Programs & Projects

Pakistan and Kashmir Earthquake

Mercy-USA for Aid and Development has provided aid to the survivors of the devastating earthquake that struck Pakistan and Indian-Administered Kashmir in October 2005.  The 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck the northern part of Pakistan and Kashmir destroying villages and towns, killing over 75,000 people in Pakistan and 1,300 persons in Indian-Administered Kashmir, and leaving several million persons homeless.

Mercy-USA's relief includes:

Reconstruction of an Earthquake-Damaged School in NWFP, Pakistan

• From September 2007 to September 2008, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development (M-USA) and its local partner Humanity Hope built a new high school for girls in the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan.  The original high school was severely damaged in the devastating October 2005 earthquake.

The new high school, located in the village of Shamdhara in the Mansehra District of NWFP, has an enrollment of over 400 girls from this village and several surrounding villages.  The campus consists of two buildings with 5 classrooms each, a third with an examination hall and laboratory, and a fourth with administrative offices (the only original structure assessed to be still useable after the devastating earthquake).  All three new structures are earthquake resistant, utilizing a light steel design.

The school was formally inaugurated on September 20, 2008 by Mr. Ahmad Khan, the Special Secretary of Education in the NWFP government, and officials from the Pakistani Government's Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA).  The ceremony was also attended by local government officials, other NGOs, representatives from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), community members, teachers and students.  The students performed the Pakistani national anthem and held a debate on the importance of education.

Medical Treatment

• From October 14, 2005 to March 31, 2006, Mercy-USA supported the medical teams sent by Canadian Relief Foundation (CRF) to Pakistan to treat injured and sick survivors of this devastating earthquake.  During this period, these teams treated over 18,500 patients (including 3,108 children under the age of five and 2,047 elderly patients over the age of 60) at three permanent hospitals, three field hospitals and 40 mobile clinics that serviced remote villages in Pakistani Kashmir.

Services provided by these teams included major and minor surgery, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, primary care and vaccinations, as well as, technical training for local Pakistani health care professionals.  For detailed statistics on the health care services provided by these medical teams, please click here.

 

Emergency Shelter

• From November 2005 to January 2006, Mercy-USA, through CRF and the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America, distributed 1,200 winterized tents to 1,200 homeless families (about 6,600 persons) and 7,000 thermal blankets to over 3,150 families (over 16,000 persons) in the Azad Kashmir (AK) and Northwest Frontier (NWFP) Provinces of Pakistan.  See below table for specifics of these distributions:

  
  

   

  
  
   
• During October and November 2005, M-USA, through our partner in India, United Economic Forum (UEF), distributed about 3,700 corrugated galvanized iron (CGI) sheets (traditionally used as roofing material) to 285 families (about 2,000 persons) living in seven villages (Bada Chadan, Choti Gwallan, Jambhur Patnan, Nambla A, Singtung, Thajal Pawdia and Uri Proper) in Indian-Administered Kashmir.  These families used the CGI sheets along with wood beams that they retrieved from their damaged or destroyed homes to build semi-permanent shelters to protect them from the harsh winter weather.

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