DANISH MUSLIM AID. Field Trip. Rawalpindi (Punjab) & Muzaffarabad(Kashmir), Pakistan. November 2013 Jesper Horn Møller

Transcription

1 DANISH MUSLIM AID Field Trip Rawalpindi (Punjab) & Muzaffarabad(Kashmir), Pakistan November 2013 Jesper Horn Møller

2 Foreword On November 1st to 10th I travelled to Pakistan to monitor and report back from several of our projects in Pakistan as member of the Advisory Board and representative for DM-Aid. The idea was that I was going to visit orphans in Rawalpindi, projects in Charsadda and several locations in Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan. The night I arrived in Islamabad was the same day as there had been a drone attack and therefore I and the members of our partner organization in Pakistan Karwan Development Foundation (KDF) were a little anxious whether or not we were going to be able to get the NOC's (pass approvals) to visit the areas. We didn't get the one for Charsadda, but we got the one for Kashmir. As I had visited Charsadda in 2012 but not yet our projects in Kashmir I was happy that it was at least Kashmir we got access to. I had a lot of amazing days and experiences ahead of me. Visiting two orphans in Rawalpindi, Pakistan On November 6th we visited two children in Rawalpindi, that are being supported through DM-Aid, Muhammad Ahmed Tahir 7 years old who is disabled and his sister Javaria Tahir 4 years old.

3 As you can see we brought presents to the children - a child laptop computer with exercises for Muhammad and an electronic piano for Javaria.

4 Both children were very happy for the presents and the family was very grateful for our visit. The children are fatherless and they don t have a place to live. They have been supported by their mother s brother Sajjad for the living space. Without their mother Shareen's brother Sajjad's help and the support from DM-Aid they would have a very hard time making it. This is also due to Muhammad being disabled. His back spine is not fully developed and therefore his legs are not working and he does not have full control over his hands either. Since he can't move a lot and has to lay down and uses a lot of medicine he has bedsore wounds and also uses a diaper. Medicine and diapers are very tough on the poor family's expenses. Muhammed is a clever kid and as his sister Javaria he would like to go to school, but he needs to go to a special school and there is not such a special school in Rawalpindi. Therefore he would have to be transported to Islamabad every day a journey of min each way. The family can't afford to send Muhammad to special school in Islamabad. Transport will cost around 5000 Rupees pr. Month and tuition fees around 3000 rupees pr. Month. It amounts to around DKK 410 pr. Month.

5 Visiting Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan together with Karwan Development Foundation (KDF) On November 7th-8th 2013 Taqweem Anwar and Usman Wajahat from KDF and I visited several of our projects in Kashmir. Kashmir is located in West Himalaya between India, Pakistan and China. After a war in the country was divided between India that received the majority (officially Board Jammu & Kashmir) and Pakistan that received the northern and western regions (Azad Jammu & Kashmir and the "Northern Areas"). There have also been disputes with China. The cease-fire has never been a peace treaty, and the Kashmir situation remains unresolved. Muzaffarabad serves as the capital of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan. Water Supply Scheme, Kalas Seri Dara First stop on the road was Kalas Seri Dara far up in the mountains. We had been driving to Muzaffarabad from Islamabad - a trip of approx. five hours. Then we checked in to our hotel Sangam (which means two things meet, here two rivers ) and switched to Jeeps after having joined Mushtaq and his team. Mushtaq is Field Coordinator of Karwan Development Foundation in Kashmir. After approx. 30 min drive the road suddenly disappeared due to a landslide. We had to walk over the dirt road and over to an old worn out jeep. Instead of two jeeps we were now pressed together in the old orange jeep that would take us all the way up. It was a trip with great views, that also moved around on both limbs and viscera, and where we were constantly close to the edge. The Jeep could not handle the last part of the way up to the small community. So we walked the remaining distance. Lovely fresh air and exercise for approx. 2,000 meters after days in Islamabad with car exhaust, shuttle cars and oily food.

6 We arrived at the small community which consists of scattered houses perched on hillsides and had a warm welcome. DM-Aid and KDF have built two water tanks in the area and made connection to a water tank that was already there but no longer worked. The project was initiated by Mushtaq who had received a request for help from the locals, as they found it hard to get hold of the water in the mountain area. Mushtaq, Field coordinator for KDF is doing a great job in the area, not least because he can reach down into the very remote areas. The water now flows from the mountain and is collected in tanks where it is then led down to three different areas where the population can fairly easy retrieve it. Establishment costs of approx. DKK was obtained through donations from DMAid's members including a donation of DKK 10,000 from Sarwa Hamid Ali. The project was completed in late September 2013 and the first time Karwan Development Foundation visited the result was in early October.

7 Originally connection to the 3rd tank was not part of the project but with the locals initiative and hard labor it was realized. The area has not had a place where people could make the ablution ritual before prayer but with this project it is possible both to have a place to clean drinking water and for washing.

8 DM-Aid and Karwan Development Foundation has also helped the local people with Qurban this year - distribution of meat to the poor families during Eid Ul-Adha. The total amount for Qurban was USD 2,000 divided into 256 parts of 3,5 kg. Meat and some small packages too. Apart from DM-Aid parts of the donations came from a private donor from the area. It is the first time there has been done Qurbani in this area and gratitude and the local community sends us their warm thanks and blessings for this. We finished off with a lovely dinner at the host from where the Qurban project had been run - healthy and warm local cuisine in the cold mountains. The area is 25 KM away from the main city and this was the first time some organization helped them after earthquake of Kalas Seri was also badly affected from the earthquake and there was no home without casualty. Since there is no road, it is very difficult to reach there. It was strange for us that most of the people residing in Muzaffarabad were not aware of the area, so we are very blessed to help the people who were neglected by the social organizations, Government and people of Kashmir. It has been overwhelming to meet this hard-working communities living under difficult conditions far up the Kashmir mountains and it is a proof that DM-Aid and our local partners are able to help far far from the major cities and villages where most other relief organizations usually come. The gratitude from the local population is large which was felt through great warmth and focus they had put on our visit. As a request the community would like DM-Aid and KDF to look into helping them with building a road from where the jeep can not go further and up to where the main water supply is. This is a way of approx 2 km. A road could be a combination of granite bricks and mortar. I promised to take the request back to DM-Aid.

9 Noora Seri Water Supply Scheme On November 8th in the morning we started out from Muzaffarabad for the first of 3 visits that day - Water Supply Scheme for families in Noora Seri. Noora Seri is the biggest Union Council of Azad Jammu & Kashmir. The area was badly affected by the earthquake in Many people died as cause of the Earthquake and the the picture with the tomb stones shows a family that lost 14 familiy members in those devastating days. Since then KDF and DM-Aid have been working in the area and have supported the local community through Shelter Homes Programs, Medical Camps and an Orphan Support Program. Of the 14 villages in this union council we have facilitated almost every village under our programs. In 2012 the locals of Noora Seri proposed to KDF to help the local community through a water supply scheme. The project was completed in Februrary 2013 with 3 tanks supplying families or people. The project cost around DKK money donated through members of DM-Aid that support our water projects.

10 The local community of Noora Seri are still very grateful for the help that DM-Aid and KDF have done in the different areas. Without this help it would be immensely difficult for a small society like the one in Noora Seri to get through such tough times. Orphans program, Noora Seri, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan Next stop was to meet some of the orphans we also supports in Noora Seri. We arrived at a school where the children were assembled on the school roof. They were all excited and a little nervous.

11 After they each told their name, which grade they are in and the school they go to (some are in the early grades in elementary school, while others are already under way at university ) several of them had prepared something for our visit. Some recited poems, other verses from the Quran, while others talked about their hopes and dreams for the future as one of the young men who have a desire to be the first with a Ph.d. degree in his village area in Noora Seri.

12 DM-Aid, Karwan Development Foundation and Hamza Foundation approx. support 85 orphans in Noora Seri area, and it is thus one of the places where DM-Aid supports the highest amounts of orphans. The average age of the children is about 12 years.

13 The children all go to school or higher education, and their performance is measured. Several of them want to get a higher education to become doctors, study history, economy and giving back to their communities. All this would not be possible without the help these children get from DM-Aid and Karwan Development Foundation. DM-Aid would never have been able to achieve such great success in finding and selecting the orphans in the area if it had not been for the cooperation with Karwan Development Foundation. Through word-of- mouth the message is spread about the opportunity, and with Mushtaq's energy and perseverance contact details are shared, and more children are being added to our orphans program in the area. Our visit ended with everyone getting a local " burger" (closer resembled to a Pakistani hotdog) and a juice, and then we took a group picture of us all. It was a wonderful experience to meet all these sweet and hopeful children and young people, and my own hope is that they will all realize the dreams they each carry in them. Visit at the Womens Skills Center in Village Bugna Khairabad, Muzaffarabad Last stop on our visits in Kashmir was a women's skills center in Village Bugna Khairabad. Here DM-Aid, KDF and Hamza Foundation have established a center to support livelihood, social network and personal development for women that are married but usually without education and real opportunities to meet others and develop skills. As teaching is too costly for many people in this area many girls get married after 8th. grade and are then often without many options.

14 When we came the women had all gathered and they were all very excited to meet us. First two of them threw flowers at us at the entrance, and then we were led into the main room where all the women were working on their products, some stitching clothes and blankets by hand, others on sewing machines. These have been purchased through DMAid's microfinance program where we help a person with a sewing machine, fishing boat, goat etc. and when they are starting to earn from it they pay 25 % of the initial starting cost back.

15 At the center the women learn sewing, stitching of clothes, embrodery and gift making. The idea is to make the home lady a skilled lady. This way the women not only get to meet other women and socialize but they also gain skills that can save money in the household, as the family can cut down on expenses for clothing, blankets etc. Some of them can also sell some of their products in Muzaffarabad. Isma Butt, coordinator of female activities from Hamza Foundation has helped establishing and run the skills center in Bugna Khairabad together with the teacher Naeem Fatima and her husband. When seeing the center it is clear that it is run in a very succesful way and it is a center point for 8 small villages in the area. The establishing cost has been around DKK and it cost about DKK 1000 pr. month to run it. The teacher Naeem does a very good job and for this she received a certificate of appreciation from DM-Aid, KDF and Hamza Foundation for her good work.

16 KDF and Hamza Foundation concludes that there is a need for 5 more similar skills center in Kashmir around Muzaffarabad. Years back there was a skills center for women in this area but as it was closed down the women were again left without opportunities. The community is very grateful for the support from DM-Aid and KDF so that they now have this important facility. The visit ended with us having a marvelous dinner with local Kashmiri dishes as the sun set.

17 In the cool, fresh air high up in the Kashmiri mountains it was difficult not to feel very humble, grateful and uplifted together with all these hard working and nice people. As we were about to leave some of the men of the local community gathered us to tell us of a request they have with a mosque that has been half way established but now they don't have money to complete it. I promised to take this request back to DM-Aid and see if we have any options to help them with this project. Afterword My journey is ending and as we slowly drive down from the mountains back to Islamabad I try to digest all the beautiful experiences I have had in the last two days in Kashmir. I believe few people get this opportunity to see such projects with their own eyes and I believe that few organizations can make projects like these reality reaching out so far in the local communities where people struggle with natural disasters and hard natural conditions. DM-Aid, KDF and Hamza Foundations are some of those few organizations that can and for this we should be proud. I am very grateful and wish to given my warmest thanks and blessings to all of Karwan Development Foundation, Hamza Foundation and especially all the people of the local communities we met on the way. Your enthusiasm and hard work is an inspiration for us all. Jesper Horn Møller, November 2013.