CWS-ACT
Earthquake Response

ACT Situation Report

Pakistan 09/06

ACT Appeal ASSA51 (Revision 2) - Emergency Relief to Quake-affected

Pakistan earthquake

Geneva, June 15, 2006

Information provided by ACT member Church World Service Pakistan/Afghanistan (CWS) and based on reports from CWS field staff and information from UNHCR, Dawn newspaper, the Government of Pakistan and ERRA; the following is a compilation of extracts from weekly reports on CWS-ACT activities during the last part of May

From the May 17 report

General situation

The United Nations has launched a one-year, US$300 million Early Recovery Plan. The UN Development Program (UNDP) said the program was aimed at making sure the “services followed the earthquake survivors,” referring to the mass movement of internally displaced people (IDPs) from the organized camps to their places of origin.

Against this backdrop, the Pakistani government’s Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) announced that it intends to disburse 20 billion PAK (US$330 million) by June 30 to the returned earthquake survivors wishing to reconstruct their homes. Some are worried that the earthquake-affected families will not be able to finalize construction of their houses before the beginning of the monsoon rains and the winter.

CWS-ACT response

Psychosocial program

The psychosocial support team brought together earthquake survivors and emergency relief workers in a prayer ceremony in which many women and children participated.

Individual and group counseling sessions were held in Biliani and Mangli villages of the Balakot area in Mansehra District. The sessions included follow-up visits, and during the sessions, the team learned that a family had shifted from the United Pakistan camp to the Mangli village. Consequently, data pertaining to the new family profiles was entered in the database, and profiles collected from United Pakistan camp were finalized, whereas the same was in progress for the Hassa and Shohal Najaf tent villages.

The team also discussed plans for community mobilization and group formation for male and female counselors. Also, five families which were ready and able to move from Shohal Najaf tent village to their home villages requested transportation, which the team facilitated through the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Hygiene promotion

The hygiene promotion team completed its activities in the Batheria spontaneous camp, where it has been promoting basic hygiene awareness by educating children. Related literature was also distributed among the children of the camp. Preparations were also underway for the selection of a hygiene committee in this settlement, as the registration process of affected families and assessment of the Ghazi Kot and Maira camps was completed. Having visited a disabled earthquake survivor, the team made arrangements for installation of a handicapped-accessible latrine. Likewise, a government Girls Middle School (GGMS) with 80 students was found to lack even basic facilities, and a survey was conducted for the future needs of this institution.

Water and sanitation

The water and sanitation team continued assessments by visiting three schools operated by CWS’s implementing partner, DOSTI. Schools in Balakot City were visited, and further assessments were made in the Chattar Plain area.

The team finished sourcing clean drinking water and establishing sanitary facilities in the two villages of Sirian Valley near Balakot. Water and sanitation facilities were also completed at the Norwegian Refugee Council’s summer school in the Allai area of Battagram District. In Mansehra, 20 latrines were handed over to different DOSTI-operated schools, and a contract for activities in Khala Dhaka was signed. Drilling of the borehole at Haryala village continued.

Recovery assessment and monitoring

Recovery assessment and monitoring (RAM) team members who took part in the original distribution teams attended a Concern audit. Beneficiary records were presented, samples of household profiles reviewed, and four RAM Team members accompanied the visiting auditors to the field for validating beneficiaries in four districts.

The team assessed Khanian Village, where it found returning IDPs from the decommissioned Hassa and United Pakistan camps. The names and locations of these families were given to the psychosocial team, which is responsible for tracking returnees. Overall, 82 household profiles and three complete village profiles were produced.

The capacity building program held three meetings with different union council representatives in Mansehra and Battagram districts in preparation for an upcoming workshop on recovery management.

From the May 24 report

General situation

As reconstruction begins across North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Kashmir, earthquake survivors are set to face new tests of nature with the hotter weather melting the snow, causing landslides and thus blocking vital roads. Relief and recovery workers are concerned about the weather, accessibility and logistics as difficulties with funding sufficient and skilled workers have emerged.

Some 78 percent of displaced families have returned to their places of origin. The Camp Management Organisation (CMO) in Kashmir said the total caseload of IDPs in Muzaffarabad has reached approximately 90,000, of which relocated communities and the urban displaced constitute 60,000. The UN resident coordinator said that out of 300,000 homeless people, at least 100,000 will continue to live in ten camps through next winter. There are several thousand homeless people who will have to live in camps because their plots had either been washed away or their native localities are in a so-called “red zone,” where the risk of further earthquakes is high.

CWS-ACT response

Psychosocial program

The psychosocial support team participated in a training workshop on psychosocial support conducted by ROZAN (an NGO) in Mansehra May 15 to 17. Topics of self-awareness, psychosocial care, gender and community awareness were covered.

The team also conducted group meetings and counseling sessions in field areas. Sixty family profiles were entered into the team’s database.

Hygiene promotion

A hygiene committee, comprising six men, was formed in the Batdarian spontaneous camp. The team organized several psychosocial support meetings with families in Maira camp, Ghazi kot. Hygiene promotion kits were distributed to 93 families of Ghazi Kot village in Mansehra District.

The team also identified a school in the Chatter Plain area which will receive the Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation (PHAST) training.

Water and sanitation

Drilling of one borehole at Haryal in Mansehra District contined. Four latrines have been constructed in one of the schools in Chatter Plains. The water line to Sharkulei village in Chatter Plain, Mansehra District, laid from the Ashwal area, has been completed.

The drilling of two boreholes at Ahl and Jeliabad villages, Mansehra District, continued. The contract for water and sanitation activities in Khala Dhaka was signed, and the first installment has been paid. Scheme repair work has been initiated in the area as reported by ODC, a local NGO, which works in the area.

Recovery assessment and monitoring

The team visited Kamal Ban village in the union council of Kaghan, Balakot Tehsil (county) of Mansehra District and collected data. Based on the information compiled, assessments were made in different sectors, such as health, livestock and education. A detailed assessment of water and sanitation systems in the village was also carried out. Results show that the earthquake damaged the water tank and broke supply lines. Women and children of the village were facing difficulties in accessing water for daily use.

The total number of profiles that the team has compiled reached 1,450.

From the May 31 report

General situation

In the city of Muzzaffrabad, there is an estimated 25 million cubic meters of rubble remaining from the earthquake, and along with it, there are huge piles of garbage lying in the open air. A continued shortage of latrines and sanitation facilities increases the problem further. Some 10,000 people from Muzaffarabad itself who were left homeless by the earthquake are using open spaces as toilets. In addition, there are concerns about dangerous metals in the debris that could be seeping into the soil.

CWS-ACT response

Psychosocial program

The psychosocial support team organized a drawing competition for the children of Beliyani village in the army tent school. They drew sketches mostly of destroyed houses and schools, a reflection of the impact the earthquake has left on their minds. The team felt that through this activity some happiness was brought back into the lives of the children who participated.

The team also carried out social mobilization in Beliyani village. The village’s water and sanitation system was almost completely destroyed and is in urgent need of repair. The community was hesitant to take initiative on its own and was depending on external resources to resolve the issue. Through the social mobilization efforts of the CWS team, the community members agreed to take charge of the situation and form a committee. The committee will in turn ask the Tehsil Municipal Administration in Shohal Najaf to solve the problem through collaboration.

The team continued to carry out regular counseling sessions in Baliyani and Mangli Villages of Balakot Tehsil. The team worked with a female survivor of the earthquake in Mangli village who had been suffering from serious trauma and was unable sleep well at night. She had lost five family members in the quake and was overwhelmed by grief. During counseling sessions and follow-ups, the team noticed a healthy change in her behavior. Another woman in Beliyani who had been suffering from serious depression also received regular counseling and is now moving toward living a normal life again.

Hygiene promotion

The hygiene promotion team conducted several meetings with male and female residents of Harryala Village. The team provided information about basic concepts of personal and environmental hygiene. Hygiene kits were also distributed to participants after the meeting. Later the team visited the Government Girls Primary School in the village and conducted Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Tansformation (PHAST) training. A student hygiene committee was also formed to ensure good hygiene practices are followed.

The team held a training session with four teachers and about 40 students at the Government Middle School (GMS) Bibala in the Chatter Plain area. After the training, a “cleanliness contest” for students was also organized to encourage learning in a fun way. At the end of the contest, soap and soap cases were distributed as prizes to the winners. The teams also visited Batdarian and Bodha camp for follow-ups and monitoring of the hygiene committees formed there earlier.

Water and sanitation

The team selected 14 water supply schemes to be developed in union councils located in Batagram District. The assessment of these 14 scheme sites is in process.

Recovery assessment and monitoring

The recovery assessment and monitoring team visited Pairan village in Pairan Union Council for an assessment. Two team members met with the district coordinating officer and collected data pertaining to Pairan Union Council. A team member also visited the Khagan valley along with a member from psychosocial team. Four members of the team attended the Disaster Response Program Workshop organized by UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.