South Asia Earthquake (Pakistan & India)

We touched base at the Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Hassanabdal. an hour's drive from Islamabad and also just 45 mins from Rawalpindi, 2 major cities in the NWFP I North West Frontier Province ]. Islamabad is a modern metropolis; the Nerve Centre of the Ruling Govt. of Pakistan and also the platform for operations of the United Nations plus the multitude of Intemational NGO's.

A sprawling Temple complex, the Gurdwara Panja Sahib is an important Shrine to the Sikhs. Afterall, half of Punjab and Kashmir is still in Pakistan, separated from India only by the L.O.C I Line of Control ]. During peak festivities it can house and feed 5000 people. That was also the last place we had a decent bath in what was to be a long while! Being the first team, the responsibility to Recce areas to establish an operating Base fell on us. With good ground contact, we were split into 2. Sicurity being first on the list, Rani our Leader shot offto Islamabad to register the Team with the Malaysian High Commission. Yes, Team I leader was a woman ----- not just young but capable, decisive plus IT & Media sawy -- vital requisites for the Team.

On our First day of Recce, jammed up in a van, we absorbed our first impressions of Pakistan. Whizzing by, amidst the rubble, dust and devastation, everyday life also unrolled itself. Morose men, unshaven and unwashed, in the ubiquitous pastel or earthy baggy pants and "iubbahs" went about their trades or queued up in long snaky lines to collect donated supplies from large Army Relief Camps that were in full swing. Children, as always, managed a toothy smile. If only I could get my wet wipes out and clean the grime off their faces. they were beautiful blue - eyei creaturei, almost European. Glaringly obvious wa-s the absence of women in the streets. In a society that is culturally oppressive to women, we made a mental note to put women and children on the priority list as soon as our Mobile Clinic took off.

On lower gound were mist - kissed fields of cauliflower, potatoes, tomatoes and greens. Sugarcane swayed in the breeze. Basmati rice stalks bent heavy with ripening grain. Our driver, the artful dodger, weaved his way expertly on roads where both Man and Beasts of Burden competed for space. One thing was for sure :- the whole of Pakistan had risen to its feet to help itself. Hundreds of laden trucks ran round the clock. Truckers torm the pipeline for movement of goods across the length & breath of the country. Not a train did I see. Trucks also are a ffademark here. Tlpically, the.v have markedly raised sides and are elaborately decorated. The Pathans especially take particular pride in exhibiting their artistic side, often to the angst of family' needs. Five hours of driving took us through the city of Abbottabad. in the vast district of Manshera. Here was the huge Ayub Hospital Complex rvhere serious cases were shuttled to by ambulances. l,ocal Police seemed to have iittle clout. Everywhere, prescence ofthe Military was felt. Cantonments & Ammunition Depots, Air Bases & Military Hospitals dotted the way. Interspersed were quaint Officers' Messes with manicured lawns, reminiscent of Colonial times. A stark contrast to the ordinary man's baked mud homes.

Further up the " Highway", we reached the fork ------ the road to the East led to Balakot and Muzaffarabad, two badly hit areas, close to the Indian side of Kashmir. We continued straight up North to our decided destination i.e Battagram which is just 500km from Gilgit at the Chinese border. To the West at Peshawar, the NWFP also shared a border with Afghanistan close to the great Khyber Pass.

The road to Battagram was a gut-stining, serpentine route up the mountains --- hairpin loops and sheer-drop ravines. The crisp mountain air was a welcome change from the dust of the lowlands. Vegetation tumed more temperate with tall Conifers all along. We arrived in the dark as the guests of Hakim Omprakash who opened up his modest premises to us. It was here that we got the first bott of the after-shocks, with many more to come. One night, tremors ina series, made us nrn out 7 times!! Fed up, we'opted to sleep outdoors in cold tents with boots on and documents & cash strapped.

Getting our bearings, we found that we were within walking distance from the large Field Hospital next to the collapsed District Hospital. A visit to the District Co-ordinator of the Relief Commission gave us the necessary statistics on how not to overlap and also an opportunity to meet other International NGO's to share information. Earmarked were the areas of Alai, Banna & Shimlai --- all remote. Shimlai was our's to adopt. This hamlet is 3 hours away' b1' dirt track. We bumped into Max Corp., a heavy engineering unit from K.l- u.hich had just cleared the road to Shimlai. We came with minimal medical supplies. Armed with USS to purchase locally, we were overwhelmed with pharmacists piling up donated drugs on us!!

Tin trunks, the staple luggage of S. Asia, served well for the rough handling of our n"robile clinic stock. A hardy Toyota open pick-up truck w,as engaged. Each trip out meant a total of 6 hours, to & fro, in the bone rattler and hangirlg on fbr dear life. We couldn't help eyeing the gleaming white WHO vehicles specialll,' tlown in and fitted with sophisticated panels & GPS.

A shad1. tree or an open f,reld with a makeshitl tent will serve as rhc medical cantp site. The instant they hear that there are lady doctors. r.v6menfblk and children *'alk dolln from their villages. In these parts. a 5 - hour tr.ek by fbot is not uncommon. Years of hardship were written clearly on their faces as man.y looked older than lvhat they really were. The very ill were carried dor.r,n with their indigenous stretchers ----- securely tied dorvn on to a wooden rope bed. Many came lbr infected wounds not dressed for two weeks. Broken bones in casts that needed to be reviewed and patients requiring admission were given a note for free treatment at the Field Hospital. Marasmic children rvith diarrhoea and old men were rehydrated with drips hanging just about an)"where. The trusty l'oyota also doubled as an ambulance for those who could not afford transport down. Dialects here were predominantly Pashto & Baluchi rather than Urdu. Somehow we managed, with a smattering of Urdu, sign and body language.

A day's work was not without it's rewards. Our Muslim driver on the retum journey (being the fasting month of Ramadhan) would stop on the wayside for evening prayers. On a simple slab of concrete, the faithfi.rl gathered to pray in the open air. I would lean back to thank God for this opportunity to savour His Creation. This was a place that no tourist would dare to tread. Yet, here I was. Draped in Autumn colours, the scenes were as in my favourite childhood storybook, " HEIDI", complete with clear, gushing waters on a boulderstrewn river bed. Winding around the mountain sides was a play of shadows & light ---- one moment we were on the cool and muted side and a little later, you feel the sun stinging your back. Remarkably, the animals appeared healthier than the people. I gloated on the majestic nimble footed Mountain Goats. Robust chickens swanked about. Even the donkeys had a thick, shiny black coat. The lush greenery, probably.
The teeming Field Hospital was the group effort of the International NGO's with assistance and security coverage from the Army. The big players were "save the Children" & "Unicef' under the United Nations, Relief Intemational, the Japan Disaster Relief Team, the combined Red Cross Team --- Austrian, French & German. In a race against time, WHO mobilized the measles
vaccination. The Koreans brought in a mobile Laborotory. Relief Intemational arranged for shipments of winterized tents from Alaska. Oxfam & Action FAIM

I French NGO -- "Action against Hunger" ] had brought in their Water & Sanitation experts. Our doctors from Salam N,lalaysia were there too. Figures for a typical day ran like this:

Total no. of patients seen ll49
Referrals 22
Major surgery 34
Admissions 82
Deaths nil
Minor op. 140

7pm on the dot was the daily co-ordination meeting of ail NGO's
. for data collection
r Rosters to prevent burn-out of Doctors
o Tuberculosis alarm
. Remobilization of local hospital statT & give them their duties.
c Allot 2 ambulances * I doctor/25 patients + 1 local facilitator at the
Helipad
o Sanitation crisis at Hospital perimeter --- Latrines with directions
. Blood donation : relatives reluctant. Alert Army
r Length Of Commitment --- NGO in / NGO out.

The meeting of brilliant minds can be electriffing. One Team member of G.S, on rotation, always stayed back to watch over our personal belongings & medical supplies and also to receive dignitaries from the Army & Ministries plus the Media. This person would also participate with our Hosts' "Langga{' as part of their ooSeva". 'oSeva means "to serve" and "Langgar" means "food", two mainstream principals of Sikhism where no man is denied food anytime of the day or night. The mass cooking supplied 2 meals a day to all patients at the Field Hospital.

On the final leg of our 2 week mission in Pakistan, we voted for a detour to Muzaffarabad, closest to the epicentre, to have a first hand view. Another long drive over rugged terrain brought us to the top of a mountain overlooking the Neelum Valley where Muzaffarabad is nestled. An area equivalent to the Klang Valley has been reduced to a Tent City. The chill of the fastapproaching winter ssrved as a natural refrigerator that kept odours of still entrapped bodies at tolerable levels. Buildings had crumpled like an accordion, some even completely swallowed in yawning gashes.

Americans had their biggest presence here with a massive Field Hospital. The USS Pearl Harbour had aocteA- at Karachi port on Oct. 18fr, bringing in heavy machinery for clearing blocked roads and reconstruction. Many villages were still accessible only by Mule Track or Helicopter. We also visited a sister camp already sheltering and feeding 800 victims. No self-respecting Sikh would leave Pakistan without a pilgrimage to Nankana, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, the founder of their religion.

j . This sacred centre is close to Lahore which again is close to Amritsar on the Indian side, home to the Golden Temple. We bore the expences for this off-shoot on our last itinerary before packing for Home. The noon flight out of Islamabad to Karachi captured the arid undulating, brown expanse of the Sindh.--' Our last mirage of Pakistan.