Balakot updates

Today is our day off, so I went for a bath after five days at the local barber and then for Friday prayers. We crossed a suspended rickety bridge over the river Kunhar and climbed up to the mosque, which was damaged, but not rubble. Even the locals know that it is not a miracle, because it was not constructed by corrupt contractors. The Maulvi was delightful old man and gave examples of Germans who gave him with a tent. He replied with ‘one-two-three’, the only words he knew in English when they said shukriya or thanks. He said that foreigners who are helping are better then locals who hoard supplies. It was refreshing to hear a sermon that did not brand foreigners as heathens. After that I did more assessments in Kot Balah, met a local Pir, and then came down to base camp for distribution where I cheated the system and gave blankets to a widow with two shivering babies. I feel good inside and outside and a bit cheeky. met a local Sheikh and came down to give a tent to a widow with two shivering babies. I feel good inside and outside.

I have been doing Assessments for Sungi. We leave early in the morning and return in the evening. We are working in Hazara division, district Mansera, union council Kawai (not the one in Hawaii). We are covering three major villages, Kawai, Paras and Boonja. So far Boonja is inaccessible as it started raining yesterday. The newly constructed highway from Mansehra to Kaghan is broken up with crevices and landslides; most resulting from deforestation, which has laid the mountains bare, and the result is massive loss of life and livelihood.

Yesterday, a relief worker from a partner organization Thardeep stepped out of our Jeep as he was fearful for his life. These mountain roads are single lane, and the Army has barely cleared a path on top of the landslides. With the rain and the incoming traffic of goats, sheep, ox, Zoe (Balistani cattle) Jeeps filled with refugees and Army vehicles, we occasionally have to back-up alongside a ravine 3000 ft in height and then even the bravest among us panics. Our driver, Lala Manzoor, has lost his house, fractured his leg, lost family members and has a daughter whose elbow is completely fractured. He thinks driving up this road is close to mocking death.

However we made it to Paras, where we found three small base camps, a religious organization, University of Lahore and Muslim medics from Canada. They have limited supplies, and it only makes sense for the population to come down. However, the people are waiting for their crops to be cut (potatoes, corn, peas) also they are afraid to leave their belongings even when they are buried in the rumble. There is also some hesitation because they don’t want to live in Camps. However, the biggest reason is that there are no vehicles that can transport them down, as the incoming winter and bad roads will isolate them for three months. The fares have (rightly so) gone up by 500%, as the roads are dangerous.

The devastation in big cities like Balakot, Ghari Habib Ullah and Muzaffarabad is devastating. However, the worse is in schools and hospitals. I visited Babar Colony in Ghari Habib Ullah, where six hundred schoolgirls perished. We are supposed to start assessment on the city next day. Most of the schools and Hospitals have collapsed, due to faulty construction. The contractors and the government engineers should be lynched in my opinion. In Balakot, a local men showed me the beams in the school where 400 children perished, 'In our house beams collapsed in one piece here the beam is like choora(crackers)'. The Heroes of this are the Jehadi organizations like Harkat ul Mujahadeen, who are still operational in Kashmir. One observer remarked that he himself did not have the guts to rescue his niece from the rumble, but these Jehadis went without fear.

However, the most frustrating thing is the inefficiency of the NGO's and specifically the White Range Rover driven UN relief officers. Our sad little camp is in front of the UN food programs (WFP) massive white warehouse tents. For the last 5 days, we have gone to assess villagers to give them slips for tents, blankets and basic food ration. It is an inefficient operations to start with, we go up mountains to give just give this piece of paper, which is a lifeline, and then they come down from mountains, a full day hike to pick up winterized family tents, 75 kg of rations and blankets and stuff to haul back. Still, that’s the way it is done, so we do it. However, in the last three days, we have distributed tons of supplies, with the help of volunteers from Japan, Belgium and Australia. However, we have not distributed a single pound of food ration because the UN will NOT give us the go. They ask us ridiculous questions, sitting in their air-conditioned vehicles and as thousands stand outside, they ask us for agreements and guarantees. I have personally given assessments of the Union Councils, there are better and professional NGO workers who have attested, and admittedly there is some inefficiency in our system, but nothing is worth watching women and children freezing in the rain, as the UN officer’s lord over their domain. I have been inside their warehouse, it is packed, and they give out to foreign agencies like International Relief. However, while we are trusted with the distribution of woolen blankets and winterized tents (worth thousands of dollars), it is hard to tell people that no flour and sugar is available, as the UN does not TRUST us. If there is one thing I have learned, the UN treats locals just like the British Sahibs, even though not a single dollar or pound of food is their own.

On a positive note, I am working on setting up some tent schools near Balakot. They need 100 person tents, school supplies, uniforms, sanitation and books. I would like to at least set up one school with the money that has been donated to me. Three tents have already been donated by the government, however the expenses for running them come to around $5000. Hopefully, I can set up the seed for some of them in Balakot.

I had an interview with KPFA
http://www.kpfa.org/archives/index.php?arch=11090&page=1&type=

Our organization is
http://sungi.org