KHALSA AID UPDATE.PAKISTAN PART 1

Its Sunday 30 10 05 ,i think this the correct date.I have just returned from Muzafarabad and i am feeling totally knocked out.I have had no internet access since 27th Oct.I have been in Pakistan for over 2 weeks and i will be returning to London on Tuesday.

I have split the final blog into 2 parts so that i can describe the relief work which i have initiated in the first part and the personal/emotional in part 2.

For the past 3 days i have been following the progress of the sanitation program that i have initiated on behalf of Khalsa Aid in Muzafarabad and visiting various other camps in the vincinty.The sanitation situation in the camps is "absolutely shocking and totally unacceptable" as desribed to me by a member of the UN staff.I showed him my plans of the laterines that Khalsa Aid is constructing,he was very surprised and pleased that we have taken such an important step.I spent couple of days meeting various organisations and attending many meetings arranged by the UN.We wanted to expand the sanitation program as a matter of urgency due to the risk of some diseases spreading in camps with lack of sanitation.

During this time the second volunteer from Khalsa Aid,Baljit Singh had arrived from London.I took him to the Ud-Dawa ( our local NGO partners ) and sat down with their co-ordinator to see how Khalsa Aid could implement the program without further delay.The problem we faced was that there was no builders,carpenters or any trades people available till after Eid,which is on Thursday or Friday.The situation in the camps was terrible and it seemed unthinkable to delay the sanitation program for so long.I remembered a US Navy Lt Col Kilian offering technical assistance to any organisation who wished to start any project in Muzafarabad.We went to see him and he was very cooperative.He asked us to buy the materials and his team will help with the digging and installation of the laterines.We went back to the camp and after speaking to a builder Baljit Singh worked out the amount of materials reqiured for each laterine unit.

I spoke to Ud-Dawa coordinator to make sure he can help Baljit to purchase the required materials and then all Baljit got to do is to take the Americans to the camps and let them do the rest.I have no doubts about the Ud Dawa people helping Khalsa Aid without myself being there,they have been absolutely fantastic and full of support.I have asked Baljit to buy 5 more water tanks as some camps are struggling with a single tank.

Khalsa Aid has become a key player within the humanitarian releif efforts and is well known to the UN staff at Muzafarabad.Its 1230am in Islamabad and i have an extrememly runny nose and watery eyes due to the dust ,so the 2nd part will have to wait till tomorrow.

KHALSA AID UPDATE,PAKISTAN

Tuesday 25th Oct.I felt very weighed down today,maybe its partly because of Teji leaving for London tomorrow.Teji has been fantastic,his wonderful spirit and absolute commitment to the relief operation was truly inspirational.I will ´be alone for a day or 2 which is probably why i feel strange kind of emptiness.I have worked alone in Andaman Islands and Somalia but the relief work has not been so intense and demanding as it is in Pakistan.I feel very honoured to have worked with such a humble and dedicated individual as Teji.I thank him on behalf of Khalsa Aid and a very warm thank you from myself.

Its been a very demanding mission and involved a lot of travelling around as the effected areas are far from the main commercial cities.I have been having one meal a day due to the fasting month in Pakistan,i have lost some weight too.All the running is catching up with me now,i feel very tired and unfocused.I had to force myself to do anything today.

I miss my 6 year old boy Jivan very much and he phones me to ask about the children in the camps. When the earthquake was reported in the news he knew i would be going,me and my boy are very close. He really does understand that i have to go on the relief mission,he told me a couple of days ago that he had collected 13 Pounds to buy toys for the kids in the camps.I dont think most people realise that the volunteers have kids and loved ones too and its always a difficult and worrying time for their families when they are on the other side of the world on a relief mission,sometimes in hostile places.

I met a young lady from the World Food Program,i explained to her about the local NGOs,Ud-Dawa, that Khalsa Aid is working with and who are doing a wonderful job of delivering aid deep into the mountains by every means possible.I want the WFP and Ud-Dawa to form a partnership so that they can create a very efficient relief team.Ud-Dawa has about 1500 full time volunteers in Azad Kashmir and 400 active in Muzafarabad.They also have vast knowledge of the mountainous treks and paths.The young lady,Claudia was very interested and gave me the details of the WFP coordinator in Muzafarabad.I immediatly set off for Muzafarabad,4 hour journey from Islamabad.After reaching the Ud-Dawa camp i took their leader and we met with David the WFP coordinator.The meeting was very positive and they arranged to meet on Wednesday to see how they will work together.

On our way back we had a lucky escape,a truck driver decided to go a the wrong side of the road on a blind bend.I dont know if it was me getting my hands on the steering and turning it violently or the drive braking perfectly which saved us from a 1000ft drop into the river Jhelam.That was a very very close call.

Ravinder Singh

Wagah Border and Muzafarabad Camp Photos II

Wagah Border and Muzafarabad Camp Photos

Heart rendering exposure to camps

Tejinder Singh or Teji arrived from Lahore on the afternoon of the 22nd Oct with a sample of tent material and also a sample of a sleeping bag. After close inspection of the aforementioned items i decided to order only 100 of each so that the local NGOs in Muzafarabad could also approve of the quality of the material.

On the morning of the 23rd I decided to split up and sent Teji back to Lahore to follow up the supply of stoves from India and to place the order for the tents, sleeping bags, more utensils, bamboo poles for the tents and to arrange transportation of the goods to Muzafarabad. The tent manufacturer had to have a bit more time and finally delivered at midnight. After the tents, Teji was loading the rest of the aid material until 2am.

The next day Teji drove to the Pakistan-India border to collect the stoves. He made sure that the truck was on its way and then caught a flight to Islamabad and then a car towards Muzafarabad.

I myself reached Muzafarabad at about 6pm and walked straight over to check the progress on the sanitation project. The builders had worked very hard. The toilets and washrooms were almost half way to towards completion. My welcome in the camp was amazing. Almost everyone came to greet the SARDAR JI in a very warm way. My first night in Muzafarabad was an eye opener. It was freezing at night. I thought about the poor people stuck in the villages and how they must be without any shelter. I was in a tent with a quilt and still freezing.

The next day I visited a couple of more camps to check on the sanitation situation. There were a lot of people in the town who would run to see a body being recovered. I was asked many times but refused as I wasn't interested in degrading the unfortunate dead person. But on my way back from one of the camps a group of soldiers layed a body right in front of our car on the road. It was a terrible sight. The body was falling apart and hardly in any recognisible state to see if it was a male or female. The smell was sickening. The doctors told us how in some cases the bodies were partly trapped under heavy rubble and coundn't be pulled out so they just surgically cut the part they could and left the remainder buried until lifting machinary arrived in the coming days or weeks.

Teji arrived in the afternoon and the truck from Lahore laden with our relief material arrived a few hours later. The truck was unloaded and accounted for. There were many people with bleeding feet and swollen legs who had walked across mountains and kept arriving all evening and night. It's heart rendering.

Ravinder Singh

Good News: 7 babies born last night

I have spent most of the day in a camp here in Muzaffarabad. The mountainous road that comes here is treacherous. We had to go through a tunnel which seemed to be ready to collapse at any moment. Sides of mountains have just crumbled into the Kashmir valley.

When you arrive here the devastation is shocking. The side of a mountain has virtually collapsed - causing a massive landslide which hit the city. This mountain now looks like the white cliffs of Dover. Virtually all the buildings have also collapsed. I have seen hotels totally flattened.

Everyone is warm and welcoming at the camp and very appreciative of the seva being done by Khalsa Aid. Dr Naem Mughal, a senior medic, has been showing me around his hospital camp. Seven babies were born here last night. Pure joy for the camp. Some people also managed to carry an eighty year old woman down from the mountains last night. She is on a drip and in intensive care.

We are building eleven latrines here in the camp. The construction is identical to the ones we created on the Andaman Islands. A set of these latrines will be for female aid workers, some for the disabled or seriously ill and the rest for the camp. We are going to visit a camp where the local university was last night. It is being run by the Pakistani army. I will offer Khalsa Aids' assistance - in particular, whether latrines are required there too.

Although this is Kashmir, language is not a problem. There are many, many punjabis here in the camp. A group of volunteers will be doing night patrols soon. I will go with them. We will be taking mostly blankets with us and tour the city in case anyone is sleeping out in the open. You can literally freeze to death here at night time.

In case you're wondering how this blog is coming up so quickly - well, the cell phone I have is still working in the camps and I have someone at the other end of the world typing away for me!
I will be back in Islamabad in a few days and will get preparations ready for the next set of Khalsa Aid sevadars coming out soon. Supposedly, KA is known in Islamabad now as the shipment from India was captured on Photo by the reuters news agency (Teji included!) and published in the local newspapers.

Some pictures of the Khalsa Aid relief trucks at the Wagah border. These were taken by the Reuters news agency. Tejinder Singh can be seen in one of the Pics examining the relief aid.
You can see the original Pics on yahoo news.

KHALSA AID UPDATE PAKISTAN

Its been a week since myself and Tejinder Singh arrived in Pakistan to provide humanitarian assistance to the earthquake victíms.Its been very tough and tiring organising the program but finally things have begun to move.
The truck with the sanitation materials,toilets,drums,pipes etc reached Muzafarabad this morning.The workers have started the building of the washrooms and toilets.They have also installed the 500gallon water tanks in the camps to provide drínking water.
I spent the day in bed recieving 2 injections by a doctor who charged the earth but kept saying he was also helping the cause by looking after aid workers,funny bloke.My voice was non existant most of the day and my chest developed an infection from spending all day yesterday buying materials in heavily polluted and hot Rawalpindi.
I was finally able to get up about 4pm and asked Tejinder Singh to make a call to the company which was supplying the anesthesia machine.Tejinder Singh or Teji took the flight to Lahore and i crashed out again.The doctor came to give me another injection in the evening and bought with him a list of injections wíth a price list but was disappointed when i told him i already had the correct jabs for this trip.He gave me his business card in case another aid worker needed a doctor,i dont think i will be recommending him somehow.Anyway,the anesthesia machine has finally arrived with oxygen and a trolley.I will deliver it to a field hospital tomorrow.
Teji is in Lahore loading a truck with tents,sleeping bags,eating utensils and will pick up the stoves from the Indian\Pakistan border in the morning.He has a long night ahead of him,Teji has been absolulely brilliant considering its his first ever such mission.
I will be going to the camps in Muzafarabad in the morning for a couple of days to check on the sanitation program and to make sure the builders are following the plan to every detail.I will also visit other local camps to assess the sanitation requirements .I still dont feel well but will have to go to Muzafarabad regardless.
Ravinder Singh

Pics II

Pics from Pakistan (Panja Sahib)

Update

I left the hotel at 9am to meet the contractor Abu Abdullah to buy the materials needed for the sanitation program.We walked across half of Rawalpindi to make sure we got the right supplier and the right price.

We purchased 8 toilet units,3 western style and 5 traditional Pakistani style,and all the pipe work that goes with the plumbing.We also purchased eight 125 gallon drums for the use as cess pits.We also purchased 70 bags of cement.

While we were in the market i also decided to purchase two 500gallon enforced plastic drums to use as storage for clean drinking water in the camps of Balakot and Muzafarabad.There is no facility for clean water storage except the passing government tankers. The camps unload at least 10 trucks a day so i decided to donate 3 industrial wheel barrows from Khalsa Aid to make carrying goods easier for the already tired volunteers.It was a long and hot day,i have an extremely painful and soar throat from the pollution in the city.My chest very clogged up too,the pollution in Pindi is terrible.

We got back to the base camp in Islamabad,its set up in a Mosque which is under construction.I had told Jejinder Singh to fly from Lahore to debrief me on his progress.He was waitng for us in the Mosque and lookéd tired.Abu Abdullah arranged a truck for the transport of building materials to Muzafarabad.It was now 5 30 and time for the Muslim prayers and to break the fast.Myself and Tejinder waited while our hosts prayed.They very kindly arranged some dates and drinks for us.I am now completely shattered,the heat and the lack of sleep is catching up.

I am very grateful to Abu Abdullah and his team for their unrelentíng assistance to Khalsa Aid since our arrival.

Khalsa Aid has yet again taken an important and crucially needed step to keep the camps clean.The threat of disease is very much a reality but hopefully the camps with Khalsa Aid sanitation program the threat will be minimal.All this Sewa is due to the Generousty of the Sikh Community who have helped tens of thousands in many disasters since Khalsa Aíd was born in April 1999 .We have moved on in our technical and spiritual experience to be more effective during our missions.

The pain and suffering that the Khalsa Aid sewadars witness on their missions makes them even more resolute to carry on the work worldwide.We thank the Sangat who have shown trust and faith in Khalsa Aid since its birth and ask for forgiveness if we didnt reply to any enquiry of e mail,we all have our jobs and domestic committments too.None of the Sewadaars are paid for their work in Khalsa Aid.

Bibi Amar Kaur

On Wednesday 19th oct i took Bibi Amar Kaur to POF Hospital which is situated in Wah so that she could recieve immediate medical attention for her broken leg.I had to go through a lot of security clearance due to the hospital located in a military base.
It took an hour or so .The man in charge Major Zafar was a very understanding and a kind gentleman.He gave us security clearance and wished Bibi Amar Kaur a speedy recovery.All the staff were fantastic.
After that i drove to Islamabad to meet the local NGO that we have decided to work with.Their representive Bilal coordinates all support teams who wish to join thém in providing aid.I drove with bilal to meet the local contractor Abu Abdullah to discuss the Khalsa Aid plans for the sanitation program in the Muzafarabad camp.It took 5 hours to plan the materials for the 8 toilets and 3 washrooms.Because of the month of Ramadan i dont eat during the day either as not to be insensitive.So by 5 30 i am starved and extremely tired.I met more Pakistani young men at my hotel and spent some time discussing the relief program.

Tejinder Singh was still in Lahore buying tents,sleeping bags and going to and from Gujranwala all day.He collected ´the first batch of eating and cooking utensils and transported to Lahore for collection on Saturday.He was also chasing the stoves delivery from India.Tejinder Singh finished the day at 2 am ,he is a very commited and Chardi Kala Sewadar.

Update:

Tejinder Singh of Khalsa Aid left for Lahore very early to meet our local contact Gulab Singh to purchase more relief materials,its a 4 hour drive from Islamabad. He has spent the whole day and only managed to buy a few items as supplies are almost depleted throughout Pakistan.We are now trying to buy from across the border in India so that we can start distrubution asap.Its now 11pm in Pakistan and Tejinder Singh is meeting a tent manufacturer in Lahore,we dont give up easily.

Ravinder Singh has been visiting the Sikh and Hindu families that are staying in Panja Sahib.After a lengthy discussion it was decided that Khalsa Aid will provide whatever they may need immediately and also that Khalsa Aid will liase with the Panja Sahib management.

Ravinder Singh also visited the families and during this visit met Bibi Amar Kaur who had a serious leg injury,her leg is badly broken and her toes are partly crushed.Her wounds on the same leg are also still bleeding. She was in great pain and was unable to speak very much.She will be transffered to the nearest private hospital so that she can recieve immediate medical care.Khalsa Aid will pay for her medical expenses and arrange for her family to visit her on daily basis.

Its now 11 30 pm and Ravinder Singh is meeting a contractor in Islamabad to plan the building of semi permanant toilets and wash rooms for the female volunteers who have come from many countries.These facilities will be similar to the ones Khalsa Aid built on Andaman and Nicobar islands and will be in camps of Balakot and Muzafarabad.

Visit to Panja Sahib (update...235 am...me tired)

Tejinder Singh came back from his assessment of the effected areas sunday night.He was very shaken at the sheer devastation.He had seen children being operated on without anesthetic,people with terrible injuries and the expressionless homeless. The immediate requirements were for shelter,there are no tents available in Pakistan.So Khalsa Aid decided to help with other essential needs and to procure as much materials as we could.On Sunday night i was in Panja Sahib to welcome a group of Sikhs From Malaysia and while i was there i was witness to a very heart rendering scene.A group of Sikh families had just arrived to Panja Sahib from the effected area of Buttagram and their losses were heavy.There was so much mourning that i had to walk away. On Monday morning i left for Gujranwala to meet a young Sikh from Lahore ,Gulab Singh,who was going to help us to purchase cooking utensils.We searched the whole city for stoves,sleeping bags and cooking utensils.After 4 hours we had only managed to purchase 5000 pieces of cooking utensils.The rest of the materials will have to bought from Lahore on Tuesday.It was another day when we were greeted warmly by everyone on the streets,especially an old man in hís late sixties who went out of his way to give me a warm hug and hand shake to Gulab Singh.He had tears in his eyes...... At the same time of me being in Gujranwala Bhai Tejinder Singh was in Panja Sahib attending to the needs of the newly arrived families.He had to take 4 ladies to hospital immediatly suffering from high blood pressure to fractured bones.The doctors were wonderful and didnt charge for treatment. Many of them are suffrering from extreme stress and depression.Their whole world has been destroyed in a few seconds.They have asked Khalsa Aid for books and bags for children.I will be vísiting them on tuesday morning to see how Khalsa be of further assistance.

Update from Pakistan

Today, Oct 15th we set out to visit the effected areas of the North West Frontier Province in Pakistan.Our first stop was Abbotabad where the earthquake damage to the buildings started to be visible.We drove on towards the town of Mansehra where we met the local NGOs who have been very active in providing relief to the victims immediately after the earthquake.They were very generous and kind in towards us,as were all the other people on our journey.

Something wonderful and unexpected happened on our visit,i was greeting the many volunteers when an old man came up to me and told me my mothers address in England.I was surprised and when i asked him how he knew he held my hand and said he was a neighbour of my mother and has seen me there on my visits.This was in a place 140 KM from Islamabad,middle of nowhere and here was a man in his seventies who knew my mother in England.It was a miracle,he was a very respected man in the organisation and hemade sure they all knew we were to be treated as speciál guests.Waheguru..

We left Mansehra towards Balakot,i was travelling with local contacts Nasser and Sheraz.The roads were still being cleared from the previous landslide.There was still a risk of loose rocks rolling down the mountain and killing more people.We passed a deep ravine where the army was trying to pull out another army vehicle that had fallen in to it,luckily the driver survived.It was a shaky journey after that.

We reached Balakot and the smell of rotting human flesh overpowered us,we had to put on masks immeditaly to stop being sick.The whole town was crushed,not a single buildíng remained standing.The army was trying tó pull out the bodies but its not an easy task due to the lack of lifting machinery.It was beyond tragic,life in that town had been wiped out.The remaing few have no shelter and the weather is fast becoming cold,the rain is also on its way which will make matters much worse.Balakot needs a miracle,it looks like as if 100s of bulldozers have gone through the entire town.
Tejinder Singh of Khalsa Aid is staying the night there and then will visit Muzaffarabad in the morning to see how Khalsa Aid can assist in providing aid.