Concern rises over lack of tents for Asia quake survivors
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Photo by Marianne Preus Jacobsen, NCA-ACT A woman waits while her husband tries to get transportation out of Balakot, a village devastated by the quake.
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A
woman waits while her husband tries to get transportation out of
Balakot, a Pakistani village devastated by the quake. The Oct. 8
earthquake was centered in the Pakistani-controlled part of Kashmir, and
it caused death and destruction in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. A
UMNS photo by Marianne Preus Jacobsen, NCA-ACT. Photo #05-703.
Accompanies UMNS story #591. 10/20/05 |
Oct. 20, 2005
UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*
Relief workers trying
to assist survivors of the South Asia earthquake are racing against time
and the approach of a harsh winter.
New estimates by
regional officials of the death toll from the Oct. 8 earthquake had
jumped to at least 79,000 by Oct. 19, according to the Associated Press.
But the real concern is for the survivors, according to Marvin Parvez,
director of Church World Service Pakistan/Afghanistan.
“With the 2 to 3
million affected and homeless, the government and U.N. estimates that
the affected families need over 600,000 shelter kits or tents,” he told
United Methodist News Service.
“Currently, we have a
little over 100,000 available in the supply chain, so you can see we
have a huge gap between demand and supply here.”
In an Oct. 18 New York Times
article, Andrew Macleod, the United Nations’ operations chief in
Pakistan, said the problem was not the response from aid organizations
but the size of the task. He added that “we need more winterized tents
than exist in the world today.”
Parvez pointed out that
in many of the regions affected by the earthquake, there was a window
of only 15 to 20 days from Oct. 19 before winter sets in, “and this will
increase the vulnerability of the children and the elderly.”
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Photo by Marianne Preus Jacobsen, NCA-ACT Waiting for food: Two boys are eager to see what they will receive today.
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Waiting
for food: Two Pakistani boys in Balakot are eager to see what they will
receive today. The Oct. 8 earthquake was centered in the
Pakistani-controlled part of Kashmir, and it caused death and
destruction in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. A UMNS photo by Marianne
Preus Jacobsen, NCA-ACT. Photo #05-704. Accompanies UMNS story #591.
10/20/05 |
The United Methodist
Committee on Relief is working with CWS Pakistan/Afghanistan and the
International Blue Crescent to respond to the earthquake.
UMCOR’s parent agency,
the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, also is part of the
Church of Pakistan’s Mission Partners Forum. The Church of Pakistan —
the largest Protestant Church in Pakistan — is a union of the Methodist,
Anglican, Lutheran and Presbyterian (Scottish) churches.
The earthquake was
centered about 60 miles north of Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, and
its impact was felt as far east as New Delhi, India, and as far west as
Kabul, Afghanistan. Devastation occurred in northern Pakistan and in
both the Pakistani-controlled and Indian-controlled sections of Kashmir.
CWS relief efforts are
being organized through its Pakistan offices in Karachi, Islamabad,
Mansehra and Murree. The agency also is part of the Pak-Humanitarian
Forum, a collaboration of international humanitarian and emergency
response agencies in Pakistan. Members of the forum are going out in
teams to assess needs.
On Oct. 13, CWS
air-dropped shelter kits from army helicopters to some of the most
affected but hard-to-reach areas in Battagram, including 365 kits in
Allai. But such deliveries were stalled Oct. 14-15 because of security
concerns and poor weather.
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Photo by Marianne Preus Jacobsen, NCA-ACT The quake left this young Pakistani, who lives in Balakot, nothing but two bags with food and clothes.
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The
quake left this young Pakistani, who lives in Balakot, nothing but two
bags with food and clothes. The Oct. 8 earthquake was centered in the
Pakistani-controlled part of Kashmir, and it caused death and
destruction in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. A UMNS photo by Marianne
Preus Jacobsen, NCA-ACT. Photo #05-705. Accompanies UMNS story #591,
10/20/05, and #628, 11/8/05
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CWS also has provided
emergency food to families and will provide medical assistance to
100,000 people impacted by the quake — half in Azad Kashmir and half in
the Northwest Frontier Province — through two health centers. According
to Parvez, the health centers will provide immunization and first aid.
The aid will focus on women, children and vulnerable families without
food and shelter.
Church World Service’s
office and health clinic in Mansehra were damaged by the quake but the
clinic is now cleared, open and serving survivors needing medical care.
While truckloads of
supplies continue to arrive in the town of 35,000 — where nearly all the
houses were destroyed — the effort “is just a drop in ocean,” Parvez
said.
He is concerned about
reaching the more remote locations. The United Nations has estimated
that only 30 to 40 percent of some 350 to 900 villages damaged by the
earthquake have been inspected
“All of us have to move
very fast to make sure that we don’t have more casualties,” he
explained. “Besides this, if we can’t get aid out to the mountain
villages, we will also see large numbers of people moving to displaced
camps and public buildings down in the plains.”
Complicating efforts
are the more than 500 aftershocks that have occurred since the
earthquake, along with rain, hail and even snow in some areas, he noted.
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Photo by Marianne Preus Jacobsen, NCA-ACT The
inhabitants of Balakot have received assistance, but it is not the type
of help they need. Tons of clothing cover the rubble in their town.
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The
inhabitants of Balakot have received assistance, but it is not the type
of help they need. Tons of clothing cover the rubble in the Pakistani
town. The Oct. 8 earthquake was centered in the Pakistani-controlled
part of Kashmir, and it caused death and destruction in Pakistan, India
and Afghanistan. A UMNS photo by Marianne Preus Jacobsen, NCA-ACT. Photo
#05-706. Accompanies UMNS story #591. 10/20/05 |
Parvez, who is of Methodist background, conveyed his “sincere thanks to fellow Methodists for all the support and cooperation.”
Kristin Sachen, UMCOR’s
international disaster coordinator, reported that funds in the agency’s
international disaster account are low and inadequate to respond to the
crucial needs in Pakistan. “We’re really hoping that people will
remember it in their Thanksgiving and Christmas offerings,” she added.
UMCOR cannot
participate directly in rescue and recovery efforts in Pakistan but will
continue to respond financially through Church World Service and other
partner agencies, she said.
Another such partner is
the Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action in India. CASA will target
10,000 of the most affected families in Kashmir and assist with winter
clothing, utensils, blankets and tents, tarpaulins and tin sheets for
temporary shelters.
“The heaviest burdens imposed by the
earthquake have been on the womenfolk who have to look after the welfare
of the entire family in an abnormal and adverse situation,” CASA
reported.
Donations to the United Methodist relief
effort can be marked for “UMCOR Advance #232000, Pakistan Earthquake,”
and placed in church offering plates or sent to UMCOR, P.O. Box 9068,
New York, N.Y. 10087-9068. Contributions also can be made by phone at
(800) 554-8583. If funds are intended for recovery in a specific region,
that should be noted. More information is available at http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/emergency/earthquake/index.stm.
*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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