Rawalpindi – Earthquake Relief

As trusted before, my visit to Pakistan is to be a volunteer for the earthquake relief. But due to the sickness I got, I still havent started any single movement. I felt guilty myself, when my friends asked start asking, hey, when you go to the earthquake areas, or you look like also a tourists. Nobody to blame, but being late is always better than nothing.

I got several contacts of NGOs working in earthquake areas since my arrival in Pakistan. And today I just got the first chance to visit Dannish Muslim Aid, which was happily received me to be a volunteer and go to Muzaffarabad. The manager, Mr Syed Abid Gilani is just a friendly and helpful man, showed me the pictures of the victims of the earthquake and the work they are doing. The happening was quite similar to that in Indonesia, the tsunami in Aceh, but the terrain here is much more difficult as it happened in the mountainous areas, while Aceh terrain is much more plain. The high mountains, those over 6000 m, just bumped into the villages, swept everything on it, and the scars are very difficult to remove. The aid is difficult to reach the victims due to the destruction on the main roads. It was estimated 2 years needed to build the road, but those brave and not-afraid-of-death volunteers made the road in 1.5 months. Anything can happen during the building, the rocks may fall down anytime they want. The life is totally on earth’s fate.

In front of his office, there is the famous Margalla Towers, collapsed on the doom’s day, and the happening just was similar to 9-11. The towers are still there, months after the earthquake, keeping the story of tragedy listenable by everybody. And similarly, the rocks and rubles in Kashmir are still there.

Inshallah, I will go to Muzaffarabad after 7 or 10 days, tomorrow have to go to Lahore first to meet someone important.