roads and telephones — and are thereby nearly totally isolated from the outside world. Nobody knew the dimensions of the devastation in this area or the number of people killed and wounded. Yet Church World Service Pakistan/Afghanistan and Norwegian Church Aid, both members of the global alliance Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, knew people would need a helicopter loaded with tents and food.
The sight of the area was horrendous. Nearly all buildings were either partly or completely ruined. Around the ruins of the homes of thousands of families, survivors had pieced together blankets and sheets, trying to protect themselves from the rain and the cold nights. As soon as the helicopter approached the ground, people came from all over and threw themselves at it.
"Please help us! Please, sir. We have lost everything. We will freeze to death," Fazi Akbar said. He is the headmaster of a small school which was completely destroyed in the earthquake. He was totally devastated that it took six days for aid to reach them after the quake.
"Still, getting some tents and blankets is a big gift. We have so many wounded, and last night we could see snow on the mountaintops. It is very cold, and it will only get colder. A lot of people are afraid they will freeze to death," Akbar said.
"Look at my eyes. I have not slept in five nights. My children are afraid there will be another earthquake, and they cry during the night," Gul Mond said. He thanks Allah that his small family survived, but he get tears in his eyes when he talks about all those who died. Everybody in this little village of Karg has been hit.
After stacking up hundreds of tents on the small landing spot by the river, the chopper took off. On the ground, people desperately threw themselves over the tents.
Ten minutes later, the helicopter landed in another village to hand out more tents. Lieutenant Kazaan had hardly opened the door before he was surrounded by hundreds of people. Seriously injured people were everywhere. Some were totally apathetic, while others cried quietly from provisional stretchers. More and more people kept coming, many of them with bloody and dirty bandages. After a few minutes, the lieutenant decided to evacuate as many wounded people as he could.
A little boy screamed as he was lifted into the helicopter. His leg had been severed, and the shaft of the bone was sticking out under congealed blood. He had been like that for six days. Young and old were fighting to get their family members on board the helicopter. It was complete chaos, and the fact that the inhabitants of this village speak Pashtu and therefore did not understand the military commands given in Urdu made the situation even worse.
A little girl fell off the blanket she was being carried in. The helicopter was very soon filled up, with room only for a small percentage of the wounded. Before the helicopter took off, the lieutenant shouted that more helicopters would arrive soon.
The helicopter headed for the army hospital in Abbottabad. A man sat holding his 14-month-old daughter in his arms. Her leg was broken, and one of her hands was partly crushed. Under her hair was a deep wound. Someone said that her sister and brother were killed in the earthquake. Their father had dug his three children out of the ruins with his bare hands. He clenched his daughter, all he has left.
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is responding to the Pakistan earthquake as a member of Action by Churches Together (ACT) International alliance. Church World Service, also an ACT alliance member, has taken the lead in this response. Shelter kits and family food kits are being provided to 20,000 of the worst affected families, and medical assistance is being provided to 100,000 people.
In addition to the basic humanitarian assistance, PDA has sent Rev. Kathy Angi (mission coworker and psychosocial specialist currently serving in Hungary) to Pakistan, where she will work with Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and Church of Sweden in providing psychosocial care for survivors. NCA and Church of Sweden are also ACT members.
Following the Bam, Iran earthquake, the ACT psychosocial team worked with the disaster survivors and also provided training to enable Iranians to continue with community care after the team had left. PDA was very pleased to hear from one of the Iranians who has offered to take a six-month leave from his job so that he can help the people in Pakistan.
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