Pakistan Earthquake 2005

Covering the earthquake, the damage and the relief work in Pakistan.

Relief Work

Louisville Doctor touched by Earthquake

Adeel Haq, a Pakistani-American doctor living in Louisville, immediately hopped a plane to become part of the first medical team deployed to a makeshift tent village near Battagram by the emergency-aid group Relief International.

“I had seen stuff on TV but didn’t realize the destruction was so widespread,” said Haq, 29, who is a third-year resident at University of Louisville Hospital. “There was a sense of desperation that I’ve never seen before in my life.”

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Scheme launched for rehabilitation of disabled earthquake victims

A group of expatriate Pakistanis, comprising professionals settled in the UK in coordination with their Pakistani counterparts, have embarked upon an ambitious scheme for rehabilitation of disabled earthquake victims that shook the country in October last.

Zafar Khan of Limbless Association - UK addressing a press conference here on Monday, said like minded professionals from both United Kingdom and Pakistan have initiated a scheme to implant Modular Artificial Limbs among victims in need of this support.

“We have already established three centers at Muzzaffarabad, Mansehra and Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences - Islamabad, after extensive discussion with the Federal Health Minister, Naseer Khan and other senior officials of the health department,” he said.

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Cashmere for Kashmir to raise funds for quake victims

The Irfan Kathwari Foundation, a charitable group, is sponsoring a fund-raising event in New York next month to help the victims on the October earthquake in Kashmir.

Called ‘Cashmere for Kashmir,’ the two-day event on March 3 and 4 will include an auction featuring “unique pieces of cashmere clothing, accessories, and special items” at a private residence in Bedford, New York. The goal of the organisers is to raise more than a quarter of a million dollars. The proceeds will be given direct to local organisations in Kashmir, while a percentage will go to Refugees International, an advocacy group.

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US to spend $200 million for education, health in quake zone

Ryan C Crocker, the United States ambassador to Pakistan, said on Wednesday that the US would spend $200 million over the next few years to supplement government’s efforts to revive educational and health facilities in quake-hit areas.

He was talking to the media at a ceremony for hand over of US medical equipment to the government.

The US Navy Marine Corps Combined Medical Response Team 3 (CMRT 3) held the ceremony before its return to Okinawa, Japan. The CMRT 3 provided medical relief to the quake affected people and also restored 12 local health facilities. CMRTs focused on medical outreach, vaccination and providing basic healthcare to thousands of villagers in inaccessible areas. The unit is returning to its base in Japan as the focus in quake-hit region is now shifting from relief work to reconstruction.

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Kingsley to appear in Pakistan earthquake documentary

Ben Kingsley will be featured in a documentary about the devastation caused by last year’s earthquake in Pakistan that flattened entire villages in the country’s portion of Kashmir and surrounding areas.

The documentary by director Chip Duncan is being made in partnership with Relief International, a Los Angeles-based aid organization. Pakistan’s government also supported the project.

Kingsley, who spent five days in the Pakistan-controlled portion of Kashmir, told reporters in Islamabad on Wednesday that he would like to eliminate the phrase, “We must respect our differences,” from the “lazy vocabulary of political rhetoric.”

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Earthquake Photo Exhibition by Concern Worldwide

Concern Worldwide is a non-governmental, international, humanitarian organisation dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries

Last year, Concern Worldwide commissioned award-winning Bangladeshi photographer Shahidul Alam to travel to Pakistan to visually capture the struggle faced by local people after the disaster. His pictures depict the sheer enormity of the catastrophe, and the amazing dignity and determination of people as they try to regain some semblance of normality.

Shahidul visited the provinces that bore the brunt of the destruction and loss of life, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

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Wakefield South Asia Earthquake Appeal

Wakefield Council is asking the community to help identify a specific area in Pakistan to benefit from the district’s fundraising efforts.

Council Leader Cllr Peter Box wants to focus on a Pakistan community to contribute to its reconstruction. There is also a possibility of developing long-term twinning links.

After the October 2005 earthquake, Wakefield Council donated £10,000 through the British Red Cross towards the relief effort.

Over the last few weeks the Council has worked closely with the South Asian community to coordinate local support.

Clothes, tents and blankets have been donated at nine Wakefield Collection Centres and four deliveries have been sent to Kashmir.

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Clear Path International Holds Pakistan Earthquake Relief Drive

The Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island and Clear Path International, an island-based humanitarian nonprofit, are seeking winter relief goods for Pakistan.

The two organizations are asking Kitsap County residents to donate their used but useable blankets, sleeping bags, tents, tarps, ground sheets, linens, medium- to heavy-weight clothes, coats, hats, scarves, gloves, shoes, boots, generic school supplies (pens, pencils, notebooks, etc.), hand tools, wool, fabric and sewing materials.

Donors can drop off all washed and functional items in the north parking lot at Sakai Intermediate School, 9394 Sportsman Club Rd. on Bainbridge Island, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25 and Sunday, Feb. 26. No junk, please.

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