On a Visit to Mansehra, Bright Colors Temper the Destruction
7 November 2005
Oxfam aid worker Annette Rayer traveled to Mansehra where Oxfam has been working to provide water and sanitation services following a devastating October earthquake in Pakistan.
Aboard a United Nations helicopter, we land on the outskirts of Mansehra on a recently harvested field of corn. A low wall divides this landing area from the military sports stadium, where it seems a helicopter is touching down every minute. Nearby, we see stacks of relief goods, blankets among them.
We drive into town down a road dotted with small shops and stalls, where people sell fruits and vegetables. Butchers hang their freshly slaughtered meat outside.
At the Boys College, now converted into a hospital, tents and mobile clinics cover the grounds. In the days after the earthquake, so many patients sought care in the hospital that the hallways became filled with medical waste. One of Oxfam’s first tasks was to set up a disposal system for the building.
Oxfam is also working on water and sanitation at this hospital. Now there are latrines for men and women, water containers and taps for hand washing, and separate cubicles for women to wash themselves. Oxfam and the Sungi Development Foundation, a Pakistani organization, are working together here. Besides building the water and sanitation facilities for the patients and their visitors, the two agencies are also offering hygiene education.
We continue on to Garhi Habibullah, a village in the mountains where the earthquake badly damaged or destroyed many houses, the schools, and the hospital. Several times we notice that only the front doors of buildings are still standing. Walls have been pulverized and roofs sent crashing on top of the rubble. Schoolbags and books fill the school courtyard.
In this village, we hear stories of the dead—relatives, a schoolteacher, the doctor's wife. But there are also stories of people found alive and rescued from the debris up to three days after the earthquake hit. We see villagers rummaging through the remains of their houses to find what useful possessions are left. Some of them offer us grapefruits--big green ones, grown locally.
Oxfam and Sungi have distributed 65 tents in this village, mainly for mothers with babies. In those tents they are trying to make a home again, but they are afraid. Will it be safe to rebuild here? What should they live off of?
Back in Mansehra, we visit the Sungi office. Multi-colored blankets and mats—pink, red, orange, and green—sit in high piles. Others are stacked on trucks awaiting distribution to earthquake-shattered villages. The trucks splashed with those bright colors make a good picture to keep in my mind. They balance all the images of destruction.
