Mission Kashmir, a graphic novel

A graphic novel on the relief effort during the 2005 Kashmir earthquake. Intended length is 72 pages. To be published in Urdu, Hindi and English.

Gina Hotta R.I.P

Eulogy for Gina Hotta, KPFA radio producer, activist and pace setter.

I met Gina at the Third I film festival mixer back in 2003. I found her activism to be inspirational and enjoyed her deep knowledge on world music, politics and Asian-American experience. She was as supportive of Film & Arts as she was of crafting stories from visceral experiences. I appeared on her show, Asian Pacific Exchange (APEX) frequently as a commentator on Pakistan's political situation and promoting Third I South Asian Film Festival. In each interview she led with poignant questions while provided deeper context for her audience.

In 2005, we spend some time developing a story on the continued incarceration of U.S.-born 23-year old Hamid Hayat who had allegedly attended a terror-training camp in northeast Pakistan, and his father Umar Hayat. During that time, Gina told me about her own research and family experiences on the Japanese internment during WW II. Her conviction for human rights and social justice were not just personified by her weekly show on APEX but also in her indefatigable passion in giving voice to the Hyphened Asian-American community

She will be dearly missed.

I can't find any archives of her old show, but have a copy of 12/29/2005 show where seh interviewed me about relief work during the 2005 earthquake.

Zalzala Forum

We are having an informational program, at the San Francsico Public library.
To educate people on the cureent relief effort in Pakistan.

Here are the details and the flyer
ZALZALA FORUM
Tuesday March 28th, 2006 6:00 pm
SF Main Library
Latino/Hispanic room
100 larkin Street (at grove)

The Parkas have landed!

Finally. Whew. Thank you for all who helped. It cost a lot of money, but in the end, working with EKTA, FOSA, East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse, St Paul De Vincent Society of Oregon, Alliance Lines, ICS agents, UPM International and finally Sungi Development foundation. Waiting for pictures of warm children wearing REI clothing now :)
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Further to our e-mail below, the container was custom cleared and moved out of the dry port yesterday March 09, delivered to Sungi dev. In Abbotabad early this morning March 10th., empty container has arrived back in Islamabad and delivered to the designated terminal of Hanjin lines.Our job stands complete, for any further assistance pls. feel free tocontact us.

Bay Area Zindabad!

Yes, Bay area South Asian community rocks. The $3200 needed were collected in three days. The money was wired from Ekta account to St Paul De Vincent society and has been wired to the two clearing agents in Pakistan, ICS and UPM. I have faxed and sent orignal bill of Landing, twice. The shipment lands in Karachi on 20th Feburay.

I will keep you all posted on progress. I am hoping to do a little bit of publicity for St Paul De Vincent and Ekta/Fosa in Pakistan. Any volunteers to coorinate this in Karachi or Islamabad. Send me an email.

Final Appeal for Shipment donations

I am in a predicament. the shipment to Karachi gets there on 14th, Feb. The final destination is SUNGI warehouse in Abottabad. However, we need an extra $3200 dollars to deliver it to Abottabad. First leg is KHI - ISLAMABAD DRY port and the other is from ISLAMABAD to ABOTTBAD including custom clearance charges. There is no duty on these items.

I am asking for anyone in the community in to step up to donate to cover these charges. You can wire the money directly to the shipping agencies. It is absolutely a necessity that this gets taken care off immediately. We have had 10 feet of snow in the valley already. Let’s not forget there are three million refugees in the affected areas without permanent shelter.

Charges from KHI – ISLAMABAD ($2006 with $672 refundable)
Hanjin Shipping Line rates to transfer your shipment from KHI -ISL DRY-PORT:
HAULAGE: $-1027
SECUTRITY CHARGES REFUNDABLE $-672
DELIVERY CHGS (including insurance, commodity surcharge, gate pass, thc) $-307
Robinson Sam International Cargo Services (Pvt) Ltd

Charges from ISLAMABAD – ABOTTABAD ($1275)
Charges for clearance 1x40 ft. container ex free arrival Islamabad dry port
Destination services charges including handling at dry port, transport of container from Islamabad to Abbotabad, delivery and return of empty container from Abbotabad to Islamabad Terminal are: USD 875.-
Custom clearance charges are: USD 95/40 ft
Dry Port dues, Crane charges for offloading / reloading / Unloading: USD 275.-
Rates exclude: any delivery charges by the shipping line, dry port storage charges.
Robin David James UPM Intl.

Shipment has left for Pakistan

Arrival date In Karachi is Valentine's day on Feb 14, 2006.

Thanks for all those who donated money and time. The collection was done with the help of
East Bay Depot for creative reuse
St Vincent De Paul Society of Lane Coounty Oregon
KPFA radio station FM 94.1
Rotee Resturant
and freinds and families.

Pictures here

Shipment leaving on Jan 12

CARRIER: HANJIN
VESSEL: HANJIN COLOMBO V-75
CUT-OFF: 01-12-06 OAKLAND
SAILING: 01-16-06 OAKLAND
ARRIVES: 02-14-06 KARACHI
BOOKING#: PHX5C300064
OUR REF#: LE.59112
COMMODITY: RELIEF GOODS
EQUIPMENT: 1X40'STD
LOAD DATE: THURSDAY 1-12

Parkas for Pakistan Shipment

The collection is going on strong. We did inventory and shrink wrapping of items, more are coming in everyday. I have transfered $2100 to St Paul De Vincent society of Oregon. Inshallah we should have the shipment out of oakland by the second week of January on its way to Karachi. Thanks to you all.

The first snows have arrived in Northern Area, everything has grounded to a halt.

The call for parkas and some excerpts from the KPFA radio show are here
http://www.kpfa.org/archives/index.php?arch=11909

Loading help on Dec 27th in oakland

East bay Depot has a container filled with Parkas and Jackets for Pakistan. They need help during the holiday season to unload, inventory and shrink wrap these products and place them on pellets so that they can be shipped to Pakistan. I am working with East bay Depot to do this on TUESDAY DEC 27th at 10:00 am inside the abandoned OAKLAND ARMY BASE
700 Murmansk St
Oakland, CA 94607

Please let me know who can meet me up there. I can also take four people with me from San Fran. Please let me know if you can help or forward this to anyone you can guilt into helping. It would be nice to get 4-6 people working for 3-4 hours

East bay Depot is also sending out a flash appeal for parkas, jackets and blankets. They can be dropped off at their location in Oakland Monday thru Sunday 11:00 am to 6:00 pm

East bay Depot
6713 San Pablo Ave,
Oakland, CA
Major Cross Street: Ashby Phone: (510) 547-6470; (510) 547-6535

Good Old PAF

Something that occurred to me as I am settling into my regular life and I do web analytics instead of need assessments (although MS Excel is one skill that is consistent) . . .

I have been blessed with many friends and relatives who have supported me emotionally and financially on this so called Mission Kashmir (yes, I am hard pressed to give up on my theatrics). These people are spread all over the US and Pakistan. However, only one person volunteered to go into the effected area. He lives in San Francisco and we are acquaintances but not great friends. One thing that we do have in common is that we are Shaheens (Falcons) or alumins of the Pakistan Air Force School System (PAF).

I am not in contact with any school friend from PAF. It is not convent, or a fancy private school, in fact a grade C school especially when compared to elite schools like Karachi Grammer School, Aithison, APS, Habib Public, Beacon House or City School. However, I did not run into any alumnis from these prestigious schools so this serves as an amazing if somewhat narcisstic coincidence. Maybe the PAF propaganda and the Starfighters in the playground did do some good:)

Got a Parka to Spare

Thinking of sponsoring a 40 ft. container of donated goods from Port of Oakland, California next week. This was collected during an Oregon State Football game with the slogan ‘Parkas for Pakistan’ by the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County in Eugene, Oregon and East Bay Depot in Oakland. Both are non-profit social service organizations which have managed to collect a large number of good quality winter coats, jackets, parkas, and blankets. The cost is $2000 which you donations are covering. I am meeting with them to take some pictures so that we can see the quality of this stuff.

However, for all LOCAL BAY AREA people, if you have NEW/USED but CLEAN, RAINPROOF PARKAS, Jackets, gloves, caps for Adults and Children, please let me know and I can figure out a way to pick them up and send them with the shipment.

IT in Emergencies

Interesting article on IT in emergency situations, ‘IT under the gun’
Lesson learned from Beesian base camp near Balakot.

1. Laptops, Excel and USB drives rock (Don’t leave home without it)
2. Cell Phone based internet connections would be a great solution. Here is a company, Smith Micro that offers a kit to make that work for under < $50
3. Google Map requires a 3-d graphic and does not run on 28.8 dialup connections
4. Printers and floppy disks are unnecessarily finicky
5. Desktop computers don’t work with diesel generators (need 3 Phase AC supply)
   

Ask Jeeves Blog

My blog is featured on Ask jeeves official blog. So much for shameless self promotion :)

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pit in Quake Zone

Visiting Ghari Habib Ullah, dammit, I missed her :(

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10199415/

Donations for over $25000

I wanted to thank all the people (friends, family and strangers) who donated money to the relief effort and trusted me with distributing this money. In all, I have collected $5270. This includes $1000 personal donation, as well as four big anonymous donations of $1000, $662, $500 and $500. The rest of the $1400 ranges from $20 - $100.

Of this amount, I have distributed $2500 to needy families and relief supplies. The rest which equals $2770 (166,200 Rupees) is going to be donated to Sungi Development Foundation for work in Balakot and Battagram area. This is the organization that I spent 16 days working with and I believe them to be one of the best implementation partner in the disaster area. They are currently working with UN World Food program, Oxfam and Save the Children as well.

Another piece of good news is that EKTA & FOSA (Organizations for promoting peace on South Asia) had a fund raiser on November 19th, 2005. In that fund raiser they collected nearly $50,000 of which $20,000 (1.2 million rupees) and we are currently in negotiations to donate that to Sungi as well. I would include the $2770 in those programs. We are currently meeting with their Executive Director Ms. Samina Khan in looking for project specific proposal and monitoring efforts.

I will keep all of you updated on the progress of the distribution and its implementation. Further donations can be made at

SUNGI Development Foundation,
Dollar Account No. 412-2 Branch Code 0585
MCB Star Branch, Abbottabad, Swift Code: MUCBPKKA

Pictures from Muzzafarabad

Pictures from Muzzafarabad.

Pictures from Balakot

Here are some pictures from Balakot. They are taken by either me or my friend Jawad Ali.

New York Humanitarism

From a friend

There are 13 NYC paramedics that have been up in Kashmir for a couple weeks. They came with no backing, no organizational support, and absolutely no connection to Pakistan. They are New Yorkers. They work as EMTs, for St. Vincent's hospital. They were stationed near other relief orgs, but they were not satisfied, knowing that up the mountains, passed the broken roads and devastation, there were people that no one had reached. So they packed up the mules and headed up to Chinari, then to Kitai. They passed a sign 50 years old that forbade foreigners. They were the first to arrive. Their names are Steve, Ruben, Joe, Nick, Chris. When the 60 minutes guy was asking questions while they were trying to revive an 18 month old little boy nearly comatose from pneumonia, they said, "shut the fuck up and hold this fucking IV." (They're still New Yorkers.) I know that 13 Americans doesn't begin to make up for America, but I wanted to let you know...there are good people from here, even in the belly of the beast, the city that cried foul about 911, choking on their own fear and racism, that are now trying with what they have in Kashmir, amongst angels and/or jehadis.

Debunking the myths

At this time, the relief efforts are going well. The World community and the UN have promised 5.9 billion dollars in aids, of which 4 billion is in soft loans. One can criticize the government till the cows come home, but no one in Pakistan has enough PR to gather such a large amount of money. I think Musharaf has done a tremendous job. Even as winter rolls in, the relief efforts are working their way to the mountaintops and Inshallah if the government buffoonery does not F it up, we should have a sustainable rehabilitation effort.

The October 8th earthquake was the result of seismic activity that has been identified by geologists for years. It is the result of tectonic plates that never quite stabilized since the time when the Indian subcontinent crashed into the Asian landmass, creating the Himalayas and Karakorum mountain ranges as a result. The actual earthquake that stuck at 8:52 Pakistan time lasted for 33 seconds was the result of seismic activity 2km deep. The epicenter north of Muzzafarabad has created a diagonal death of destruction starting from Batagram in the Northwest and then continuing southeast to Balakot, Muzzafarabad and Bagh. The after shocks that are still happening are a natural consequence and vouch for the fact that this is indeed an earthquake not a secret nuclear explosion by India/Pakistan/US (another conspiracy myth).

However, aside from the basic needs of food, shelter, health and education, there is a psychological need that has to be addressed. Currently, that is being addressed solely in the spiritual aspects by religious sermons. This has spawned myths about why and how did the earthquake struck this region. Some of those are,
1. We are sinners so Allah should us His might
2. Kashmir was out of control, alcohol drinking during Ramzan, prostitution in Neelam and Sangham hotel in Muzzafarabad
3. Usury has made the people weak in their faith.

Logically, these need little explanation. From my experience in Balakot and in Muzaafarabad region, I can only say that these people are deeply religious. All women observe purdah, Allah is often invoked, most perform prayers, and as for alcohol and prostitution surely Allah would have struck down Karachi, Lahore and Dubai way before Muzzafarabad. However, these have resulted in a self-hatred and most of these people have turned their anger and frustration towards the government and their own community. This is unfortunate to say the least. The real reasons for the enormous damage that has been caused by this earthquake are dutifully ignored by the nation and the media.

The facts that need investigation and journalistic lynch mobbing are in my opinion,

1. No liable civil defense plan for the nation. Our elders mention the 1965 war, as the last time there was a civil emergency plan, but now nothing like that exists. It is embarrassing to see relief workers from all over the world roughing it up, while our educated elites are scared to send their ladlas to the quake zone. One important part of rebuilding is community-based organizations that come into action in times of disaster.

2. Non-existent building codes and corrupt government inspectors that have resulted in every government funded building becoming a pile of rubble. Most of these were primary and secondary schools or hospitals. All the contractors and building engineers should be tried and be made an example of. This is where the anger should be directed.

3. Landslides have wiped out entire villages due to severe deforestation. This is more prevalent in the Balakot area then in Kashmir. An environment policy that promotes trees needs to be practices. Most locals understand that trees hold the soil together and somewhat decrease the destruction through landslides.

In the end, it is important for the people to realize that an earthquake is a natural phenomenon that happens all over the world. I have cited examples of quakes in Gujrat , Bam and Turkey. This has nothing to do with our sins. Some have cited illogical justifications for the earthquake. At least these spread a positive vibe. One of them is that earthquakes are nature’s way of cleaning the atmosphere by restoring the air quality and absorbing our toxics. Lastly, one grand gentleman dreamed that the earthquake has unearthed mines of emeralds and diamonds thus enriching the nation with billion dollars worth of precious gems. In some way it my hope too that the diamonds of his dreams are a metaphor and the nation has truly unearthed within itself a sense of humanitarianism.