Dear Friends,
Many on this list have contributed very generously to the Foundation's
efforts and will surely want to know from time to time where things
stand. So here is another update on the earthquake situation, and
of the relief
work undertaken by the Eqbal Ahmad Foundation with the help of faculty
and students of the physics department at Quaid-e-Azam University,
Islamabad, as well as several others.
As bitter cold sets into the mountains, we have had to make a
tactical shift of goals. We had initially thought of reconstructing
100 houses but this looks difficult. Nor does it seem the most important
thing to do now. There are 2 strong reasons compelling us to think
afresh. First, at current temperatures, cement does not set well
(or at all) and even if we could buy enough cement blocks and other
materials, they could not be used until April except at low altitudes.
For all the talk we hear about pre-fabricated houses, we were unable
to see any in the areas we have gone to and so that too is a dead
end. Second, the most urgent thing now is to protect the maximum
number of people from snow, rain, and biting cold winds.
We have become a little more ambitious than before and are spreading
the net wider. Thanks to a massive international effort, we see
that everyone now has a tent and also that thousands more are on
the way. But even the best winterized tents (and most are not) will
be hopelessly inadequate as winter progresses. This demands that
our efforts should be concentrated on building primitive temporary
shelters constructed from corrugated metal sheets that are screwed
or nailed on to a wooden frame. These metal sheets, as well as the
wood, will be reusable in the spring (without loss of materials)
for construction of permanent houses. Some people have
started living within tents placed within our shelters to protect
them against the elements. Each shelter costs about $300 (minus
wood) and we hope to set up several hundred shelters with the money
currently at our disposal. Typically these shelters house 6-8 people
of a family.
Various members of our team have chosen different earthquake zones
as their principal responsibility. They have made separate visits.
Abdul Hameed Nayyar, Hajra Ahmad, and I returned yesterday after
a 2-day visit to Chikar, Bagh, and Rawalakot. Working through reliable
local groups and individuals is fundamental to our efforts, but
proper selection and such monitoring visits are crucial for ensuring
that the most deserving get the materials we have obtained for them.
Also, prevent pilferage of resources is an important consideration.
This was Dr. Nayyar's third visit to these areas. His detailed report
is appended below.
I would like to share some additional observations with you and
elicit your response to item 2 below:
1) Two months later, the visible devastation has diminished but
only slightly. Thousands of collapsed structures and buildings lie
abandoned, and rubble has been cleared only in a few places. One
does not see large
scale reconstruction anywhere. But life is limping back towards
a kind of normalcy. Aftershocks are becoming weaker but people are
still too frightened to sleep indoors even where walls are still
standing. This will surely change as the chill becomes yet more
bitter.
2) A few schools have reopened but classes are held outdoors because
the buildings are unsafe with leaning walls and deep cracks. According
to the government 16,000 schools were destroyed or badly damaged.
We were impressed to see that many schools in Kashmir are coeducational
even up to the matriculation level, and standards appear quite a
bit better than in Punjab. Question: should EAF use part of your
donated money for reconstruction of school buildings? Please let
me know how you feel about this. It IS important.
3) For the jihadist organizations the earthquake has been a godsend.
Those that were formally banned by the Pakistan government are fully
operative and highly visible in all earthquake zones, both Kashmir
and NWFP. In open bazars and town centres one sees the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba
(aka Jamat-ud-Dawa), Jamat-e-Islami, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Sipah-e-Sahaba,
Al Rasheed Trust, and others. They flaunt their flags and weapons,
and drive
in SUVs and vehicles, presumably given to them by the Pakistan army
and intelligence agencies. These organizations have a new claim
on legitimacy, and will surely find it easier to find more recruits
because
they acted promptly and efficiently. But surprisingly, Kashmiri
nationalists, who are remarkably secular, have also done well in
earthquake relief efforts and are gaining back some of the ground
that they had lost to Islamic parties and organizations. The nationalists
are not fond of Pakistan. We were amused to hear conversations between
themselves where they would refer to us as "visitors from Pakistan".
Islamabad is barely 30 miles away (as the crow flies) from Kashmir.
4) People have mixed feelings about the army's efforts, which
are immensely better now than in the week after Oct 8. In some places
the army is having a rough time. It has taken upon itself the task
of reconstruction, but is finding out the hard way that this really
needs a civilian infrastructure. Disaster relief and management
are complex tasks and easily messed up. We were told that near Rawalakot
a crowd of 15,000 stormily protested against the arbitrary manner
in which the criterion for receiving relief money ($400 per household)
had been changed, and against alleged irregularities. The earthquake
has exposed Azad Kashmir's government as no more than cardboard
puppets to be set aside, or manipulated at will, by the military
rulers of Pakistan. The AJK
government has had no role to play in the earthquake disaster management.
Things are moving, and fortunately the grim predictions of mass
deaths seem wrong. Thanks again, and with best regards.
Pervez
---------------
Pervez Hoodbhoy
Professor of Physics
Quaid-e-Azam University
Islamabad 45320, Pakistan.
Phone (R): 92-51-2824257
Phone (O): 92-51-2829914
ABDUL HAMEED NAYYAR'S REPORT
Pervez Hoodbhoy, Hajra Ahmad and I visited Kashmir with Mr. Arif
Shahid on Sunday and Monday (4, 5 December 2005). We went to Muzaffarabad,
Chikar, Bagh and Rawlakot. The purpose was to monitor progress of
the work on temporary shelters (supported by the Eqbal Ahmad Foundation
and SDPI) and
to take a measure of additional demand. The work is being undertaken
in 3 areas: Chikar, Bagh and Rawlakot. From Muzaffarabad, Prof.
Khaleeque also joined us to Bagh.
Chikar: Except for the last consignment of sheets for 14 shelters
that left Rawalpindi on Monday, 5th December, all the sheets that
were sent there for 40 shelters had been distributed. We visited
two shelters that were being lived in, some which were ready or
almost ready, and others for which wooden frame had been erected.
Because the shelters were given to widely dispersed locations, it
was not physically possible to check each
of them. The local organizers said they needed to cater to a larger
demand, and we promised to supply sheets for 50 additional shelters.
Some people had enough wooden planks to use in making shelter
walls and hence used the donated sheets for roof only, making larger
shelters. Some had placed the sheets in inverted V shape on top
of the tents they had
received. This was another good solution, except that it would not
allow lighting fire for heat.
Insulation of shelters was a problem. When we suggested putting
up hay stacks on the outside, a valid objection was that it would
easily catch fire and destroy the entire structure. We are presently
working on a new
scheme in which we would supply iron wire nets to be fixed to the
CGI sheets on outside walls and plastered with mud. The nets should
be able to hold the plaster. We are going to test it here, and check
the cost of iron nets before committing to this solution. The nets
would be reusable later for making chicken coops when the dwellers
get down to making permanent houses after the winter.
In Chikar, we also met army officers. They told us that they were
also following our prescription by distributing sheets to build
shelters on our design. In fact, at places we needed to ask if the
shelter was a part of
the EAF/SDPI program or donated by the army.
Bagh: We could not visit any site because we reached there after
dark. Bagh is next to a river bed, but the places we have chosen
for relief shelters are high up on the mountains around it. The
roads up are very bad
and it would take a whole day to check the sites. Besides, the team
there had distributed the sheets late, and according to them, no
shelters were ready by then. Cutting wood for frames is a major
problem, mobile cutters
being in high demand. They had received 823 sheets and had distributed
473 to 32 households. With the remaining, they were hoping to get
52 shelters completed within a week. We had a meeting with a few
young members of the team, to whom Mr. Arif Shahid described his
successful experience in Rawlakot of issuing sheets to only those
who had completed the wooden frames. This area also needs many more
shelters. They had a list of 16 villages that needed at least 50
shelters each. We promised to supply for another 50 shelters.
We also discussed the possibility of supporting destroyed private
schools for reopening with a view to not only putting children back
into schools but also providing employment to teachers who were
presently out of job.
Rawlakot: We stayed overnight in Rawlakot and had the taste of
the severe cold. It has not snowed yet in the town or up in the
places we are providing shelters to, but it was biting cold.
In the morning we visited far off places like Chak Bazar, Khai
Gala, Ali Sojal and Khorhi Channa, and saw a number of shelters
made or under construction. In one place in particular we saw shelters
being made from
our help by a community of Christian sweepers who had faced discrimination
even in relief, we were told. Many frames were waiting for sawing
machines. The list of further need is very large here too. We were
told
that more people had erected frames in anticipation of sheets than
those on the initial lists. Twenty nine additional ready frames
were waiting for sheets in this area. Here also we promised to send
sheets for another 50
shelters. The local organizers are preparing lists of many more
needy households.
We hope to send off 3600 sheets for 150 shelters in each of the
three locations in a week or so. We have already sent material for
132 shelters. If our insulation idea works, we will also send wire
nets with detailed
instructions.
