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It has been one
of the most hectic days of activity and I was
not able to update you all on the progress all
day. Let me now summarize below:
- The Abdalian
Association (alumni of Cadet College Hasan
Abdal) have joined hands with us 100% according
to our plan, i.e. providing full relief
and rehabilitation to the village of Samni
in Bagh District. They are mobilizing all
the 5,000 Abdalians to support this activity.
They will be doing fund raising as well
as providing their volunteers to work along
with the Petarian volunteers. Henceforth,
this is a joint Petarian-Abdalian cooperative
venture. This is a great achievement for
us
- With the
Abdalians joining hands with us, we have
decided to give our best shot to providing
full relief to the 7,000 families at Samni
village and the surrounding villages (instead
of just the 1,000 families that we had originally
planned). This means we will need at least
7 times as much of financial and manpower
resources. Thus, we have taken on a much
larger challenge. We seek Allah's help in
this regard. I may point out that in order
to provide only simple relief for the next
month and a half, we now estimate that it
will cost us around Rs. 15-20 crores for
the entire valley.
Our
main mobilization for the project is now in
place. In this regard, we have already done
the following:
- We have
set up a Command and Control Center at Islamabad.
There are 5 telephone lines set up for the
Center. Anyone needing any information on
our activities may call the following nos.(051)
710-1092, 710-1096, 710-1097, 710-1098,
710-1099 (for calling from within Pakistan)
(If you are calling from outside Pakistan,
please dial +92-51 as the code instead of
051).
- The Command
and Control Center is manned 24 hours a
day. It will be the main contact with the
site as well as with the donors. It will
also provide logistics and supply support.
- After the
initial scouting teams returned from the
Samni village, our main camp team is departing
during the night to set up a operations
office at the site and a field hospital.
The team is led by Arif Masud, kit no. 70111
and Major Aamir, kit no. 7571. Alongwith
them, there is a team of around 8 people
including Abdalians and Petarians. They
will be joined by another 5 doctors from
PMA tomorrow. They are leaving as a part
of a convoy of around 4 trucks and vehicles.
- The team
going there includes 5 youngsters who were
the main people involved in the operations
at the Margalla Towers in Islamabad. They
were the ones who were going into the tunnels
and crevices to free the injured and to
pull them out. They are very experienced
in crisis situations.
- The first
convoy is carrying 100 tents and food and
medical supplies for the initial few days.
- They are
also equipped with 2 satellite phones (Thuraya)
to be able to communicate back with the
Command and Control Cente.
- A second
convoy will leave within 24-36 hours with
further 100 tents and more supplies. The
movement of this second convoy will depend
on the reports received from the first convoy.
- We have
ordered 4 large field hospital tents from
UAE. Each tent is around 50' x 100'. This
will be required to set up a proper field
hospital. These large tents should be arriving
within the next few days.
- We have
also provided for armed security guards
to accompany our convoys since many of the
trucks are being looted in the hill.
- We understand
that a team of doctors has been dispatched
by the Petarian Association from Karachi
to Islamabad, and is supposed to contact
me upon arrival here. I am still waiting
for them so that they may join our teams
in this relief work as agreed in the joint
plan worked out at Regent Plaza Hotel.
- With the
assistance of our brothers at PANA, we have
been able to establish contact with the
Hidaya Foundation and the Noor Foundation
to assist us in getting tax-exempt donations
from the USA. We hope to be able to complete
the paperwork with them by tomorrow insha
Allah. In the meantime, please continue
to send your donations directly to the Petarian
Foundation account as per the attached routing
instructions. I would like to thank Dr Ikram
Ghani, Wasif, Arshad Ansari, Shabieh, Rifaquat
Cheema and all others who are making this
happen.
- The donations
are pouring in from all sides. So far, nearly
Rs. 20 lacs has been received or pledged.
We need even faster inflow of funds. Please
open up your hearts and your pockets and
encourage your friends to donate as well.
May Allah reward you for it.
- For the
first convoy today, we have already spent
Rs. 9 lacs for the 100 tents (they are costing
Rs. 9,000 a piece now) plus another 3 lacs
for supplies, i.e. a total of Rs. 12 lacs.
We will be spending a similar sum tomorrow
insha Allah for the second convoy. The initial
start up costs are high and we will be needing
a lot of money up front to get a successful
venture.
- We have
been putting together a proper website for
this relief effort. This website will be
up shortly as a joint Abdalian - Petarian
venture.
- Our Karachi
office led by Mahmood Baweja and Tajammul
Bhai have been doing wonders in supporting
us. In addition to sending volunteers (including
doctors), they are also arranging for tents
and medical supplies.
- The Abdalians
are setting up support offices at Lahore
and Kohat as well for this work.
- Lt.Col.
Sultan Sikander Ghumman, kit no. 766 came
in with his team from Lahore. He is arranging
with Army Aviation to airlift some of our
supplies to the field office at Samni village.
He will be scouting the area tomorrow by
helicopter to provide us further logistical
support. He has also mobilized Petarians
in Lahore to help in this effort.
I
would like to thank all the Petarians for standing
behind us. It is only with the support of all
of you that we will insha Allah make this succeed.
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