 300 tents, food packages, blankets and jerry cans for families in the villages of Mohala Khajgan and Mohala Saddat in Bagh District. Just one of these food packages would feed a family of six for one month. ADRA also distributed medicine boxes. Each box came equipped to treat 1,000 patients for 90 days.
With a surprisingly mild winter for the region, ADRA was able to continue delivering life-saving supplies to the survivors of this devastating earthquake who live in this extremely mountainous, difficult-to-reach territory.
RECONSTRUCTION OF KASHMIR
Today the green mountains of Bagh are dotted with new homes topped with shiny tin roofs. Thanks to ADRA the hard working and proud people of the Kashmir region are building new, stronger and more durable housing.
“We wanted to work together with ADRA,” recalls Basheer, a 37 year-old resident of Mallack. “We needed permanent shelter here on our land.” He says that many families wanted to return to work but didn’t feel safe leaving their families “under the sky.”
The men collected corrugated galvanized iron (CGI) sheets from ADRA and carried them across a river where a bridge had once stood. Joining the procession were young boys who proudly carried the nails, hammers, and saws that made up the more than 4,000 shelter kits distributed by ADRA.
With the help of ADRA trainers the villagers learned how to build stronger foundations for their homes and a frame and roof designed to cause less damage after an earthquake.
BACK TO SCHOOL
Since nearly all structures in the district were leveled that day most of the schools in the region were also destroyed—most with children still inside. After the immediate recovery efforts several large school tents were set up for children to continue their studies with as little disruption as possible.
Many children still carry the emotional scars from seeing friends and teachers killed—some trapped for hours before dying.
Slowly, however, the smiles are starting to return to their faces. Even in the temporary tent schools, life, for some, is returning to normal.
“We love school,” shout the kids at the Mallack temporary school. Many young girls sit bright-eyed at the front of the classroom. The village leaders say that having an education is very important for both boys and girls.
ADRA is currently embarking on the second phase of its response by rebuilding more than 130 classrooms and training new teachers. Psychosocial programs are also being implemented to help the young students deal with the loss of their classmates, teachers, and their fear of another earthquake.
The new buildings will allow the children of Bagh to return to their old routines, to friends, and most importantly, to school.
“Without an education, how can a child go through life?” says Basheer.
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