Pakistan
Earthquake: Response and Recovery
By Nasim Hassan
Delaware, USA
Long after the images of the earthquake
that struck Pakistan on October 8 fade out from
television and newspapers, the agony of the earthquake
victims will remain for years. The devastation
is so immense that recovery will take a long time.
Considering the losses - about 3.3 million rendered
homeless, 53000 dead and over 70,000 injured -
we are faced with a challenge that demands the
attention of all Pakistanis living at home or
abroad.
The people in Pakistan have shown a great spirit
and I believe the initial rescue and relief needs
will be effectively handled. The problems will
arise during the next phase of reconstruction
and rehabilitation of the homeless people. Two
to three million people cannot continue to live
in tent cities in cold weather. These people will
move to other parts of Pakistan and add to the
poverty of the nation.
Pakistanis living in North America,
Europe and Middle East need to make sustained
efforts and long-term commitment to meet the need
of the motherland. At this time, we have to leave
our biases, ethnic and religious differences behind
and make a united effort to help Pakistan at this
hour of need.
I visualize the recovery effort in various phases
as follows:
Rescue and Relief
After a slow start, this effort is gaining momentum.
Pakistanis at home and abroad have raised funds
and relief supplies are being sent to the affected
areas. Food, clothing, tents and medical supplies
are making their way towards the needy people.
A large number of national and international organizations
are working to help Pakistan. Pakistanis all over
North America have raised funds to the best of
their ability. Muslims in North America have also
helped a great deal in raising funds for this
colossal tragedy
However, considering the population of 300,000
to 500,000 Pakistanis living in the USA, this
effort simply cannot provide the estimated amount
of over 5.0 billion dollars to meet the losses.
Based on available information, it is heartening
to know that funds raised will meet the initial
needs of rescue and relief. The challenge lies
in the next phases.
Reconstruction
Before any reconstruction effort is started, Pakistani
people and the government must understand the
dynamics of earthquake damages. It seems to me
that brick, mortar and concrete buildings and
houses have caused a great loss of human lives.
If the houses, schools and offices had been built
with lightweight materials such as wood then perhaps
the loss of human lives would have been minimum.
Pakistani government must ensure that the new
construction meets the local earthquake zone requirements.
The standards applicable in Europe and North America
can be applied and adopted as local standards.
The new construction in cities like Islamabad,
Muzaffarabad, Mansehra and Balakot must meet the
minimum earthquake standards. If this type of
construction is too expensive, then at least the
lightweight wood construction should be considered.
If Pakistan does not have enough technical expertise
it would be wise to acquire consultant services
from advanced countries. This area needs a great
deal of thinking and technical knowledge.
I fully understand the bureaucratic
logjams in Pakistan where doctors in hospitals
have to leave the patients and provide a proper
protocol to a visiting VIP looking for a photo
opportunity. Now the people of Pakistan and particularly
those living in the affected areas must demand
from the government to implement the standards.
Rehabilitation
This is by far the most important aspect of the
relief effort. The tragedy is so profound that
if it is not handled properly, it would lead to
generations of impoverished people. This is a
long drawn out process where the affected people
will need all the help they could get. I remember
vaguely the impact of partition in 1947 - families
migrating from India to Pakistan starting a long
journey that spanned years of hard work. Although
a small segment of refugees coming from India
never recovered but large population of refugees
picked the pieces and started a new life in Pakistan
Pakistani Americans can contribute in the process
of rehabilitation of the earthquake survivors.
This effort should be started collectively in
an organized fashion. This means the efforts should
be taken up by Pakistani-American organizations,
Islamic centers and community centers. The organizations
are capable of making long-term plans as individuals
move from one location to another.
Adopt a Village
Large organizations can adopt a village in the
NWFP or Kashmir region. There are a large number
of small villages spread across the vast area.
Villages like Bagh, Rawalakot, Battagram, Kohistan,
and Shangla have been destroyed besides many others
scattered around the Himalayan Mountains. Small
villages generally have homes, grocery stores,
masjid, schools and a local industry with few
government officials.
First we should collect data about the villages,
population, occupations, health care needs, and
water resources. Depending upon needs, plans should
be chalked out to start the rehabilitation work
in order of priority.
It does not matter where the effort is started.
If masjid or a school or homes or drinking water
supply needs rebuilding then resources should
be directed to complete such projects.
Pakistani Americans have ongoing contacts back
home with their family and friends. There is a
large number of good NGO’s operating in
Pakistan. A system of checks and periodic inspections
can be developed to monitor the ongoing progress.
I believe effort of rebuilding will
have a multiplying effect. Rebuilding will provide
jobs to local people. When people have jobs they
have money to spend on other necessities of life
and the economic cycle starts to include large
number of people.
Build a school
In certain areas, the schools are on the priority
list. Small organizations can take the responsibility
of building a school in a village, town or city.
I believe the schools in remote villages are sometimes
located in a masjid. This is a very important
need of a small community. This will not require
a large amount of money. Community organizations
or Islamic societies in North America can easily
raise funds to rebuild schools.
The rebuilding of schools will require the active
assistance from the government of Pakistan. The
most important help that the government can provide
is to control bureaucratic interference. They
should become facilitators instead of interfering
agencies. Perhaps this will make or break the
sustained effort of rehabilitation. If the local
and federal governments provides help and recognizes
the effort of any outside group then the goodwill
will go around. A positive feedback will encourage
other organizations and individuals to participate
and get involved in the rehabilitation.
However, if local government demands bribe or
hinders the rebuilding effort then the reverse
could also happen. The net effect will be the
quick exit of overseas groups who are trying to
help.
Sponsor a family
When I talk of sponsoring a family, I mean rehabilitation
of the family in its old profession or business.
For example, if a person supporting a family had
a business or a grocery store, then our goal should
be to establish him in a similar business. His
or her past experience will help in achieving
the success.
We should avoid sending money to a family for
long periods of time. Such well-intentioned efforts
should only be applied to old and disabled people.
A misdirected effort often results in promoting
a culture of poverty. Human beings take the easiest
path for survival. Once the habits are formed
then people start looking for other avenues.
The objective here is lending a hand so that people
and families in affected area are able to take
care of themselves while preserving an element
of dignity and self-respect.
The recovery from such a big
catastrophe requires a sustained effort. People
generally take care of their own country, nation,
relatives or tribe. I have not detected a great
empathy from American people. Americans generally
get their news from the television. The American
media has already moved on to other issues and
so have the people
So the long-term efforts have to be made by Pakistanis
all around the world. Pakistani Americans can
spearhead such an effort. I believe in the interdependent
world of today. The rebuilding effort in Pakistan
will uplift the economy of South Asia.
Let us all stand up and set an example for other
people to follow in this noble act of kindness
and generosity.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
