The Event
On 8th October 2005 an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale caused widespread destruction to vast areas of northern Pakistan and northern India. The earthquake has already taken the lives of over 75,000 people, even more than that have been seriously injured and over 3.5 million have been made homeless and face the risk of disease, hunger and exposure to freezing temperatures in the mountainous region as winter sets in.
Relief Camps
Relief Camps were set up immediately in the outskirts of Balakot and in the village of Bela. These had seen extreme devastation and the loss of a large majority of the local children, who perished when their school building collapsed on top of them.
Relief efforts initially focused on:
- Food and shelter for survivors - collecting and distributing tents, blankets, clothes, food, medicines and vaccines.
- Working in collaboration with other NGOs and the Army to get the water and electricity supplies restored.
- Setting up a medical camp.
- Conducting trauma relief programs for survivors
Since then, relief work and support has been ongoing including vaccinating children, supplying more clothes, conducting trauma relief courses and a longer-term strategy of rehabilitation of these devastated communities.
There is also an innovative initiative underway, focusing on rebuilding homes using eco-friendly material that stays warm in the bitter winters, is earthquake proof, easy to build, long-lasting and low-cost.
A local teacher in Bela has been trained to build these homes, and the first two ‘eco-dome’ homes have been built by him, that will act as a model for others to follow.
In response to the efforts by AoLF volunteers, villagers have commented that they felt that life was coming back into their community.
