Share this story!            

Six-month plan for relief coordination

By Shahima Rehman

In response to the devastating earthquake that struck Pakistan on October 8, a team of 58 doctors, nurses and paramedical staff from Fatima Memorial Hospital and its affiliated colleges tended to quake victims in Hazara Division. A mobile medical team, accompanied by a group of young professionals and students, also treated the injured in outlying areas near Mansehra and Balakot. Based on the experiences of these teams, here are a series of recommendations on how the whole nation’s efforts can be combined to rehabilitate the affected areas.

Time is of the essence. Tent villages alone cannot be relied on to withstand the harsh Karakoram winter. Also, winterised tents are in short supply, and makeshift tents made from canvas or parachute material, and rigged on flimsy bamboo poles, will absorb and retain moisture and create an environment conducive to respiratory tract infections.

Therefore, it is extremely important to immediately put up alternative structures, preferably of corrugated metal sheets, reinforced on the inner sides with insulation made of thermopore or Lasani board. There are several parties working on developing such structures. Very likely a combination of options should be taken up simply because the demand is likely to outstrip the supply. Many of these structures come as ‘Do it yourself’ kits which can be useful for individual homes or small shops. Others can be put up by a local building team in 4-5 days and can be useful as medical centres, community centres, schools, or homes for single women and orphans.

Adopt a village, a community or a city plan: The unprecedented response by civil society at all levels needs to be coordinated to yield maximum benefit and to avoid duplication. A partnership of organisations working in the social service and development sector needs to come together in a formal arrangement in close collaboration with the civil and military administrations. Each partner would agree to deliver services according to their capability and size, in their area of choice.

Once this mechanism is in place formally, areas need to be identified and gridded (segregated). Gridding should be done according to population size, sex, age, physical ability/disability, educational qualification, vocational skill and details of personal property.

Details can be filled in according to individual conditions as dictated by local weather, topography, extent of damage to existing infrastructure, etc. Identify needs of population in shelter, food, clothing, medical needs, pschyo-social rehabilitation needs, economic needs.

The next step would be to design and construct buildings, such as a marketplace to fulfil consumer needs as well as provide a source of income generation. Essential in any marketplace would be a grocery store, hardware supplies shop, and services (barber shop, tandoor, tea shop, PCO etc).

There also needs to be a mobilisation of reconstruction teams for homes and shops on self-owned property. The procedure should be to identify young able-bodied individuals from within community, organise them into teams, equip them with sledge hammers and pick axes and pay them for removal of debris. A second team should start rebuilding on cleared sites. Payment for this work could be arranged through sponsors. Able-bodied survivors should be sponsored to build on their own sites.

Each community will also require larger buildings for a hospital, school, women and children’s shelter and community/rehab centre. These should to be constructed on government land, preferably on existing locations such as DHQ hospitals, degree colleges or school grounds. The shelters should be managed by army teams as relief camps during the winter till the survivors are resettled in their own homes. Subsequently, these buildings can be handed over to the civil administration to be run as hospital, school, etc.

Building structures: Corrugated sheet structures insulated on the inside in the form of large halls are required for the buildings.

Hospital: One large building would be needed to cater to primary healthcare and psychological counselling, and to act as triage centre to assess patients who may need tertiary care hospitalisation. A central database should provide details about the nearest tertiary care centre in addition to patient history and tracking record. Later this structure could become a basic health unit or rural health centre.

Rehabilitation centre: One large building would be needed to house a rehab centre for disabled individuals. This centre would be managed under the supervision of a recognised institution, typically the PSRD, and reinforced by locals and volunteers under the supervision of institutions like Fatima Memorial (Lahore), Shaukat Khanum Hospital (Lahore), Liaqat National (Karachi) or Shalimar Hospital (Lahore).

Skills development and employment centre: One large building would be needed to house a skills development centre where local skills e.g. woodworking or weaving, are developed and designs and techniques improved upon under institutional supervision. Local NGOs like Sungi or the National College of Arts could assist. Since most residents of the area are traditionally migrant workers, linkages with downstream industries in areas like Hattar should be created and the workforce trained accordingly.

When skill training is complete, Qarz-e-Hasna should be given to set up a cottage industry and form a marketing chain under institutional supervision. Typical successful example of this initiative is the AARONG showroom, set up by BRAC, an NGO that was formed by a group of citizens who came together to provide relief against the havoc created by floods in Bangladesh.

Shelter home: A large building would be needed to house a shelter for children and single women to be looked after by community women under institutional supervision. A typical partner institution in this case may be SOS Children’s Villages

Community centre: One building should house a community centre, where activities for the community can be arranged. Participants could be categorised by age, sex, need, and grouped for involvement in therapeutic activities, and for counselling. These are immediate needs to be catered for to facilitate emotional and psycho-social rehabilitation.

School: One building in each community should be dedicated to run on two shifts a day, one shift to teach children and the other for adults. Typical partner NGOs could be TCF and CARE.

Agricultural and veterinary centre: One large open area should be set up to develop livestock and farming techniques. It could act as a depot to provide seeds, fertiliser, implements, and information regarding small farms and intensive cultivation. This can be set up under the supervision of the Agriculture Research Council and local NGOs.

Microcredit and employment: A fund should be developed to provide loans for small farms, shops and depots to the local community in order to take the first step towards the normalisation of their economic life.

Civil defence cadre: Each community will require a team of organised civil defence workers to coordinate with the civil and military administration to protect human life and property and report any infringements. Procedures should be laid down particularly for ensuring the protection of young women, children, the elderly and disabled. The cadre would be assigned duties for each purpose and would maintain close contact with a central database cell. Groups should be identified from within local community as well as volunteers. They should be supervised by partner institutions and the army.

Central database cell: A central database is a prerequisite for effective management and coordination. It would be useful only if it contains complete information of the whole community and its members and their present status at any given time.

Human resource and materials supply management: A central supply department should be set up that should be linked to subsidiary materials management cells in Abbottabad, Muzaffarabad and other key centres in the disaster zone to ensure timely supply, as well as to keep a record of goods being sent out. A record can be maintained and issuance of inventory items can be reconciled at both ends. This will ensure prompt delivery, efficient usage at all centres and reduce wastage.

Funding: Organisations working in the fields of social service and development should be mobilised into team work under the ‘Adopt-a-Village’ community programme starting with the immediate relief needs mentioned above.

Funds could be mobilised through donors willing to disburse small loans for micro-enterprise. The Zakat Council/Baitul Maal could coordinate with adopting partners to provide help particularly to widows, the disabled and orphans. Schools, colleges and the corporate sector could sponsor ‘build a home’ or infrastructure schemes.

Home | National

Share this story!