Boundless Meanderings

Came across this blog today on the 1st anniversary of the deadly earthquake in Pakistan.   It is a wonderful documentary produced by Nasir Aziz, from Seattle, WA after the October 8, 2005 Earthquake in Pakistan.  It is the story of how a group of concerned Americans and Pakistanis living abroad made a world of difference in the lives of close to 700 families in a village left in ruins. 

It is moving, inspiring and selfless.  It reminds us again, how one person or a group of individuals committed to a cause, can radically change the lives of so many other human beings in such a profound way.  

You can view the 26 minute film here or on a larger screen on Google VDO, here. 

How irreversibly the lives of millions changed on this morning one year ago in the Northern Areas of Pakistan (and parts of India) after the 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit the livlihoods of those living in these most heavenly mountain ranges and valleys.  According to UNICEF, over 16,000 children died in schools on that fateful day, as they were crushed by the faultily constructed roofs of their 2, 3, 4 storey cement school buildings. (Estimates say, in total, almost 35,000 children died). The death toll total was over 80,000 (in Pakistan, and about 1,500 in India) and close to 200,000 succumbed to their injuries (according to ReliefWeb/UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)).  About 11,000 children were left orphaned.  Several thousands more lost their limbs or the ability to walk or move again.  Close to 3.5 million became homeless and without proper shelter.  Government estimates say some 600,000 houses, 6,298 schools and 796 health facilities were demolished, about 6,440 km of roads damaged and 50-70 per cent of water supply, sanitation, telecom and power infrastructure made non-operational.  Then winter came and the suffering and urgency to help the second round of victims continued.  With the passing of time, spring came and snows melted.  Some roads were made passable again.  Some were lucky to move to ‘temporary’ tin roof shelters vs. the damp, frigid tents where millions slept each night, barely making it through the relentless snows.  Many dead were finally given a proper burial in the earth, in exchange for the concrete graves they had been left in during the winter months, before heavy machinery could remove all the boulders and bricks from over them. 

The world gave again - well, as much as their pockets allowed them to, after a year of giving had ensued, beginning first with the Tsunami of December 26, 2004, and later with Hurricane Katrina.  And Pakistani’s in Pakistan and abroad gave – in kind, in currency and in humanity by either volunteering, providing medical assistance, moving supplies to the hard hit areas or building temorary shelters.  It was an unprecedented response to the tragedy. There were fund raisers, volunteer organizations, international vigils, media campaigns, letters to wealthy corporations, & emails to NATO and US government officials to appeal for more aid, helicopters, media attention.  Still, now, in retrospect, it did not seem to be enough.  Yesterday’s stories of heroism, activism and humanity, now a year later, seem to be filled with stories of neglect, unfulfilled promises and despair.  People were still without basic dry/winterized shelters, food and proper medical facilities months after the earthquake.  A year later, an estimated 1.8 million people are still displaced and not yet permanently rehabilitated.  

There were over 2ooo aftershocks since the earthquake struck, and the harsh winter was followed by monsoons.  While the traumatized survived aftershocks, flu, pneumonia and worse, the monsoons wreaked even more havoc.   Massive landslides and torrential floods swept away whole sides of mountains – those villages or homes which may have survived the destruction from the earthquake now were permanently gone after the monsoons – thanks to the timber mafia which have systematically deforested much of the spectacular Kaghan Valley mountains.

According to various estimates, there are at least 35,000 to 40,000 people still living in tents/camps, and who will face another uncertain, cold and unprotected harsh winter.  While organizations like Refugees International, and various UN entities continue their work alongside many local NGOs like Sungi, Rural Support Programmes, etc. are still working towards aiding the displaced victims of the October 2005 earthquake, much of the international donations have yet to be realized and the government entity (ERRA) has yet to fully deliver to the people. 

The ruined city of Balakot is still under rubble for the most part, as the city has been virutally left untouched by any reconstruction efforts, as it is felt that it’s precarious location on a dangerous fault line could possibly be the site of yet another powerful quake years from now.  The government wants to move the city to another location 20km south, to a town called Bakryal.  Estimates say that not even 1 in every 2 inhabitants of Balakot survived the earthquake, as it was situated at the epicenter.   People here are still living in tents and gearing up for another fierce winter, as their city has not been rehabilitated.  The frustration is rampant (from The News):

However, the earthquake victims, by and large, are deeply frustrated at the slow pace of work by government departments and by their indifference towards the plight of the common man.

“We are being told time and again that houses made of fibre glass will be imported from Saudi Arabia but we don’t know when the promise will be translated into a reality,” said Mohammad Khalid Khan, a teacher at a tent school in Balakot.

“Most of the children have come out of trauma but now the question is how to survive against the odds, especially when the winter is fast approaching,” he said. “The relief phase was good but the reconstruction phase is moving at a snail’s pace,” he said.

  Read the rest of this entry »