October 20, 2005

NEW YORK / ISLAMABAD – In Pakistan, quake-hit areas face a second wave of deaths, with thousands of injured people who remain untreated in the most remote mountain villages as winter closes in fast, reports humanitarian agency Church World Service. Temperatures have already dropped to the low 40s in Balakot, and snow has fallen on nearby mountains. With bad weather conditions hampering relief activities and the inaccessibility of roads to many areas, relief workers are distributing some relief supplies and medical care on foot. With a shortage of helicopters, the only practical way to reach dozens of affected villages nestled in the mountains of northwestern Pakistan is to walk in, using donkeys, mules, and horses for the delivery of relief items.

[The Karakorum Highway has slid deep into the Kunhar River at various points, while at others massive debris sits blocking the path. A key road into the quake-devastated Jhelum valley in Azad Kashmir was reopened by army bulldozers on Monday (Oct 17), allowing a flood of relief aid into areas previously only reached by helicopter.]

Church World Service's latest distributions include nearly 1,300 shelter kits and 1,000 food packages in Battagram, in the North West Frontier Province, and was made possible through the assistance of Pakistan Army helicopters. A CWS team met today with army representatives to discuss distributing shelter kits and food packages in remote parts of Balakot district tomorrow.

The CWS response now also includes a protection and psychosocial focus. Initially the focus will be on staff care, protection of vulnerable people, and, eventually, psychosocial programming integrated within the larger response. Short radio advertisements are being designed to offer reassurance and support to people and children who were directly affected, and to those who have witnessed the earthquake from the cities and who continue to be anxious. Posters concerning the normal psychosocial effects of hazardous events and bereavement are being developed, specifically for children.

A regional television network working with the CWS team has offered free air transport of relief goods from Karachi to Islamabad. The network, ARY, has also offered to run on air, free of charge, any concerns that the CWS team or its partners may have in the field.

Ruined sewage systems and drinking water sources have brought fear of disease, but Health Minister Mohammad Naseer Khan told Reuters that vaccination teams were fanning out to inoculate people against diseases such as cholera and tetanus. There were no signs yet of epidemics, he said. "To date, I think, praise to God, we have, fortunately, no signs, but we are constantly monitoring because that is the key thing till we clear off the debris and bury the bodies."

An international donors' conference is being convened in Geneva on October 24, to assess Pakistan's needs for rehabilitation and reconstruction of the quake-ravaged areas. The European Union will also meet next week to assess and discuss Pakistan's reconstruction needs. Reconstruction costs could go beyond $5 billion, some estimates say.

Church World Service is helping to provide shelter kits (family-sized tent, ground sheet, plastic sheet, two iron poles, and four blankets), as well as family food packages, to 20,000 of the worst affected families.

Church World Service