Fear stronger than cold in Pakistan
On the night of the tragedy, quake survivors watched a building collapse on those who had sought shelter within. Now all sleep in the open, even if it is winter time. A Catholic worker in the area describes the current situation and needs to AsiaNews.
Islamabad (AsiaNews) The most urgent need in Pakistan right now is for tents. Winter is fast approaching and people are no longer making use of buildings left intact by the quake because on the night of 8 October, one such building collapsed and killed all those who had sought shelter there.
This is what Jack Norman of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) told AsiaNews; Norman is currently in Islamabad, however he shuttles back and forth between the city and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where he takes "only tents and warm clothes". CRS is an international humanitarian organisation at work in 99 countries worldwide: it has been working in Pakistan for some 50 years now and in India for more than 60.
Norman said: "On the day of the earthquake, people were in the streets, trying to recover from shock and fear. In the evening it started to rain, there was a very strong storm, and many people crowded inside a building which was still standing, to sleep there. During the night, a tremor measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale caused the walls to collapse: all the people inside were killed. The news went round among survivors and no one wants to go inside intact buildings anymore. People are cold but all the same they are sleeping in tents because the tremors continue. Last night, we had another measuring 5.3. Everything is shaking here."
The CRS has adapted to the situation and has converted all goods acquired into tents. "Now we are taking only tents," said Norman. "So far we have distributed around 30,000. There are between eight to 10 people in every tent however there is much to be done, seeing how many people have been left homeless."
Aid distribution and relief work is undertaken "in close collaboration with Caritas Internationalis and the national branch, and also with Islamic Relief and the Red Crescent Society, our first interlocutors here as regards aid and knowledge of the place. We have identified as crucial the search for common funds and avoiding any kind of waste. There are no differences in our faith when it comes to saving lives." The joint collection of funds is "proceeding" from this perspective. "So far, as CRS, we have received and invested around 500,000 dollars donated by private entities but we hope to reach five million."
Travel connections present another big problem: non-governmental relief workers are trying to use all the roads albeit at the risk of landslides. Says Norman: "Helicopters are useful to reach the mountains, but they carry small loads and often they cannot land. Besides, local people are afraid of them because they have only ever seen armed men descending from the skies. So we are trying to use the roads available."
The longer-term concern of the CRS is about the "education system". "Here people have seen children dying in schools and women in their homes," continued Norman. "They do not want to hear any talk about such things now. They do not want to send their children to school ever again, or even to set foot inside houses.
"Once the initial emergency has been surmounted, we must pay attention so as not to allow people to fall into the abyss of dependency; we must restore their hope and means to start to live life again by themselves."
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