Letters, emails from individuals visiting earthquake affected zone

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Feel free to add emails/letters received from people who are now visiting the affected areas, it will show us how people are suffering, tell us ground situation there.

This one was forwarded in ICNA-DFW group:

Salaam O Alykum Dear Brs. & Srs.

I pray all is well Insha’Allah.

I got back from Muzafarabad last night. I am currently in Islamabad. My journey to Muzafarabad was long as blocks of road slid off the mountains due to the earthquake. Rain and hail storm the night before did not help either. Trucks, busses and cars were seen every so many miles stuck in the hilly roads or sliding off as the muddy roads gave in.

As we entered the city of Muzafarabad we were welcomed by a strong stinch of decaying bodies, buried alive under the flattened buildings. The atmosphere was full of chaotic sounds such as cries of families, yelling for aid by helpless men,women and children. The moment I entered the city we came across a building and the army had found yet another body from the rubble badly crushed as the concrete fell on this man. Not a soul was in the city without face masks as one would throw up due to the stinch of decaying bodies. Any human being would be teary eyes after seing the situation of the people of that city.

I moved on to IR office. There I met an employee who had lost 23 family members in the mountains of kashmir. Yet, he has been there from the 2nd day
helping others. Such is the morale of people of that region currently. Almost all local employees of IR have had a loss in this disastor. I was told that the first two days after the quake were depicting the end of time as no one soul had time to look at another as they all were trying to save their own lives. The city was constatly rocked with over 400 after shocks.

As you see the pictures that I am sending as part of another emial, you will see structure after structure flattend to the ground. Each building has its own story, each building has a body trapped, unaccessable to this date.

A doctor told me that his team of 20 doctors were the first ones in Muzafarabad after the quake. When he reached the cricket ground he saw over 2,500 people lying on the ground waiting for medical help. In the course of next 3 days this team amputated over a 1,000 individuals to save their lives without all the proper anesthesia and medications.

One of the picutres has a kid holding the photograph of his older brother and cousin crushed while they were in school.

Girls in a local school got trapped in the school building, I was told a figure of over 50+ girls. Their cries faded away by Wednesday. IR staff mentioned that the sounds of the girls cries will haunt them for the rest of their life.

I went to the camp site, each tent had their own stories and each family had their own share of losses. Not one family left without a loss. I met a man who worked in another city, said all of his brothers passed away so now he has to support 4 families (avg. family size 7-8).

A man walked into the city of Muzafarabad after a hike of full day carrying his mother on his back with broken limbs. He had to return back to his village as there were more family members he had left behind. There is a picture of a woman in black chadar. She lost two of her sons. Another husband and wife sitting cooking together lost all their kids. A kid standing in front of the IR truck lost his parents and was being taken care off by a neighbor.

You will see a picture of a green mountain with houses all over it. Next picture is of a white mountain. Half of the green mountain flattened out wiping out all of the houses on it and burrying an entire village in the valley below. There are many mountains where half of it caved in, these are not small mud slides these are mountains that partially flattend and became dirt.

I could go on and on but I thought I would share a little bit of my expierience during my stay in Muzafarabad. Baagh, Balakot, Manshera and hundreds of other smaller villages throughout the mountanous area are unaccounted for and no relief has arrived there.

IR has a staff of 32 medical team that had gone on a project to Neelum Valley and are currently stuck there as the only bridge that leads into the village collapsed.

I am sure all of you guys are but another reminder please keep all the people affected in your du’a. May Allah not have anyone go through such a catastrophe.

Please forgive me if I said something wrong. Please keep me in your du’a.

W’Salaam

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Where is Mujahid e Awal-Sardar qayoum

Any news about the self proclaimed mujahid e Awal of kashmir- sardar abdul qayoum khan-

Haven't heared about him since the earth quake--

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Re: Letters, emails from individuals visiting earthquake affected zone

why was bao’s thread merged with mine? there is no common ground except that he is talking about Kashmir… please split back :mad:

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Re: Letters, emails from individuals visiting earthquake affected zone

meri bad-dua laggi :) hehe

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Re: Letters, emails from individuals visiting earthquake affected zone

Email received from a friend.

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Hello All,

I wanted to share my trip to Muzaffarabad with you all. The purpose is not to brag that I have been there and done that. The one and only purpose behind sharing my story is that you all get to know, from someone like you, what is happening at this very moment while we sit in our air-conditioned offices thinking how the time will pass till iftar, what we will have for iftar and what we will do afterwards.

I, as part of a group of 12 people went to Islamabad on Friday morning to volunteer in the relief efforts to help the earthquake victims. We all had a few concerns before we left for the trip. We were asking ourselves whether we would be of any help, how possibly we could be of any help, how would we help, where would we help, which NGO should we volunteer to, so on and so forth. In the end we just decided to go there and find out for ourselves. We ended up at the HQ of Sungi, which we had heard was the most organized of all the NGOs and which was doing the best work. When we got to their office it was total chaos, no one was in charge and there was total utter lack of communication. We went and offered our services wherever needed, one person told us to go to Mansehra, the other told us that there was no need in Mansehra and that we should go to Balakot and yet another person came and told us that there were enough volunteers in Balakot and that we should go to Rawalakot. So in the end we had to talk to a dozen people to assess the situation and then decide on our own where we should go to help. What we did was send an advance team to Abbotabad on Friday evening while we waited for the rest of the team to join us in Islamabad. When a part of our team reached Abbotabad we were told that a lot of help was needed in Muzaffarabad so we decided that that was where we should go.

From Islamabad to Abbotabad and from there to Muzaffarabad took us approximately 7 hours because we had to take a longer, safer route. Till Abbotabad the effects of the earthquake were not visible as such. In abbotabad we visited the Ayub Medical College complex which was our first glimpse of the tragedy unfolding even as I write this email. There was blood everywhere, screams coming from children who were being amputated, wounded sitting on the footpaths with nowhere to go. This was nothing compared to what we were about to see in Muzaffarabad. We started seeing the real destruction and chaos that the earthquake has caused. Driving through villages that we had never heard of, Garhi Habibullah and Balakot etc., we could not see a single structure standing. All we could see were men, women and children waiting by the roadsides for help which was not coming fast enough. We did not see any relief efforts, any NGO camps, any government workers, any army workers till we reached the outskirts of Muzaffarabad. We had been told that we would need to wear surgical masks because the stench of death would be bad. Didn’t believe them then but it turned out to be true. Shattered houses, the stench of death and the homeless everywhere is what greeted us in the capital of Azad Kashmir.

We drove around asking everyone where we should go to help out especially keeping in mind that we had two doctors with us and lots and lots of medicine. Finally we arrived at Neelum ground, which was being used as a helipad base by the army to carry out the relief efforts. It was a terrifying scene. There were wounded everywhere, helicopters landing and taking off every few minutes and people running all over the place. There were also people just sitting around watching the helicopters and doing nothing more. We went into the TCF camp and asked the in charge, Adnan, if any help was needed. He grabbed all of us and gave us a briefing right there on the spot, telling us what help was needed and how we could fit in. He told us that volunteers were needed by the hundreds and they were needed for at least 7 to 10 days. This freaked most of us out because we had just planned to help out for a couple of days and then get back to our normal lives. After a lot of discussion it was decided that we would help out the best we could and some of us would stay while the rest went back. We started off by some of us putting up a medical tent, the others helping out in the operating theater, while others managed the patients in the Pre Op and Post Op. Patients were streaming in, not just into our camp but in every camp setup in Muzaffarabad. We saw close up, limbs being amputated, kids in shock, grown men and women crying for shelter and food. It was just really, really terrible. We helped out at the camp for two days the best we could and now some of us are back in Karachi to organize the relief that we think is most needed while some of us stayed back to help out for a few days more.

In my opinion and from what I saw, I have come to the following conclusions.

  1. 1. The government is doing almost nothing to help in the relief effort. I guess with the busy meeting schedules that the entire government has these days its hard for them to do much else. I did not see a single cent out of the billions of dollars, from Abbotabad to Muzaffarabad, that the government has received in PRIVATE donations being used in the relief effort. There was one government official who visited the relief camps on Sunday morning and distributing 1000 rupee notes at HIS OWN discretion and at the most he must have distributed a 100,000 Rupees. There were helicopters being used to ferry government officials (or atleast people with enough contacts) to Islamabad (of course that may be deemed as relief effort by the government). People told us that almost the entire government of Azad Kashmir had left the moment it was possible for them to get out of Muzaffarabad. People told us that the Prime Minister of AJK came down from Islamabad on Sunday morning to inspect his residence and then went back to the safety of our Capital city. On Monday morning, the heli-base was extraordinarily more organized, cleaner, crisper and brimming with generals (and their butlers, chauffeurs, body guards and so on and so forth). We asked around and were told that Maharaja Shaukat Aziz was flying up from his palatial Prime Ministers Secretariat to hold a victim in his arms and get photographs taken to gather more and more aid for God knows what!
  2. The Army. Our rulers. Our Benefactors. Our lords. I would not say that the army is doing nothing but I will say that it is doing not even 30% of what they could be doing. From what I could see they were far too busy orchestrating a media campaign (much like Wag the Dog) to portray an image of the earthquake most suitable to them. Foreigners, local press, and people with influence were allowed to enter the grounds but people crying and begging outside for shelter and food were stopped by MPs at the gates. They were told that the generals down to the majors were far too busy to entertain them. This scene was made even crueler by the fact that the victims could see areas of the grounds where heaps of relief goods (including tents and warm clothes) were clearly visible to them. I stopped a colonel whom I had gotten to know in the previous 24 hours and asked him why these people were not being helped. His reply was and I quote ‘If we start giving tents and other relief to these people we would not have any left for the remote areas where they were needed the most. We have been strictly ordered from the top not to give out anything!’ On one hand you hear that and then on television you hear them they say that they can’t reach the remote areas due to bad weather, etc. So who gets the relief goods then? It was so sad to see that the army was not willing to help the people who had walked injured for days to get to help and at the same time it is (supposedly) not able to help the people that need it the most in remote areas. The relief goods that our flowing into the effected areas are being held hostage just like our country also is by these heartless dictators. The army is busy facilitating and controlling the foreign press as well as the foreign rescue and relief teams. The army is letting them see and work in areas that the army wants them to be in and no other. We saw approximately 8-10 helicopters working over the period of two days. Those helicopters were predominantly being used to ferry journalists and television crews back and forth so that the world could see what the army wanted them to see and the government could get the aid that it needs to feed their insatiable appetites. I am not saying that those helicopters were not bringing in victims, they were. Maybe 4 sorties out of 10 were for this purpose but not more.
  3. The NGOs are doing the best that they can. Private NGOs like Sungi, TCF, etc. are doing a lot but most of them have no organization whatsoever (TCF being an exception from what I have seen). Political parties are doing all they can to ensure that they have as many sympathy votes as they can. Camps of parties like MQM and PPP could be seen all over the place but they were there mostly for political reasons and not for aid reasons. One could tell that was their main purpose by looking at the political slogans all over the place. The camps were full of workers who should have been out in the fields and were bereft of relief goods that had been replaced by posters and loudspeakers. The members of national assembly, provincial assemblies, politicians as well as some relief organizations are concentrating on areas that are dear to them for ulterior motives of course. Sadly, the worst hit areas are not important to anyone because they are of no consequence to anyone. Who cares about villages that are so remote that one has to walk for two days under normal circumstances? Nobody!

In my opinion the following is needed on a war footing.

  1. We need to get shelter, warm clothes, blankets, food and most of all medical assistance to the remotest parts of Pakistan before it becomes too late. We need to improvise, come up with ideas that will help us provide shelter to people who cannot be reached by roads. The government and the army informs us every hour that they have x number of tents available for immediate relief. What they fail to mention is that these tents, when packed, are approximately 7 feet long and weigh at least 40 pounds making them impossible to be transported to the remote areas. We need tents that are of the lightest material, weather proof, can fit in a big shopping bag so that they can be dropped in the remotest areas where people are dying by the minute. I met people whose villages were between 5 and 15 kilometers from Muzaffarabad who had received any help of any sort. Their children were dying of hunger and the cold. Their homes had been destroyed and now they were being turned back from Muzaffarabad with no help, just empty promises. One man told us that the population of his village which was around 15,000 had been reduced to a couple of thousand and those too were dying because of no relief, no shelter and no food. One man came in carrying his 4 year old daughter with a broken arm. They had walked for two days to get to the clinic. They had not eaten or drank anything in that time and the daughter was in total shock not being able to utter a single word. One man was brought in and his leg was amputated right in front of us. He had lost his wife and 4 kids and now he had lost his leg. Don’t you think he must have been asking himself why he had been left alive?
  2. Medical Specialists. Now there is hardly any use for general physicians because the victims are not suffering from cough and cold. Now is the most urgent need for orthopedic surgeons so that limbs can be amputated before the owners of those limbs die of gangrene. Neurosurgeons are needed so that brain injuries don’t turn into brain deaths. Pediatricians and Psychiatrists are needed so that the children can be given some hope for the future. We need Mobile Clinics so that victims who are too injured to travel down to the big cities can be helped. We need experienced doctors who would be willing to go to the remotest areas, if they are not willing to volunteer then we should hire them and take them there at any cost! People, if we don’t help the people who are dying right now, there won’t be any NEED for RECONSTRUCTION!
  3. We need money. So that these people have funds to survive the cold. These people have the will to live and the will to do what they must to survive but they don’t have the means. They are traveling for days on foot to get to major cities and help themselves but they don’t have the money to buy food, shelter, etc. and take these things back to their villages. We gave a tent to an elderly man who was atleast 70 years old. This tent was the kind that weighs 40+ pounds. This aged man heaved the tent on his back and started walking to his village. The journey was supposed to take him two days on foot. It makes me happy to think that at least his family must have a roof over their heads as I write this email.
  4. We need volunteers. Doesn’t matter what your skills are. Doesn’t matter how busy you are. Doesn’t matter how spoilt you are. Those people need you! Even if you can take out one weekend of your life then please go up there. Treat it as a road trip, a camping trip or whatever else that you fancy but go there. Those people need to see that we care. Even if you go there and just sit with a few families and talk to them for a couple of hours. That will at least show them that we are there for them. If you can’t afford or can’t carry too much luggage, just take one sweater and give it to just one of the victims and you will have done some good. If you there is more humanity and concern inside you then go to one of the NGOs and help them in one of their camps. Go to the TCF office here in Karachi, they need volunteers by the hundred! Forget winter vacations in London and Paris. Our country needs us like it has never needed us before. It is a war zone out there and if we don’t do something right now, it will haunt us some day in the future.
  5. We need transportation. The government cries and moans that they don’t have enough helicopters. I bet if they give an ad in every major newspaper in the world that they are willing to hire any and all helicopters available anywhere in the world, there will be a hundred helicopters landing at Islamabad airport tomorrow! Everything is for hire and so are helicopters and pilots. If the government is not willing to help it’s people then we should do whatever we have to do to do things on our own. I know of a group of people in Dubai who had rented a helicopter, loaded it with relief goods and sent it to the remote areas and made drops there themselves! Why can’t others do it? If a new years charity ball can raise millions of rupees because we want to have some fun, I am sure we can raise a lot more if we want to sincerely help.

My email has become too long. I apologize for taking so much of your time but I hope that I have made things a bit clearer for you all. Those people need us right now, this very minute otherwise it will be too late. There are people dying every minute of every hour of every day! Please help!

We didn’t do much while we were there except for properly organizing the TCF camp there and helping out with a few patients etc. When we were leaving the people there were insisting us to stay back. We asked them what good will us staying back do when we are not specialized doctors, when we don’t have the RIGHT relief goods to distribute and when we are not brave enough to climb up the mountains to help the really needy. They said that’s true but at least you brought some life back into this place, helped a few people and made others smile. If you think you cannot do much else then please at least go there and spread a few smiles.

I plan to go there again in the next week to ten days. This time I will be better organized and better prepared. You all are most welcome to join me or help me as best as you guys can.

Regards,

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Re: Letters, emails from individuals visiting earthquake affected zone

^ now thats an eye-opener.. I am sure not everyone will agree with whats stated here, but this is exactly what I have heard from every single person who has visited these places. Its so heart-wrenching to read all these details of being not so ogranized and taking this opporutinity as a political campaign.. but then there are good people out there who are doing their best, May Allah Taala help them! Ameen

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Re: Letters, emails from individuals visiting earthquake affected zone

THAT SUCKS! Faisal r u for real?
where the HELL is all that aid going?
what are they doing with the tents?

are they friggin waiting for the rain to wash the dead away?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
this is sickening!

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Re: Letters, emails from individuals visiting earthquake affected zone

From forums.developpakistan.org

M. Sajjad Haider

Here are stories of some of the people that I met or heard about. Some while working at a hospital set up by the 25 doctors that went from Multan to help the injured. Others were from my trips to villages in central Hazara Division. Some of this may be a tough read.

Zara, Balakot
A very strong willed woman who came with her two young daughters. Both of them lost limbs. Once they were operated upon she refused to stay on to get her own arm operated on. Even thought the doctors reminded her of all the dangers of not fixing her arm. She said her other child was still somewhere in her home village and there was no point wasting time here when she could be looking for him. She left with a broken elbow joint in her right arm.

Mohammad Nazir, Ogrorh Valley
An army man who was in Muzaffarabad till the 6th of October when his unit was relocated. He survived and he said god saved him to give him another chance at life. He said it was an opportunity for him to live a better life and to treat his family better. He was really helpful in putting up the tents we brought along. And forced us to have a cup of tea and mithai before we left.

Khan, Kohistan
This man brought his son from the northern part of Kohistan. (north-west border of Pakistan, close to the pak-tajikistan border) I never thought there would be any injured far up there. He travelled by highly priced transport where he could find it or just by trekking through the mountains carrying his boy in his arms. Despite his own situation he helped us a lot with the loading and unloading of trucks. He said he wanted to please us because he needed a tent for his family for the winter. We made sure he got all that he needed.

Tariq Khan, SUNGI staff
He was the manager or maybe the staff of one of the SUNGI offices up north. He was in Canada and had come back to help the people. He was delivering goods by helicopter and on one such mission as he was trying to disperse goods a large number of devastated hungry people rushed to get the goods. In his efforts to organize everything he was pushed away and died when his head struck the helicopter propeller.

Imtiaz, Battagram
A muscular young man left totally helpless when his house collapsed on him. He lost both feet from above the knee. He was operated upon thrice and four times the stump in his leg bled open. The doctors called him the tiger of Battagram for no man could withstand the pain and suffering he went through. When I was coming back he had been in hospital for 5 days in and out of OT most of the time.

Gul Mohammad, Balakot
This aging man dug out and buried 2 of his sons. He lost his wife as well. He said that his oldest son was my age and he had always been number 1 at school/college. He carried his third son, who lost both his legs on a chair for 12 hours over mountainous terrain before he was rescued by army personal. His son wanted me to operate on him. When I told him I was not a doctor he said he knew that I would surely make him better.

Sameena, Balakot
A 12 month old baby girl, who came in with severe injuries to both her legs. All but her father had survived the quake. She suffered from fits and was diagnosed with Tetanus, she was not given the mandatory TT shot when she was brought in. She was taken to Pindi but failed to make it through. One of the few fatalities that occurred at the hospital. It brought great grief to all of us who tried to help and comfort her mostly because this was a death due to the hospital staff. All patients need to be given a TT shot right away.

Anonymous, Physics student.
A young volunteer whom we all thought was a nurse or doctor by the way she took care of the patients injuries. Day or night there was not a single time when she was not at the hospital. A student from a local university, we were to busy most of the time to get to know ppl working with us personally. We did not see her again after the death of young Sameena whom she had personally tried to help.

The doctors of Nishtar Hospital, Multan
These guys poured their hearts out. They delayed their departure by 2 days because they wanted to treat some more of the injured people. I traveled with them to remote villages to treat those who could not come down to the hospitals. As I write this I know they are working on patient after patient trying to help as many as they can.

Words really cannot do justice to what it was like being amongst these heroic survivors and some fatalities. I wanted to speak with the patients so I could give them mental and emotional support but I was the one who learnt what belief in god and courage in adversity is all about. They gave me faith and hope in the wake of such a tremendous tragedy. They showed me how blessed and lucky I was to be how and where I am today. So wherever you may be, thank god for all, that he has given to you and me and pray to him that he helps these people move on from this disaster.

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Re: Letters, emails from individuals visiting earthquake affected zone

One more ...

M. Sajjad Haider

Hey guys ive been in abbottabad for the past few days and have been really busy with the relief efforts that are taking place. ive been going place and theres a million stories to tell but heres a brief overview of whats happened.

The good news is that the roads to Muzzafarabad and Balakot. The 2 hardest hit cities ahave been open to all traffic for the past couple of days and dozens and dozens of trucks I shud say hundreds cause abt 200 trucks worth of goods were delivered in muzaffarabad. Medical relief is still required cause theres hundred and thousands of bodies till lying in the rubble and u cannot go into most parts of the city withy oxygen masks. yesterday. So ppl who r linked by roads are getting and have been getting lots of relief. So we don’t need clothes and other small stuff. And since most places have chasma water even that is not required. Whats required r tents and blankets for relief from the cold weather. There have been tremors here ever since the earthquake but theyr getting smaller. There was a sizable one at 2 this morning and we all had to rush out from our hotel and believe me it was cold. And were absolutely fit, makes u wonder how injured ppl without food or water for 3-5 days r surviving. The ppl who aren’t getting help are ppl in small remote villages. Theres plenty of those as these ppl live in small groups according to the demographic of the regios and also those ppl that are absolutely cut off such as ppl in the balakot district. A survivor from there who was rescued by helicopter told us day before that about 50 000 ppl are still in that valley. Army and govt helicopters are rescuing injured ppl at the rate of abt 15-35 ppl/ helicopter. Theyr also sending medical teams up there to treat the ppl directly. So help is getting even there but sadly there still remain small villages from where no information is available.

Ive been working with a team of 25 doctors from multan who came with supplies and have set up camp here and are treating patients as best they can. We were in battal yesterday and other small remote vaillage iun the area and the good thing is ppl r very quickly becoming self sustainable there. Theyr making theyr own food in many cases. We’ve had ppl who have come from the cut off balakot region. This one old man, buried his 2 old sons and then carried his third son for 2 days till he got to an area from where he could be airlifted. His son has a 50-50 chance of survivial. Theres many ppl like that and they need a lot of medical assistance. Im also working with Sangi, an org working in the hazara distict for the past 10 years or so. Started by the now deceased omar asghar khan and now led by his wifem these guys have a wealth of information on the populations of different villages and many others stats. Were working with them and sources that have helicopters to arrange medical supplies n staff to be sent to the remotest of areas. These guys have the local information and theyr being very good sources of help.

Im not sure what u guys have done or are doing but what you guys can do is get in touch with the army relief cell in islamabad. Or any form of govt org. unreliable or corrupt as they may be theyr are best hope to save the ppl in the far north. They r doing their best. Thes good thing abt these ppl is that they don’t take death to hard. They consider it very much a part of life and somehow push it out of their thoughts. Theyr a resilient ppl and despite our attempts to try and bring all of them down to safe regions they are adamant that only sick ppl be treated and sent back and they will rebuild again from scratch. The Pakistani ppl r donating huge amts of stuff and as I said before theres a million stories to tell. Some of heart break and an increasing number now of heart warming ones. Ill may be online today so send me msgs if u want at my msn account [email protected] or if u can call im |@ 0304 410 7654 take care guys

klater

ps we needf volunteeras cause they can be allocated to whomeer needs help. ive been asking frieends n abt 20 or so medical students may be reaching here shortly. if u know someone who wants to help. tell them to conbtact me n ill get them going in whatever direction needs most help

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Re: Letters, emails from individuals visiting earthquake affected zone

We received an e-mail from somebody volunteering at PIMS in Islamabad. She's from Toronto but was in Islamabad when the earthquake struck and has been volunteering at the hospital ever since.

The e-mail was extremely brief and dealt primarily with personal issues. What she did say about the situation there is the following:

...... Things here are alright mashAllah. Still getting one to three aftershocks a day, this mornings was 5.8. They are so unnerving as you never know its outcome especially after what we've seen. On a sadder note, three orphans were kidnapped from the hospital we are volunteering at.

........

B A G S
B A G S
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Re: Letters, emails from individuals visiting earthquake affected zone

these from a friend who went up to Kashmir next day after the earthquake with supplies.

Salaam Alikum,

We are back from Azad Kashmir. It was a good trip - good in the
sense that we came back with a feeling that a difference is being
made - no matter how small there is slight progress.

I had always wanted to see Neelam Valley and Kashmir quite
appropriately dubbed a piece of heaven on earth by the British.

Unfortunately what I saw was the Death Valley. The past one week my
faith in just about everything has been tested to its extreme.

I did take some pictures that I am sending you - however I have kept
them PG-13. Primarily out of respect for Allah, the dead, and the
dying. Also I did not feel appropriate as I was afraid that the
locals may think that their misery is a photo-opp for me.

Muzafrabad is dead. There is no building standing in this capital
city. The sole 2 buildings that survived will be brought down by the
government in a day or two because they are unstable.

Because it rained - I had seen blood flow out of crumbled buildings
in a thick maroon paste as if the buildings themselves are bleeding.

Something that aches the most all the children are dead. The classes
started at 8:00 that fateful morning and those inside were all
crushed.

The smell of death plagues the city start to end. We had to walk a
lot no matter were you go and what you do - you smell them and after
a while it becomes a part of you. As I write this I can still smell
it even though I have showered 3 times and tossed those clothes out.

If anyone wants to see what the Judgment Day would look like I say
take a trip to Muzafrabad. I have seen relatives not recognize each
other. I have seen ground rejecting the dead - as there is no more
room.

I have seen aches, pains, and misery like no one can imagine. People
walk the streets like zombies with fear and misery in their eyes.

For three days following the earthquake there was no Azan or Namaz
in the city - three days later the first Azan was given and people
started screaming everywhere. There were sounds of Allah-O-Akbar and
La'illaha every where. There sounds of screams, cries, and shouts.
Everyone ran to streets some fell on the ground in sajood to pray
(maybe) or just were over powered - that I do not know. Others cried
and hit their heads. People hugged people and cried.

In this past one week I have wanted to cry uncontrollably . . . but
the people everywhere in Dheerkot, Bagh, Muzafrabad, and Balakot
(and all other places too I am sure) expressed such metal in the
wake of this crisis that they have kept themselves strong and all
the out of towners as well.

TODAY I AM PROUD TO BE A PAKISTANI.

I would give anything up but not this . . . ever never.

This is what I saw:

Allah tested this nation by throwing world's 4th largest earthquake
at us and this nation stood-up saying Allah-o-Akbar. From Karachi to
Muzafrabad there is an ocean of conveys taking aid - you can not
imagine in your wildest imaginations how this nation has responded.
People are virtually gambling on their lives to get aid through.

When the ground shakes from quakes and after shocks Pakistanis hold
hands and stand firm and say loudly Allah-O-Akbar, we came from you
and to you we will return.

When rocks the size of cars rain from mountains Pakistanis walk
steadily saying Allah-O-Akbar, give us strength to walk.

When mass graves are dug and tens of dead are lowered for eternity
Pakistanis say - Allah-O-Akbar, forgive us even if we are not worthy
of your mercy.

When rubble is moved and dead bodies of innocent children are found
I heard Pakistani mothers cry and people say "do not cry we do not
understand His wisdom He is all knowing and all powerful"

Today I am PROUD TO BE A PAKISTANI. Today we are a NATION tied
together by one religion Islam.

But things are not well. The destruction is huge 1/4th of Pakistan
suffers. Medicines are needed, food stock is moderate to fare, tents
and blankets are badly needed.

We shall go again on Wednesday. We have found a good place to put up
our camps in Muzafrabad.

Those who have helped . . . I would say dig deeper. Those who have
not I would say please do not wait. Do what ever you can with whom
ever you can.

Here is basic info for you:

Muzafrabad the largest city in Kashmir was home to 500,000. 35,000
casualties, the rest 465,000 needs roughly 30KG of food / week which
means - 14,000 tons of food has to be sent every week till the
situation comes into control. The most a truck can take is 5 Tons
and most trucks can only do 1.5 to 3 tons. Lifesaving medicines are
urgently needed. I can not give you any estimate on their need.

I will send some pictures – solely for the purpose that people can
see how difficult it is and how their portion of help makes a
difference.

12

Re: Letters, emails from individuals visiting earthquake affected zone

another one.

Salaam Alikum,

It is virtually hard to put all of those things that I have seen into
words and since I do not have neither the engergy nor the emotional
strength I will try to keep this as concise as possible.

We left on sunday which was about 18 or so hours after the earthquake
so our response time was good. We had two excellent excellent drivers
who were very familiar with all the hard to get to ways and short cuts.

The moment we crossed over into Azad Kashmir which in it self was
task. My first impression was of sheer shock, not just mine but of
everyone's else as well. The only way to put it is that it made 9/11
look like a brisk walk on a sunny sunday morning.

We kept on staring at the first site (base camp). we came accross one
of the worlds roughest river's (Jehlum). The noise of river was so
loud that it muted just about all the noise we were about to hear of
screams, fights, and pandamonium only a few feet away.

This site was about 32KM from Deerkot where we were headed. This was
an area where the total military presence was less than 10, plus 4
helicopters that were on continuious med-evac operations. Every car
(only civilian cars no military) that was coming from the region had
dead bodies which were piling where the army had its base camp. The
only two armymen at the base camp told us that army had not made its
way here - the only help here is the people who had their families in
here and were working in Pindi (a near buy major City 3 hours dirve at
100KM nonstop).

I asked the guy what do you want us to do - he said their are three
roads leading from here each goes to many villages just pick one and
do what ever you can. There are dead and injured all over the
place "Do not waste your time with the dead or dying" save those that
can be saved. My next question was which way to Deerkot we pointed us
to one of the streets.

And that is how the day started. I will only tell you about the first
two people we had encountered - the first was a middle aged man
sorrounded by 8 or 10 people we checked him he had major injuries
(this is 10 KM from base camp) At about 50m hight from base camp or
8000 (not sure the army guy told me) feet above sea level. We checked
him he had major internal injuries we tried to create a situation by
saying lets go lets get him to base camp. One of his family members
intervened and said he is as good as dead and no one except for Allah
can save him move on help those who can be saved.

And we moved on climbing an other few meter on a dirt road not wider
than 4.5 to 5 feet we mere stopped by a hilux pickup truck waving in
the middle of the road we jumped out he said help this man. There was
older man 50 to 60 calmly laying in the blanket. I lifted the blanket
he had a severed leg which was a laying a few inchs away. I asked the
guy who pulled us over what do you want me to with him. He says can
you fix him - I said no: - he goes never mind the leg can you fix him.
So we gave him coedine and bandaged the open wound he went down to
base camp and we went up.

The whole day went on like this and there are heart breaking stories
everywhere. However the brighter side is that I was not the only one.
When we were heading back a lot of people on their own are renting
cars, pick-ups, and trucks and heading that way we talked to some of
them and tried to prepare them emotionally and mentally for what they
are about to experience.

I will be leaving for Bagh - which comes after Deerkot with fresh
supplies tommorow.

Thank you and Jazak'Allah for you support and help.