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This was the most important need arising from the field. Hundreds of people have become homeless due to this current calamity. The response of SRSP has been to
- Set up tent villages on a collective basis.
- Get tents to the poorest in remotest location on individual basis.
- Prepare for possible influx of refugees on the main city Mansehra by establishing tent villages around it.
People coming in are preferring to live in small tent villages with small homogeneous groups they are familiar with than live in large camps. Now due to the adverse weather conditions the needs have changed to
- Winterisation of the tents
- Temporary Shelters and
- Reconstruction of Permanent houses.
SRSP is working on a two pronged strategy. A) Single room houses made of polythene compacted into blocks shape, winterized and covered with corrugated iron sheets. Tareen Farms, in pilot phase, set up a 20 houses village of this material. b) SRSP is working with a number of non government organisations to identify and set up different kind of temporary shelters that would enable the people to overcome the harsh winters. One such example is Mercy Corps collaboration with SRSP in Siran valley which is providing 3000 Shelters each costing around Rs 24,000. SRSP is also building single room house at the cost of Rs 55,000 which are insulated and have a fire place, 125 of these are going to constructed in Jaraid, Balakot.
For the Latest information about shelters read the SRSP Shelter Program
People are in a total state of shock and need to be assisted in overcoming the trauma and pain that they have undergone. There is the need for counselling.
Hundreds of children who are not going to schools anymore because of their destruction are collecting on road side and wander aimlessly whole days getting into activities like begging. There is great need of generating activities in which they can be kept busy more productively. There should be some educational as well as recreational activities for these frightened children to help them out of there sorrows. SRSP through the assistance of USAID is going to establish 114 temporary, public sector schools in these three affected districts of NWFP. Reopening of these schools would be done in-collaboration with the Provincial and District Governments.
SRSP has been very careful to ensure that Gender Needs are not overlooked in the relief work. A team of women staff has been organised to pay regular visits to camps to ensure that the needs of women are not ignored. Similarly in the Water and Sanitation work the needs of women folk is being kept in mind in addressing issues that are coming up. Maternal health issues are being focussed on, needs identified and being addressed like women sanitary items.
Due to the unavailability of doctors SRSP is adopting the practise of having medical camps which were so popular in the previous relief work done in this area. In the coming months this would be a regular feature of our work. Through technical assistance of TRAC Singapore SRSP provided medical relief services supported by DFID, CIDA and IDRF in provision of funds for medicines.
In rural areas communities have overcome their trauma to bury their dead. In the past there has been a vast tradition of collective action by communities to address their collective needs. Relief activities tend to build a begging mentality. There is a need to get together community activists to regenerate such spirit through collective meetings and discussions at village level where food, information and some training is provided. Also there is a need to generate enterprise activities in the area so that people can start earning their live instead of going for beggary and waiting for aid to come and serve them. SRSP through formation of camp management committees is struggling for the purpose.
For over a decade SRSP has run livelihood programmes in Mansehra and Abbotabad Regions. These have focussed on building social capital, building community infrastructure, natural resource management, human resource development, micro finance and small enterprise development and education. The earth quake had wrecked the livelihoods of the people. The resource base of the people in form of land and livestock has suffered deeply. There is need to prepare to rebuild livelihoods and SRSP is taking steps to do so by establishing correct information base and also developing programmes that would help overcome these problems.
SRSP has a very good experience of implementing small community infrastructure projects through participatory approach in Mansehra and Battagram districts. In these Community Physical Infrastructure projects, with an average cost of Rs. 400,000, twenty percent of the total costs were contributed by the communities' in-cash or in-kind. A total of 719 projects costing 222 million were implemented in
Mansehra and 235 Projects costing 69.5 million in Battagram. Almost 70 to 80% of these projects have been damaged by this devastative earth quake. Some of these projects are partially damaged and could be restored with minor repairs. Such an example is the water supply scheme of village Bampora, Balakot which has been restored by WASEP team costing approximately of Rs. 15000. There are many such type of small infrastructures which really needs to be restored for bringing back lively hood in the area.
The major needs of infrastructure are 1) Reconstruction of link roads 2) Reconstruction of Drinking water supply and sanitation Schemes 3) Community Based Schools. 4 Land stabilisation The average cost estimated for these projects varies from Rs. 300,000/- to Rs. 600,000/-
The earthquake is a great set back for communities. But for those who see in every adversity a seed of an equivalent benefit it has opened up the area to different civil society groups; an introvert and traditional people are welcoming diverse people from all over the world to work in their areas. The natural resources crops, livestock and fisheries, and forests were the natural resources of the area. Participatory methodologies could be used to bring about a great change in the area, make the people adopt new and improved crops, and new methods of animal husbandry, marketing techniques, forest management, soil conservation etc. This will mitigate suffering of the people. In particular attention could be paid to kitchen gardening, poultry as a programme for women. |
SRSP Shelter Homes
Bringing Children Back to life by Reconstructing Schools...
Regenerating Collective Actions.. SRSP
Rebuilding Community Infrastructure
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