Church agencies help rebuilding one year after Pakistan quake

-10/10/06

In the year si


Church agencies help rebuilding one year after Pakistan quake

-10/10/06

In the year since the Pakistan earthquake Christian Aid in partnership with Islamic Relief and Church World Service (CWS) has helped tens of thousands of people rebuild their lives.

Almost £3 million has been spent on shelter, water, food, clothing and counselling for people whose lives were devastated by the October 8 earthquake which killed 75,000 people and left more than three million homeless.

The money was raised through Christian Aidís own appeal, the Disasters Emergency Committee Asia Quake Appeal and from the Department for International Development.

More than £2 million has gone to CWS, which has focussed on providing relief supplies, shelter, clean water, getting female doctors to rural areas and sending grief counsellors to remote communities.

CWS counsellors helped Gull Nasia, 36, who lost her husband and son in the earthquake. It took her two months to recover her sonís body from under the rubble of her house.

Gull was traumatised but had to cope with looking after her two remaining sons with no home and no source of income.

ìI can now imagine building a new life for myself and my sons,î she says after help from a CWS counsellor.

Christian Aid gave over £500,000 to Islamic Relief, which spent most of the money on building transitional shelters, with the rest going on household items, food, blankets and clothes. Islamic Relief has worked in Pakistan-administered Kashmir since the early 1990s and has built up good contacts with the community.

Additionally in Indian Kashmir, where 1,500 were killed and 3,000 left homeless, £250,000 went to three partners, including SEEDS which built earthquake-houses that were praised by the Indian government as a model of rebuilding.

More grants are in the process of being made in both Pakistan and India to continue the process of rehabilitation, which could take several years.

There have been particular challenges to reconstruction in Pakistan, such as heavy monsoon rains which have caused flooding and landslides, the remote locations of villages with no road access, the mountainous terrain and rises in costs of building materials and labour.

The Pakistan government has not allowed aid agencies to build permanent homes. Instead it is giving grants of 175,000 rupees (£1,500) to each affected family in three instalments, with each instalment dependent on inspectors confirming the houses are being built to earthquake-resistant standards.

This has meant around only 17 per cent of people have started building, according to the government. It is estimated that 400,000 houses are needed.

However construction will have to be halted during the harsh winter weather, which could also force people from remote communities high in the mountains to come down to the cities increasing the number of people living in tents.

Some 30,000 vulnerable people are still living in tents as they have no way of leaving the camps, but most survivors are living in transitional shelters made of wood and corrugated iron sheets.

Brian Martin, Christian Aidís Pakistan Programme Manager, said: ìChristian Aid and its partners in Pakistan were aware that the process of rebuilding permanent homes could take several years, so we made sure that the transitional shelters were sturdy and had sufficient insulation for the coming winter.î

Another problem was a huge lack of skilled builders, so CWS decided to train people who were living in relief camps in construction to help them rebuild their houses and give them new job skills. So far 300 people have been trained as electricians, masons and plumbers.

[Also on Ekklesia: Church agency highlights suffering of Pakistan earthquake victims 05/10/06; Archbishop of Canterbury to visit quake-hit Pakistan; Pakistan still faces massive post-quake challenge; Quake-hit Pakistan desperate for food, heat, shelter and helicopters; Christian peer calls for Iraq helicopters to aid quake zone; Faith groups respond rapidly to South Asia quake tragedy; Pope calls for massive aid to Pakistan, India and Afghanistan; US Episcopalians aid victims in Pakistan, India and Central America; Pakistan post-quake situation grim, says Church World Service; Pakistan quake survivors struggle in winter conditions; Kashmir quake aid crosses communal and belief boundaries]


Church agencies help rebuilding one year after Pakistan quake

-10/10/06

In the year since the Pakistan earthquake Christian Aid in partnership with Islamic Relief and Church World Service (CWS) has helped tens of thousands of people rebuild their lives.

Almost £3 million has been spent on shelter, water, food, clothing and counselling for people whose lives were devastated by the October 8 earthquake which killed 75,000 people and left more than three million homeless.

The money was raised through Christian Aidís own appeal, the Disasters Emergency Committee Asia Quake Appeal and from the Department for International Development.

More than £2 million has gone to CWS, which has focussed on providing relief supplies, shelter, clean water, getting female doctors to rural areas and sending grief counsellors to remote communities.

CWS counsellors helped Gull Nasia, 36, who lost her husband and son in the earthquake. It took her two months to recover her sonís body from under the rubble of her house.

Gull was traumatised but had to cope with looking after her two remaining sons with no home and no source of income.

ìI can now imagine building a new life for myself and my sons,î she says after help from a CWS counsellor.

Christian Aid gave over £500,000 to Islamic Relief, which spent most of the money on building transitional shelters, with the rest going on household items, food, blankets and clothes. Islamic Relief has worked in Pakistan-administered Kashmir since the early 1990s and has built up good contacts with the community.

Additionally in Indian Kashmir, where 1,500 were killed and 3,000 left homeless, £250,000 went to three partners, including SEEDS which built earthquake-houses that were praised by the Indian government as a model of rebuilding.

More grants are in the process of being made in both Pakistan and India to continue the process of rehabilitation, which could take several years.

There have been particular challenges to reconstruction in Pakistan, such as heavy monsoon rains which have caused flooding and landslides, the remote locations of villages with no road access, the mountainous terrain and rises in costs of building materials and labour.

The Pakistan government has not allowed aid agencies to build permanent homes. Instead it is giving grants of 175,000 rupees (£1,500) to each affected family in three instalments, with each instalment dependent on inspectors confirming the houses are being built to earthquake-resistant standards.

This has meant around only 17 per cent of people have started building, according to the government. It is estimated that 400,000 houses are needed.

However construction will have to be halted during the harsh winter weather, which could also force people from remote communities high in the mountains to come down to the cities increasing the number of people living in tents.

Some 30,000 vulnerable people are still living in tents as they have no way of leaving the camps, but most survivors are living in transitional shelters made of wood and corrugated iron sheets.

Brian Martin, Christian Aidís Pakistan Programme Manager, said: ìChristian Aid and its partners in Pakistan were aware that the process of rebuilding permanent homes could take several years, so we made sure that the transitional shelters were sturdy and had sufficient insulation for the coming winter.î

Another problem was a huge lack of skilled builders, so CWS decided to train people who were living in relief camps in construction to help them rebuild their houses and give them new job skills. So far 300 people have been trained as electricians, masons and plumbers.

[Also on Ekklesia: Church agency highlights suffering of Pakistan earthquake victims 05/10/06; Archbishop of Canterbury to visit quake-hit Pakistan; Pakistan still faces massive post-quake challenge; Quake-hit Pakistan desperate for food, heat, shelter and helicopters; Christian peer calls for Iraq helicopters to aid quake zone; Faith groups respond rapidly to South Asia quake tragedy; Pope calls for massive aid to Pakistan, India and Afghanistan; US Episcopalians aid victims in Pakistan, India and Central America; Pakistan post-quake situation grim, says Church World Service; Pakistan quake survivors struggle in winter conditions; Kashmir quake aid crosses communal and belief boundaries]