Mountain tribes affected by quake finally receive aid

The dark-skinned pilot standing proudly astern in magnificent flowing cotton garments and loosely bound tribal head wrap fluttering in the light breeze set the ferry on course for the opposite bank, some 400 yards away, guiding the small craft against the strong current towards the group of villagers in the distance awaiting his arrival.

In the craggy mountains directly ahead of him, framed against the clear blue sky, lay the quake-stricken villages of the Madda-Khel tribe, the last of the region’s five tribes to receive essential aid items following the October quake.

We never thought help would come. What BES and World Vision have done is unique Such is the remoteness of the area that more than 100,000 people affected by the disaster had received little, or no aid from outside until the large-scale operation began in May, a joint initiative between Pakistani aid organisation Bright Education Society (BES) and World Vision.

The partnership has provided around US$2 million of Non-Food Items (NFIs) to those families in greatest need following the earthquake. UNICEF has contributed a further US$270,000 of aid for the same distribution.

Among the relief supplies are Corrugated Galvinised Iron Sheets, Rehabilitation Kits, tarpaulins, mattresses, kitchen sets, quilts, blankets and jackets.

Watching the boats launch across the Indus, jubilant village elder Islam Mohammad Khan said: “We never thought help would come. What BES and World Vision have done is unique. We are so very happy to receive the aid. No-one has come to help us before.”

Yet the six-week operation had taken months to prepare and plan, such were the sensitivities faced by a people who guard their independence so doggedly. People had said aid intervention here could not be done.

Very little was known about the five tribes of the Black Mountain tribal area of Kala Dhaka: The Bassi-Khel, Nasrat-Khel, Aka-Zai, Hassen-Zai and Madda-Khel.

It was a pocket of unknown mountainous territory of some 100 square kilometres – a forbidden zone whose people were literally not on the map.

Frank Lyman, World Vision’s Operations Manager, Mansehra, NWFP, explains: “Although we knew these people existed, we didn’t know how many, or how badly communities had been affected by the earthquake. Nobody really knew.

“You cannot enter without an express invitation by the Loya Jirgas (tribal councils) who will guarantee security.”

That invitation, in effect, a cry for help, did not come until January.

Deteriorating conditions for the people of Kala Dhaka forced tribal leaders to finally issue a desperate plea for outside intervention for the first time in living memory.

Some villages high in the mountains, which peak at 11,000 feet, had suffered total devastation, every home raised to rubble. The average destruction to villages across the Black Mountain range runs at 60 per cent, with many families facing hunger and inadequate shelter following the winter, when temperatures dipped below minus 20 degrees. The Loya Jirgas had identified 13,000 households desperate for help.

But there were challenges. Physical access to this harsh land of rugged beauty difficult, the few narrow roads cut into the mountainside damaged or blocked by landslides. Security has also been a major issue, as the tribesmen are heavily armed and deeply suspicious of western agencies.

Building trust and obtaining guarantees on security were also essential hurdles to negotiate, meeting with religious leaders and tribal councils to allow access for detailed assessments by outside agencies for the first time.

World Vision and its partner organisation BES have been engaged in sensitive negotiations over many months to develop the necessary understanding between the tribes with determination and complete transparency, to allow the aid distribution to take place in Kala Dhaka.

The success of the current operation follows an earlier pilot initiative which had to be suspended in March due to tribal tensions and security issues – the same reasons other aid organizations have been unable to penetrate this isolated region in safety.

Lyman added: “Negotiations have been extremely delicate, detailed assessments completed through BES and the process of building trust with the five tribes painstaking, but essential. This kind of operation within Kala Dhaka has never been done before; it is an historic achievement but will help alleviate suffering for thousands of families affected by the quake.”

The operation, backed by the Pakistani authorities, finally obtained the green light of consensus from the heads of all five tribes, religious leaders and politicians mid-May. Hundreds of trucks and Jeeps laden with aid have been winding along the hazardous tracks cut into the side of the mountains in the mercy mission to reach the isolated communities high in the Himalayan foothills.

The distribution to the Madda-Khel tribe across the Indus was one of the last and logistically challenging phases of the aid operation.

The previous week thousands of Hassan-Zai tribesmen laid down their weapons and came into the valley from their mountain homes to pick up essential aid at the village of Shungli Bandi.

Mahmood, a tenant farmer from the mountain village of Sehri saw his home totally destroyed in the earthquake. He has six sons and two daughters; the youngest is nine years. “Life has been very hard and it has been difficult for the children. We lost everything, though we escaped with our lives.”

He says the distribution is like a small miracle from Allah (Almighty), the most valuable of the items for reconstruction of his home, the CGI sheeting.
“I have never seen help come for us from outside, but I am very happy and very grateful that we have the items.”

At the centre of the distribution, the BES team registered those who queued in their hundreds to claim their aid items, exchanging the tokens issued following detailed assessments and to make their thumb mark. Boxes of aid were stacked high as far as the eye could see, the road lined with thousands of CGI sheets. The people of Hassan-Zai had never seen anything like it. And the smiles said it all; the feeling of goodwill, gratitude and celebration clear to see.

Tribesman Maskeew Shah spoke for many when he said: “We have been trying to rebuild, but life has been very hard. Though we have tried to stay standing and move on with our lives it is not easy when you have lost your home and immediate livelihood. That is why we are so grateful to BES and World Vision that help has come.”

He has three daughters and two sons, aged from 18 years to six years. “Sometimes the children have been hungry and do not understand why there is nothing to eat, or why their home was damaged.”

But with the gratitude of the ordinary people of Kala Dhaka there is also a sense of disbelief that help has come from outside for the first time – and on such a scale for those in need.

Syed Latif, Project Chief Co-ordinator for BES, said: “There was great hardship in Kala Dhaka following the earthquake, but no-one has distributed aid within the region in this way before. We have been working at grass roots level, identifying the families facing the greatest hardship, but with the support of the religious leaders, the Loya Jirgas (tribal leaders) and the politicians.

Negotiations have been extremely delicate, detailed assessments completed through BES and the process of building trust with the five tribes painstaking, but essential He added: “It is the first, but highly significant step in building bridges with the people of Kala Dhaka. Yet it is only a beginning. Water is a big issue, with many supplies lost in the earthquake; the people require help to rebuild their livelihoods. There is also a desperate need for support on education, which the tribes have recognized and called for from the outside for the first time. There is much work to do, but a will and determination to move forward.”

Meanwhile, across the River Indus, the boats laden with aid were greeted enthusiastically by tribesmen, who hastily unloaded and literally carried off the goods to their villages, sometimes many hours away in the mountains.

Watching his people collect their aid, village elder Bhadar Khan said: “We have received all the items. The entire village is happy and grateful. It is a wonderful day for the people. Shukria (thank you) and may the blessings if Allah (Almighty) be with you.”

A constant stream of aid-bearing villagers could be seen stretching into the distance along the winding mountain tracks, like tiny ants, before disappearing over the crests and peaks.

A first step in building trust has been taken; a bridge between the outside world and the people of Kala Dhaka has been established. Yet the challenges for the people who inhabit this beautiful landscape to rebuild their shattered lives are immense....