Web log: Plan staff report from areas affected by Pakistan earthquake

January 2006
Monday 16: 100 days after quake, new facilities bring hope
Monday 2: relief effort continues to reach isolated people despite ice, snow and landslides

December 2005
Thursday 29: helping highland communities see out the winter
Thursday 14: strong earthquake strikes Pakistan borders
Tuesday 6: school starts again in Siran Valley

November 2005
Tuesday 22: creating classrooms under canvas
Monday 7: rebuilding lives will be hardest task
Thursday 3: preparing to camp for the winter

October 2005
Friday 28th: Onset of winter promises renewed crisis in Pakistan: 'There is extreme pressure of time: everyday it gets colder and soon full winter will be here'
- General situation update
- Where Plan is working
 - Plan's continuing response
Friday 21st: finding ways to introduce routine and normality to traumatised children
Thursday 20th: Plan works with army and local volunteers to deliver tents to remote mountain villages
Wednesday 19th: two further tremors felt in the region. Medical situation worsening with Acute Respiratory Infections and Tetanus on the increase
Monday 17th: brief update: x-ray machine reaches Sewan.
Sunday 16th: effective distribution of supplies remains a concern; surgeons in remote mountain village ask Plan for a portable X-ray machine so that they can prioritise cases for immediate airlift.
Friday 14th: Plan Pakistan Country Director's report from the Field
Thursday 13th
  - a town reduced to ruins, a population reduced to tears
  - teams from Plan make daily visits to communities
  - general situation update
Wednesday 12th: helicopter reaches a small village, Devli, with much needed humanitarian supplies
Tuesday 11th: Plan office in Mansehra is inundated with volunteers. Plan is first agency to reach isolated communities in surrounding areas
Monday 10th: eye witness reports from Birral, state that at least 60% of the village has been completely destroyed
Sunday 9th: emergency operations begin admist continuing aftershocks
Saturday 8th: earthquake hits Pakistan

100 days after the quake, new facilities bring hope
16 January 2006

100 days after the Pakistan earthquake, Plan sees hope and opportunity amidst the devastation.

So much has already been achieved:

• temporary schools are bringing education to all children, male and female
• early learning programmes are providing new opportunities for younger children
• successful cooperation with the government, other local and international agencies provides a strong support base for future developments

Plan’s CEO Tom Miller, speaking from the mountains high above the earthquake area said:
“We’re extremely proud of the schools. When you walk into a tented village and the sounds you hear are children laughing, singing and learning together, you know you’re doing something right. And when children ask for the school to remain open during school vacation, you know you’re really doing something right.”

Mr Miller, making his second trip to the area after the quake added:
“The earthquake was a tragedy, but has provided exciting opportunities too. These schools now provide education for any child, some who have never had access to formal learning before. In particular, they provide the same access and opportunities for girls.”

Plan provides school facilities and staff throughout the Siran valley. Over 1500 children in the Mansehra district are benefitting.
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Monday 2 January: relief effort continues to reach isolated people despite ice, snow and landslides

For weeks, Plan staff have been racing to distribute as many shelter and insulation materials as possible to highland communities before the winter.

In the Siran Valley, all communities have now received winter supplies (such as corrugated iron sheets, quilts and tools), thanks to the hard work and dedication of Plan staff, plus other other NGOs (notably World Vision, Mercy Corps, CRS HASHER) and the Army. Plan has now started distribution in the high, wide valley of Chatter Plain, to the west of the Siran Valley, and is planning to work in the mountains to the east, above Balakot.

Winter arrived in full force on January 1st. Higher communities above 5,000 feet (1,540 metres) are covered in snow and blanketed by damp mists. Lower down, where many communities were also devastated, and where the majority of displaced people’s camps are located, there is icy driving rain. Living conditions for thousands of people have deteriorated significantly.

As feared, the rain and snow loosened unstable rubble and mud, causing fresh landslides. Yesterday in front of our staff, falling rocks injured people in an approaching vehicle. In another 'active landslide zone' in the mountains above Balakot, staff watched falling boulders bombard the narrow track just in front of and behind their vehicle. Pakistan Army engineers had pre-positioned bulldozers around the mountains, and moved quickly to re-open roads (driving a heavy bulldozer onto unstable mud and rubble half way up a mountainside takes great courage.)

There are still communities in the highlands in desperate need of corrugated iron sheets, insulation and tools to build basic shelters, and children's winter clothes. Despite difficult conditions, Plan staff are determined to supply materials for as long as possible.

Working in partnership to be most effective:

• getting regular supplies of materials like corrugated iron sheets is a challenge - a local partnership with World Vision had enabled us to distribute small tool kits and 8,000 corrugated iron sheets to households
• Plan will fund RASTI, local NGO partner for health and hygiene promotion, to expand its work in Siran Valley to cover 15 World Vision supported recreation centres, a further example of partnership
• Plan has provided nine large tents to local NGO SPARC for children's 'Fun House' recreation centres in camps near Balakot.

Information is now being gathered by the Army and other agencies on 'spontaneous' displaced people's camps, i.e. camps of varying sizes lacking organised assistance. In Mansehra District 79,000 people live in such camps, compared to 43,000 in army-managed camps such as Daryal, where Plan has already given much support. This information will help aid agencies, including Plan, to organize assistance for spontaneous camp populations.

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Thursday 29 December: Helping highland communities see out the winter

The much-anticipated deep snows have not yet arrived, although at night-time the temperature drops to well-below freezing. Siran Valley roads remain open but in poor condition. Plan continues to target communities living at 5,000 feet (1,540 metres) or higher above the Siran Valley, and to provide sanitation, laundry and lighting facilities to Daryial Camp in the valley for displaced people, which is housing 297 families.

A lot of people in highland communities want to remain in their home areas throughout the winter, building basic shelters for themselves and their surviving livestock using materials distributed by aid agencies like Plan and salvaged from collapsed houses. Plan is distributing "emergency housing kits" with iron sheets, tools and quilts for insulation; to date 2,700 households have received kits.

Plan has also distributed children’s winter-clothing kits from UNICEF to 495 families in the upper Siran Valley; we are currently waiting for more supplies to distribute to at least 2,000 more families.

Our partner Mountain Institute for Educational Development (MIED) is currently operating 30 childhood care and learning centres in camps and communities high in the Siran Valley, serving over 700 children; we continue to work with MIED on the primary school in Daryial camp, which 375 children aged 5-11 are attending, and on camp centres for children under five.

The 52 communities Plan works in as part of our Mansehra Program unit, lie in the south of Mansehra District, and were less affected than the devastated areas to the north. In the first week of December, we helped 272 families with tents, blankets, household equipment and hygiene kits.

The earthquake has disrupted many rural water supplies, partly because of broken pipes but also because of geological changes to the water table. Several handpumps supplied by Plan have dried up and will need to be deepened.

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Tuesday 14 December: Strong earthquake strikes Pakistan borders

A strong earthquake has hit north-eastern Afghanistan, striking in the Hindu Kush mountains bordering Pakistan early Tuesday morning (local time):

• The earthquake, which was 6.7 magnitude, triggered panic among survivors of the October earthquake, with many fleeing their homes and temporary shelters and spending the night in the open in freezing conditions.
• Apart from some landslides, however, there have been no reports of major damage or casualties.
• Since the October quake there have been around 1,500 aftershocks in the region, measuring between 5 and 6.7 on the Richter scale. 

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Tuesday 6 December: school starts again in Siran Valley camps

• 66 large tents are accommodating school children in 25 schools in Plan-supported communities. Each tent holds around 25 pupils; Plan is also working with the District Education Office (DEO) to develop a medium- and long-term plan for the education sector in Mansehra.
• By early December Plan had distributed emergency supplies via distribution points to 1,734 families in the Siran Valley. We are now distributing iron sheets, tool kits and quilts to help build temporary shelters for around 3,000 families in Mandeguache. This is currently top priority: snow is falling and road conditions are worsening.
• We are reducing the number of distribution points we use, but increasing the number of families we cover in selected geographical areas. This will help staff to introduce medium- and longer-term rehabilitation and reconstruction work. Emergency work will continue however through the winter in the more remote, higher-altitude areas.
• Plan now has UNICEF support to chlorinate water supply in Daryial camp, in the Siran valley, which is currently sheltering more than 200 families; local NGO partner Rasti is training local volunteers in the camp to make "tent to tent" visits and promote good health and hygiene practices.
• Mountain Institute of Educational Development (MIED) is working with Plan to provide education and recreational activities for around 600 children in the camp; MIED has also provided teacher training, materials and tents for nearly 300 children at other locations in the Siran Valley.  

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Tuesday 22 November: creating classrooms under canvas

Plan has distributed 26 large tents to 20 severely damaged schools, to enable them to restart schooling and recreational activities: the Ministry of Education has asked Plan to provide shelters for 40 more schools.

In the Siran Valley, Plan and ten other international and national agencies are distributing emergency relief (tents, plastic sheets, blankets, household kits, hygiene kits, stoves) in the army camps that have been set up. The situation is most critical in the villages furthest up the mountains: snow is now falling and the roads are in poor condition, making access difficult.

In the last three days, Plan has transported supplies for 260 families, using 15 hired light trucks. We are aiming to distribute supplies to 1,500-2,000 families.

In the army-run Daryial camp in the valley, which is currently providing shelter for 100 families, Plan and the Mountain Institute of Educational Development (MIED) have provided tents and restarted schooling. Enrolment has already increased from 150 to more than 400 children, including children from the neighbouring community where the school was also damaged.

Plan has helped install 18 latrines, 18 bathing places (50% exclusively for women) and three water points in the camp.

Plan staff are meeting this week to develop a comprehensive medium- to long-term strategy for the earthquake program. The focus will be on education, but will also include vocational training and psychosocial healing activities for children and adults. 

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Monday 7 November: rebuilding lives will be hardest task

Returning to the UK on 7 November after touring the earthquake zone in Pakistan, Tom Miller, Chief Executive of Plan, says the long-term emotional damage to earthquake survivors will take longer to repair than the region’s infrastructure.

"We must address the long-term psychological needs of earthquake survivors," he said. "Like other agencies, Plan is working on short-term necessities such as health, food and shelter. But we are also planning for longer-term needs such as schools, to return children to the routines they all need."

Plan is currently helping to establish a large 1,000 tent family camp at the southern end of the Siran Valley, complete with a primary school for some 1,000 pupils as well as kindergartens and play centres. We also plan to organise other support systems, such as counselling and art therapy, to help children overcome the emotional trauma that will stay with them long after the snows melt and their homes are re-built.

In addition to the school infrastructure, Plan is rushing vital survival equipment, such as household goods and family hygiene kits to families who have lost everything and must now spend the winter in the organisation’s thousand-tent camp. We have deployed a fleet of ten lightweight trucks to take relief to those sheltering independently at the top end of the valley where heavy trucks cannot operate.

The camp, located between Shinkari and Dader in the Siran Valley, will also provide a non-formal education centre for school-age children who have never been to school as well as sanitary facilities such as toilets, wash-houses and laundry rooms to help maintain camp hygiene.  Plan is also in the process of setting up two further schools and safe play areas in smaller camps higher up the Siran Valley.

Plan has pledged to remain in the region for as long as it takes to help communities rebuild their infrastructure and livelihoods

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Thursday 3 November: Preparing to camp for the winter

Like all agencies, Plan Pakistan is focused on the urgent need to ensure proper accommodation and care for thousands of people during the winter months.

Camping for the winter
At a camp that will house 750 families in the Siran valley (between Shinkiari and Dader), Plan is establishing:

• a large primary school (possibly 2,000 pupils), with teachers, materials equipment
• 'child-friendly' spaces: play centres with staff and equipment etc
• early childhood centres (kindergardens) with staff and equipment
• a non-formal education centre – a school for children in the camp who have never been to school
• constructing latrine, bathing and laundry facilities

We are investigating establishing two further 'camp schools' higher in the Siran Valley, and will establish more child-friendly spaces in smaller camps higher in the valley.

Distributing survival equipment

• We are preparing thousands of shelter/household goods and family hygiene kits for distribution in the camp and elsewhere

• We are providing ten light trucks for relief distribution on roads at the top end of the valley where heavy trucks cannot operate

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Friday28 October: 'There is extreme pressure of time: every day it gets colder and soon full winter will be here'.

The response to the earthquake disaster continues to be hampered by difficulties of terrain and communications. Information on numbers of people displaced and severely affected is still at the level of rough estimates, despite the assessment efforts of agencies, including Plan. There is extreme pressure of time: every day it gets colder, and soon full winter will be here.

There is a massive and relentless demand for tents. Plan Pakistan has so far managed to obtain tents from local manufacturers, and has received very welcome donations of tents and blankets in-country from the Swedish Rescue Service. Plan Mansehra staff have themselves been affected by the disaster, some losing friends and relatives and many sleeping outside their homes because of house damage. Despite this, staff have worked frantically since the earthquake, with working days of 12-14 hours or more right through the weekends being typical.

Where Plan is working
Plan Pakistan is concentrating on two broad geographical areas within Mansehra District: the existing Mansehra Program Unit communities in southern Mansehra District, and the Siran Valley.

The existing Program Unit areas are badly affected, with an estimated 10-25% of homes destroyed or dangerously damaged. The families now live in tents and makeshift shelters. Many more homes have large cracks. Cracks are alarming as strong earth tremors continue, and there are reports of buildings still collapsing. For the same reason, schools and other services are still closed. Because of fear of further collapse, very many families in these areas and in Mansehra town, sleep outside, despite the bitter cold. (The PU office itself is damaged. We therefore avoid using the upper floor, and exit rapidly during the stronger tremors. Perhaps not surprisingly, we are seeking a new office nearby.)

Siran Valley begins some 30kms north of Mansehra town, where the Plan's office is based, and stretches a further 30-40 kms northwards.

Siran Valley is very severely affected, with estimates of up to 90% destruction. Much of the population (total pop. around 146,000 pre-earthquake) live in scattered hamlets at the top of the precipitous valley sides. They are amongst the poorest, and face the worst climate, yet are the hardest to reach.

The road along the valley bottom and sides has been opened for most of its length, but is cut periodically at the higher end by continuing landslides. In places the “road” is just a track bull-dozed across unstable rubble. Higher communities can only be reached by several hours on foot or by mule. Many of the area’s gravity-fed water systems have been smashed by the earthquake and landslides.

Most families in the Siran Valley area are homeless, sleeping in tents or makeshift shelters beside the rubble of their homes. An unknown number have moved to the lower areas to the south, taking refuge with relatives or setting up “spontaneous” camps at roadsides. However many people say they are determined to stay on in their communities if they can, even in the highlands, to protect their meager resources.

The Army is the lead government agency for the disaster response in the most severely hit zones, given the degree of death and disruption at the level of civil government. The Pakistan Army is establishing semi-permanent camps with basic services for one thousand or more families each for the winter, and the first camps have opened. (See below for Plan’s role in this.) However many more such camps are needed. The Army estimate a further 50-60,000 people will eventually descend from the highlands above the Siran Valley.

So far there do not appear to be large numbers of unaccompanied children, despite disruption and population movements. It was reported yesterday, Wednesday 26, that so far ICRC has re-united 33 children with their families. The normal traditional practice is for children without parents to be cared for within the strong extended families. It is also believed that a disproportionate number of dead and injured may have been children, given that the earthquake struck when most children were at school or in their houses. 

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Plan’s continuing response 

Plan staff have by now distributed 1,200 tents and 3,000 blankets in Plan communities, and this distribution will continue. Plan is also assessing damage to schools, water systems and health units in these areas, to prepare for repairs and/or temporary facilities in order to get services re-started.

In Siran Valley Plan is working closely with the Army. Plan has so far provided 750 tents and 8,300 blankets for distribution in the worst affected zones at the higher northern end of the valley. Plan has also hired ten light trucks to assist with transport to the highest distribution points, as the roads are too unsafe for heavy trucks.

Plan is assisting the Army with the establishment of a 1,000 tent/750 family camp for the winter at the wider, southern end of the valley. This includes construction of latrines and other sanitation facilities, bathing places, laundry areas and establishing a camp primary school and a small non-formal school for young people who have never been to school. The tents for the schools have now been erected.

In the large camp we will also establish early childhood centres and “child-friendly spaces” for older children, all with care-givers and equipment. Health and hygiene education will be carried out. Careful positioning and screening of women’s bathing places and latrines are especially important in this very conservative cultural environment. A second 1,000 camp nearby is under discussion.

We will also assist with sanitation, child-friendly spaces and health and hygiene in smaller Army-established camps dotted along the valley. Today these hold a total of 1,750 families, compared to 500 last week. The population of such camps may rise further.

Plan is preparing 3,000 “family shelter kits”, which include blankets, quilts, ground mats, household equipment and tents (however see below on difficults with tent supply.) We are also preparing 3,000 “family hygiene kits” (buckets, water containers, soap etc) for wide distribution. Quantities of kits are likely to increase.

Plan is working on plans to re-establish shattered and disrupted schools and health services, probably using temporary shelters. One small indication of the challenges is the District Education Office has itself collapsed, 75 teachers are believed dead and an unknown number of teachers have left their communities.)  

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Friday 21 October: finding ways to introduce routines into the lives of traumatised children

Our experience in working with communities in the aftermath of disasters, has taught us the importance of helping children who have experienced trauma, to gain a sense of normality again. To this end, we are looking into the feasability of working with UNICEF to contribute materials and help distribute 'Schools in a box'.

We are distributing 6000 blankets (Thanks to the Swedish SRSA) to the local government and Military command for distribution to high need villages. The army has established 20 tent villages and currently looking to establish more.

Thursday 20 October: Plan works with army and local volunteers to deliver tents to remote mountain villages

Plan has begun to focus its work in the badly hit highland areas of the Siran valley, working with the Pakistan army and local volunteers.

Over a hundred tents has been supplied to mountain areas, and Plan is also working on a Water Environmental Sanitation (WES) for an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) tent village that is being built.

Wednesday 19 October: acute respiratory infections and Tetanus on the increase

• Two very large tremors were felt in the region today. No reports of casualties as yet but buildings have collapsed and landslides have washed away more paths and tracks.
• The relief effort is stabilising with more centres and fewer refugees moving between cities, however hundreds of villagers continue to stream into Balakot and Muzaffarabd from rural mountainous areas. Health and shelter problems remain acute.
• In the Siran Valley agencies are treating an unrelenting stream of casualties - estimated at 600 per day – with no sign of numbers dwindling.
• The medical situation continues to worsen: The rate of Acute Respiratory Infection is increasing due to people’s persistent exposure to the harsh weather conditions. Minor cuts are becoming gangrenous and there is a particular risk to life posed by wounds becoming infected with tetanus.

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Monday 17 October

• Plan staff have visited Mansehra District Hospital to provided them with ten thirty-man tents. It's become a mini refugee camp and space is limited.
• Reports coming out of the villages talk of extreme conditions. Medical teams are reporting increased cases of acute respiratory infection (ARI) and gangrene as weather worsens and injury remains untreated.
• A portable x-ray machine has been located and is on its way to Mansehra for a flight to the Sawan camp (see previous update).
• There was a tremor today at the Mansehra office that was felt in Islamabad.
• Today was a beautiful day but with clear skies and no cloud cover, temperatures on the mountains are likely to drop steeply overnight.
  
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Sunday 16 October

Effective distribution of supplies remains a key concern. With some villagers waiting seven days for treatment, surgeons in remote mountain village ask Plan for a portable X-ray machine so that they can prioritise cases for immediate airlift

Summary
Two more makeshift relief centres have been established between those located in Mansehra and Balakot. However, wider distribution of food and medicine is inadequate with many of those people unable to reach these centres remaining destitute. Weather continues to hamper vital relief operations: rainstorms drenched the valleys for around 4 hours in the morning. This meant all helicopter and foot patrols were stopped until the weather had cleared.

The road to Balakot 
Plan's Regional Director for Asia travels to Balakot, one of the worse affected areas in the region.

 
The condition of the road to Balakot worsens by the day, with only the first 3 km of a 25 km road accessible. Hundreds of villagers line the road, setting up temporary shelters. Others simply make do with blankets.  

Families of 8 to 10 huddled together in an attempt to stay dry. Here, there is a total lack of amenities. One of the saddest images was of 5 children huddled around the door of a tent trying to keep warm in front of their fire. The 'fire' consisted of a stick of wood. 

The fact that this occurs only 2km from Balakot on the main relief supply route indicates that the effective distribution of vital resources remains a key concern.

In Balakot itself the city is still in shock. The streets are less crowded with people but still lined with discarded and now waterlogged clothing. Bodies are still being pulled from the rubble.

The main settlement area is located across the Balakot bridge. One crucial problem with the tents used in this crisis is that their quality is often inadequate for the conditions. Although they may provide some shelter – wear and tear, constant use, and harsh weather and living conditions will soon render these temporary shelters useless. This area is taking on the look of a refugee camp scattered amongst the ruined buildings.
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Sawan, Jhelum River Valley

Plan's Asia Regional Director travels by helicopter to Sawan, a remote village in the Jhelum River valley.

The Jhelum valley is wide, with communities scattered on the slopes of the mountain. The valley walls become steeper as you travel and the area is marked by landslides that make access difficult and dangerous.

Sawan village itself was once the site of an army base: now the base has completely collapsed as has the hospital, local homes and businesses. Plan were shown a temporary medical facility - a meagre tent unit with basic facilities, manned by Afghan medical personnel. There is a generator for power but very little else. The recovery area is a basic tent with stretchers on the floor, and no light.

The main injuries found here are broken bones. Some patients have only just arrived having spent the previous seven days without treatment for their injuries. The injured are being flown back to Muzaffarabad but surgeons have asked Plan for a portable X-ray machine to allow them to prioritise cases for airlift.
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Update for Plan Communities

• Plan has visited a third of the communities they work with and are in contact with the others. So far there have been 9 reported deaths.
• Health and sanitation remain primary concerns:There is a real possibility of an outbreak of Pneumonia and other related diseases due to sustained exposure to the elements and lack of sanitation and food. The water in the area is not safe to drink generally and so Plan communities are using hand pumps to produce purer supplies.
• Education remains disrupted due to the chaos and confusion and there is no indication when the system will restart. Children are busy helping families with rebuilding and searching for food.  
• Food security situation is set to remain highly problematic in the medium to long term: Most communities had experienced a poor maize harvest even prior to the earthquake. Now a large proportion of the livestock lost will also require replacing.

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Friday 14 October

Plan Pakistan Country Director's report from the Field

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A town reduced to ruins, a population reduced to tears
Mia Haglund-Heelas, Plan Pakistan's Country Director, reports directly from BALAKOT

The contrast between the majestic, sunlit Himalayan peaks and the wretched, devastated town of Balakot is evident as you make your way along the shadowy and grey river bed to the town.

There are endless streams of vehicles entering and leaving the city. Those exiting are crammed and overloaded with people. Those entering carry equipment, food, supplies and still more people.

All the vehicles are local – Pakistan local that is, not INGO* or military. The number plates highlight the scale of the community involvement – from Rawalpindi, Karachi, Peshawar and Gujarat.

For kilometers along the road to Balakot, there are makeshift settlements. People sit in ones, twos and more watching as vehicle after vehicle passes by.

The scene is grizzly and the mood is one of bewilderment. The town’s buildings and homes are completely destroyed.

Ruins and rubble line the roadside, unwanted clothes and the occasional corpse line the road. The waste is evident: villages in the high areas are freezing from lack of warm clothing, while the people in the town walk over abundant supplies.

Families sit by the side of the road and atop the mounds of rubble that they once called home. Children join adults scrambling for any food being distributed, and a mother cradles her child and tells of the three others she lost beneath the rubble. Her injured husband looks quietly on. And everywhere the stench of death fills the air.

This is Balakot – A town reduced to ruins, a population reduced to tears.

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Teams from Plan are making daily visits to affected communities to assess damage

The Mansehra office has now established daily visits to both communities where we usually work, and other communities in the area.

Eight teams leave the office daily bound for various destinations. Their aim is to get a picture on the damage, casualties, and requirements of the communities. All information is being collated to help us assess the scale of damage and identify priority areas for relief supplies.

Currently the priority request is for tents of tarpaulins.

Teams indicate that every village tells of collapsed schools.

On Wednesday we distributed 200 tents, and ALL our medical supplies.

The initial information indicates that damage is considerable but casualties appear light – currently at 3 confirmed dead in Plan supported communities. (Still awaiting figures in areas where we don't usually work).

Injuries are also being reported amongst children – but they appear minor.

Reports from staff also indicate that communities we work with are concerned about other more badly affected areas and asking staff how they can help.

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General situation update

Wednesday, the medical teams have treated 460 patients for a variety of injuries. Plan has airlifted 46 injures patients from the village of Devli and Keri in the Siran valley back to Mansehra and will return Thursday morning for the remaining 25 patients. (We have left doctors with the injured). The doctors tell that the majority of injuries are women and children.

Doctors indicate – many suffering from serious back injuries and villages happy to see help.

Information from villagers and mosques suggest most schools throughout the Siran valley have collapsed. The doctors have also been informed by local sources that around 10,000 people have died in the valley villages. We are seeking specific lists and authentication on the number.
Note: There are around 35,000 - 40,000 people in the valley – so the figure killed would be around 25-30 %.

We also have arranged with the army the use of two helicopters (Thurs) to distribute more supplies and tarpaulins and to ferry the injured out.

The supplies include medicines, rice, pulses, sugar, tea, milk, wheat.

We have just received a lorry load of blankets from the Pakistani Atomic Energy Authority – it appears they trust Plan to distribute it more that the local government.

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Wednesday 12 October

With the weather much improved today, the helicopter with five volunteer medical doctors and two assistants has landed in Devli, a village in the Siran Valley. There they found 81 villagers injured who are now being assessed and treated. Serious injuries will be flown back to Mansehra by helicopter. Assessment of children remains the primary focus.

We are also distributing food, water, milk and biscuits in the village and Plan staff are trying to get a helicopter to take journalists to Devli today so they can report on the situation first-hand.

Two hundred tents are being delivered by Plan office in Mansehra, as we have been told that the survivors need tents. Our Health Advisor, Dr. Irfan Ahmed, is on his way to pick up fresh relief supplies and is going to take them to Devli by helicopter.

High death toll anticipated in Sirin Valley
Plan expects the death toll in the Sirin Valley to be more than 10,000. Prior to the earthquake, the population of the area was estimated between 35-40,000 people.  Most bodies are likely to be those of children.
 
The team has returned to Mansehra for more medical supplies and will airlift more back into the Valley in the morning.
 
The survivors are in desperate need of shelter as it is very cold.

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Tuesday 11 October

Mia HaglundHellas (Country Director of Plan Pakistan) and Gary Walker (Emergencies Co-ordinator) arrive at the Plan program in Mansehra, to find that the Plan centre has been inundated with community members and local people who have walked hours and even days to seek advice and help. Many volunteers have also arrived with food, blankets and tents offering their support. Amongst these are 28 doctors, including orthopaedic surgeons, who have given up their jobs in Karachi.

Plan staff have been travelling to surrounding areas to assess the impact of the earthquake on local people and offer assistance.  Materials, food and medicine are currently in short supply but Plan has been distributing what it has (even to those trapped under the rubble). Plan staff have also helped to dig people out of the rubble and even dig graves and bury the dead. It is a harrowing time: one staff member removed 25 bodies from the rubble, dug their graves, prayed for them and buried them.

The Plan health advisor, Dr Irfan Ahmed has organised 2 helicopters filled with medical supplies, tents and blankets. The first left today, staffed with medical volunteers, to supply 3 nearby villages in the Siran valley – an area of 68 km, north of Manshera. These communities are extremely isolated and can not be reached by road, however, Plan staff have made contact by phone and Plan will be the first relief organisation to get these villages.

On arrival the first task of the team is to make an initial assessment and then establish medical camps in each of the villages. The total population is approx 15 000 people so this will be a major operation. 

Where are the children?
Staff are concerned at the lack of children they see and there are concerns that there could be a very high mortality rate. Indeed, the Education Minister has said that as many as 70% of the high schools in the district have been destroyed.

Plan staff have personally witnessed a destroyed high school in Ghari Habibullah where around 550 children died. There they helped pull 150 corpses from the rubble. There is also concern at the lack of people coming to ask where the children are – which might indicate high parental casualties too

Overall the staff are tired but morale is good, given the circumstances. However it is clear that the earthquake has had a devastating impact on this region, particularly the small isolated communities, and there is great need for more supplies of food, water, materials and medicines.

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Monday 10 October

Eyewitness reports from Battal, a community 42 km north of Mansehra
Dr Irfan Ahmed, health adviser visited the village of Battal. He reports

• 60% of the village was completely destroyed and the remaining 40% too damaged to live in
• Confirmed death toll of 150 pupils and teachers at the boys high school
• 50 girls died when the 3 story girls high school building collapsed
• All children at the primary scholl escaped without injury
• The village is still without shelter and the only support received is from Peshawar locals distributing clothing

Plan staff in Mansehra as aid arrives
Our office in Mansehra reports that hundreds of lorries have begun arriving with aid and supplies, while army convoys with heavy machinery have also left Islamabad.

Program staff have made contact with all communities they work with by phone and have begun traveling to see all communities in person
Plan continues to speak with local government and other NGOs on how best to coordinate and distribute aid.

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Sunday 9 October

Emergency operation begins in Mansehra district

Heavy rain on Saturday night has hampered rescue efforts and there are still tremors: Plan staff have had to evacuate the office. 

Pakistan country director Mia Haglund Heelas is in Mansehra with other international agencies to assess destruction and talk with the communities and local government authorities on what assistance Plan can offer. Plan releases $200,000 for immediate use and begins coordinating relief efforts in the Mansehra district. Program staff are also assessing casualties, damage and communities' needs.
Immediate needs are for food, medicine, blankets and tents

The main hospital at Mansehra has been damaged and appeals have been made for medicine and doctors. In response, 
Plan dispatches emergency medical supplies containing painkillers, syringes, dips and bandages.

Widespread devastation in Balakot
Plan staff who have travelled to Balakot describe widespread devastation. Mudslides and landslides have made the roads nearly impassable. In Balakot itself there are many dead just lying on the roads with many others still trapped under the rubble. There is no organised relief being provided. 

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Saturday 8 October

An earthquake registering 7.6 hits Pakistan with widespread damage reported.
Balakot, a sub district within Plan's program unit in Mansehra (in the North-west Province of Pakistan) is reported as having been devastated. Aftershocks are continuing.
Many houses are made from mud and have crumbled easily leaving residents without shelter and exposed to the elements.
Emergency agencies are not yet on the scene.
In Plan community of Seri Masand (which is home to 125 sponsored children), all houses are destroyed, 1 elderly person is confirmed dead.

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Footnotes:
* INGO: International non-governmental organisation
Plan is often referred to as an INGO which stands for International Non-Government Organisation, and reflects the international nature of the work Plan does. INGOs are also referred to as voluntary agencies. These are private organisations of a charitable, research or educational nature that are concerned with a wide range of social, economic and environmental issues. They may act on an international, national or local scale. Some raise money from the public and from governments to help fund development projects in the Third World or to assist in disaster relief. Others attempt to educate the public and campaign on major global issues or to lobby governments and international agencies to change public policies.