Petarian - Abdalian Relief Efforts

Welcome to Petarian - Abdalian Relief Efforts

Summary

Progress Reports

Firstly, I would like to thank all of you for the tremendous support we have received for our efforts to date.

We have tried to keep you up to date with the progress on the work we have undertaken. With the passage of time, there have been a lot of changes on ground, and we have accordingly gone through a re-think on our strategies and the work we have charted out for ourselves in the near to mid-term.

I would like to share this with you so that you all are aware of how we believe we would contribute best within our limitations. So let me now turn towards immediate and long term future course of action on behalf of the Petarian Foundation / Abdalian Association.

We have been evaluating our efforts and the needs on virtually daily basis. Some of the factors that are molding our decisions are as follows:

The Pakistan Army has moved in to most of the areas, and they are doing a good job with the relief efforts. They are still encouraging the established NGOs to continue the work, and are cooperating with them to the fullest. We share information with them on a daily basis.
The Govt. of Pakistan has two major bodies working in addition to the Pakistan Army. They have a Relief cell headed by Major General Farooq, and the ERRA (Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority) headed by Lt.Gen. Zubair. The relief operations by the Army are in full swing. The govt. announced that it is releasing Rs. 8.4 billion for these two efforts immediately, most of which will be given as compensation for the loss of life and property and for relief programs
The affected population has their own set of problems, some of which we have identified as follows:

o With the govt. plan for compensation, these people seem to be in favor of keeping the destroyed houses in the rubble state so that they may claim adequate compensation. The people who fall in this category are those who have multiple homes. They would normally have a second home down in the valley or in one of the major cities of Pakistan. So they can afford to keep the houses in a damaged or destroyed state. We have talked to the people in the area, and they do not seem to be inclined towards our help for reconstruction of their home.

o Only those people want to have a quick rebuild who are really poor and who do NOT have a second place to go to. In fact I did see some people already trying to fix their houses.

o These people are very reluctant to leave their homes and move to one of the tent cities set up by the govt in Islamabad or Chakwal or other places.

o I am still not sure how they will survive in the tents when the snows fall. on the ground. These tents will not provide the protection.

o Yesterday, the govt. started dishing our Rs. 25,000 per broken home to the people of AJK. With the release of this money, it is likely that the home owners will now seriously consider repairing their homes. Having seen the extent of damage, we believe that the real cost of repairing most homes will be an average of between Rs. 10,000 to 15,000. Most of the stones and wooden frames are still intact. All they will need are a few corrugated steel sheets and some cement if they will provide their own labor.
Thus, in light of the above factors, we are not sure how effective we would be in trying to assist in the reconstruction. We may not be able to contribute very much. Therefore it is better for us to concentrate on other efforts which can possibly bear fruit
With our relief work now completed at Samni village, and a good portion of relief done at other surrounding villages, and keeping the above factors in mind, we had seriously been contemplating an exit strategy for the relief work (not for the medical camp) over the past week. With this incident of attack at our camp on Sunday, it precipitated our decision. By this time, we have distributed all the relief goods that we obtained or purchased. The situation on ground is much better except for some remote areas which are still not accessible. The reports are that more than 50% of the population now has tents. For the rest, the govt. is making arrangements.
Thus, with regards to the Relief Work, we are bringing this work to a completion before the Eid days
Secondly, we may evaluate the need to move relief efforts to another area where there is still a need. However, even if we do so, this will be a temporary measure as the need for such relief is diminishing with the passage of time.
Our intention is still to continue with the Medical Camp for some time. We will have to determine the shape and place in light of recent incidents
Thirdly, we believe that the best form of rehabilitation would now be to participate in institution building (instead of home reconstruction as discussed above). There are three options that we are considering for which we are in communication with the Pakistan Army units in the area as well as with the govt. of AJK. These three possibilities are:

1. A small hospital in a district, with 8-16 beds. Such a hospital is expected to cost in the range of Rs. 15-20 million (i.e. 1.5 - 2 crores) as initial investment in building and equipment. In addition, the annual operating cost will range between Rs. 5-8 million (50-80 lacs). In this case, we would have to hire a young doctor couple and pay them double the salary that they would get elsewhere.
2. A Primary only OR Primary plus Secondary school project. At the moment, most of the schools in the earthquake area have been destroyed. For example, in the Rerah valley alone, there were 30 schools. All of them have been flattened. The army has restarted 8 schools under tents. Using the TCF model with some modifications for earthquake resistance, the Primary School will cost around Rs. 10 million (1 crore) and Primary plus Secondary will cost Rs. 20 million (2 crores). Operating costs will be in addition to this, which will actually be less than the operating cost of a hospital.
3. An orphanage, possibly on the model of SOS villages. I do not have a costing model yet on this.
The AJK govt. in all likelihood will grant us land for this project. We may take it and operate it on a longer term basis, or we may transfer it to the govt. after 12-24 months on a BOT basis.
The inclination of the authorities as well as our workers seems to be towards options 1 or 2. We will be meeting further on this subject during the Eid holidays to firm up the proposals and finalizing a deal with the authorities insha Allah.
Another possibility we are considering is to build any one of these institutions in the earthquake-hit Pakistani territory rather than in AJK.
Currently, we have over Rs. 5 million (50 lacs) in this relief/rehab fund. We have commitments from one corporate entity for further roughly 8 million (80 lacs). Therefore either the hospital or a school project would be very viable for us insha Allah. Thus, the additional amount we may need to raise to complete either of these projects is within reach insha Allah with the help of our donors.
In either case, we would want to probably have these in place before December or January if the weather permits us, using fast construction techniques and materials.

I shall insha Allah keep on updating you all on how we proceed.