Corry and I went on a field visit into Seren valley yesterday, an area where MIED are doing earthquake rehabilitation in schools. This area was badly affected by the earthquake – it is only tens of kilometres away the epicentre. And the earthquake that I didn’t experience last week – well that was felt here quite substantially – one guy said that the whole valley was surrounded with noise from the vibrating of the metal sheets on the buildings. And apparently last night there was an aftershock.
After the disaster preparedness meeting the other day I fully prepared myself for the cold and wore three jumpers and a coat (though it was a bit of a struggle to get into the coat I have to say). And the people who designed the shalwar kameez obviously hadn’t given a thought to the fashion disaster it becomes when worn with walking boots. Anyway. Actually, we had to walk for about an hour to get to the furthest school, so I got rather warm and dispensed with most of the jumpers (even though there was snow when we got to the top of the mountain!).
We went to a total of three schools and one early childhood care and development centre (ECCD). At the first school all the children were sitting outside on mats even though it was cold and the ground was very wet. I don’t know how the children could learn in this kind of situation. There was a tent but that wasn’t being used when we were there. We spent a while talking to the kids, and then the disaster risk reduction consultant arrived and we walked to the next school, which was a bit of a trek. There was quite a lot of construction going on. Many of the buildings before the earthquake had been made of stones and concrete, which caused so much loss of life. Now the buildings are being rebuilt again in the traditional way – a wooden construction and then a mixture of mud and stones and things in between. Apparently the walls of the traditional building type would fall out rather than in if there was another earthquake. Visiting the area and seeing some of the collapsed buildings really impressed on me how important DRR is. For example, in one of the schools the children told us about the earthquake last week – although they all ran out of the building there was a real problem because the door was so small and there was a big step to trip up over.
The DRR consultant was full of interesting information about the area. There were very few if any international NGOs working in Seren valley before the earthquake, although there were a few national NGOs. He has talked to the villagers and they have said that many owe their lives to the relief that the INGOs bought. It is interesting that just a few miles away in Battagram there is such a different attitude towards NGOs to the extent that they have been targeted. But it is only a few extremists that are causing these problems.
There is a major problem with timber smuggling and deforestation in this area - trees are so important in preventing landslides. We could clearly see on the mountainsides areas where there had been landslides - areas that were vegetated had not had landslides. The forests are partly owned by the government and partly community owned as well. But the communities have minimal rights to use the trees by chopping them down, though I think they can collect firewood. Corruption is a major problem.
At the second school the proper teacher hadn’t turned up – there was only a para-teacher who is employed by MIED not the government. And when we got to the last school neither of the teachers had bothered turning up as it is so close to the Eid holidays. So the children were just playing around. Teacher absenteeism is a major problem because they get such small salaries, and many of the teachers commute from Mansehra every day (3 hours one way). Some NGOs have started providing hostels for teachers nearer were they work, but MIED doesn’t really want to do this as it creates further dependency on the NGOs, and also the teachers have signed a contract and have a responsibility towards the children.
I have to say that it was an amazing place for school, at the top of the mountain with snow and fab views. But the graves of some people who had died in the earthquake were right next to the school – I can’t really conceive what affect that will have on the children.
The most encouraging place that we visited was the ECCD centre, for children aged 3-6. The room was full of low-cost resources that the ECCD team, the care giver and the children had worked on together. For example they had made bags with the children’s names on from flour sacks, and ceiling hangings from milk cartons.
After we came back down the mountain the care giver from the ECCD centre invited us into her home. They gave us a delicious meal of cornbread, a chilli and coriander sauce, and fresh buffalo butter. It was really lovely, and I was very hungry by that time. People are so hospitable and welcoming even when they have got so little – it is so humbling and challenging for me. Their kitchen was next to the woodpile and was basically a hole in the ground with fire in.
More photos:
After the disaster preparedness meeting the other day I fully prepared myself for the cold and wore three jumpers and a coat (though it was a bit of a struggle to get into the coat I have to say). And the people who designed the shalwar kameez obviously hadn’t given a thought to the fashion disaster it becomes when worn with walking boots. Anyway. Actually, we had to walk for about an hour to get to the furthest school, so I got rather warm and dispensed with most of the jumpers (even though there was snow when we got to the top of the mountain!).
We went to a total of three schools and one early childhood care and development centre (ECCD). At the first school all the children were sitting outside on mats even though it was cold and the ground was very wet. I don’t know how the children could learn in this kind of situation. There was a tent but that wasn’t being used when we were there. We spent a while talking to the kids, and then the disaster risk reduction consultant arrived and we walked to the next school, which was a bit of a trek. There was quite a lot of construction going on. Many of the buildings before the earthquake had been made of stones and concrete, which caused so much loss of life. Now the buildings are being rebuilt again in the traditional way – a wooden construction and then a mixture of mud and stones and things in between. Apparently the walls of the traditional building type would fall out rather than in if there was another earthquake. Visiting the area and seeing some of the collapsed buildings really impressed on me how important DRR is. For example, in one of the schools the children told us about the earthquake last week – although they all ran out of the building there was a real problem because the door was so small and there was a big step to trip up over.
The DRR consultant was full of interesting information about the area. There were very few if any international NGOs working in Seren valley before the earthquake, although there were a few national NGOs. He has talked to the villagers and they have said that many owe their lives to the relief that the INGOs bought. It is interesting that just a few miles away in Battagram there is such a different attitude towards NGOs to the extent that they have been targeted. But it is only a few extremists that are causing these problems.
There is a major problem with timber smuggling and deforestation in this area - trees are so important in preventing landslides. We could clearly see on the mountainsides areas where there had been landslides - areas that were vegetated had not had landslides. The forests are partly owned by the government and partly community owned as well. But the communities have minimal rights to use the trees by chopping them down, though I think they can collect firewood. Corruption is a major problem.
At the second school the proper teacher hadn’t turned up – there was only a para-teacher who is employed by MIED not the government. And when we got to the last school neither of the teachers had bothered turning up as it is so close to the Eid holidays. So the children were just playing around. Teacher absenteeism is a major problem because they get such small salaries, and many of the teachers commute from Mansehra every day (3 hours one way). Some NGOs have started providing hostels for teachers nearer were they work, but MIED doesn’t really want to do this as it creates further dependency on the NGOs, and also the teachers have signed a contract and have a responsibility towards the children.
I have to say that it was an amazing place for school, at the top of the mountain with snow and fab views. But the graves of some people who had died in the earthquake were right next to the school – I can’t really conceive what affect that will have on the children.
The most encouraging place that we visited was the ECCD centre, for children aged 3-6. The room was full of low-cost resources that the ECCD team, the care giver and the children had worked on together. For example they had made bags with the children’s names on from flour sacks, and ceiling hangings from milk cartons.
After we came back down the mountain the care giver from the ECCD centre invited us into her home. They gave us a delicious meal of cornbread, a chilli and coriander sauce, and fresh buffalo butter. It was really lovely, and I was very hungry by that time. People are so hospitable and welcoming even when they have got so little – it is so humbling and challenging for me. Their kitchen was next to the woodpile and was basically a hole in the ground with fire in.
More photos:
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