Oxfam Helicopter Rushes Supplies to Remote Villages in Pakistan
3 December 2005
Oxfam’s Lucy Davies visited the Islamabad airport recently where the agency’s helicopter operation was preparing to send sleeping bags, blankets, food, and medical kits to Kalahi camp. Urgency fueled the work of everyone helping with the flight preparations.
Marie Blackburn is Oxfam's helicopter coordinator. It's a tough job. Each morning she can be found at the airport organizing goods for loading onto the helicopter that Oxfam has hired to reach earthquake-hit areas not easily accessible by road.
She knows the weight of all the goods that will be transported and makes sure it doesn’t exceed 2,640 pounds. For the Russian pilot and crew, safety is of paramount importance in navigating the rugged terrain.
There is urgency in Blackburn’s voice.
"Let's get on with it," she says. "How much do the sleeping bags and blankets weigh? And the food items? What's the total weight?"
On this morning, Dr. Waqas, a urologist from the Shifa College of Medicine, will accompany the flight to Kalahi camp, near the military control line between Pakistan and India. He's responsible for ensuring that the food parcels supplied by the Association of Pakistan Physicians of North America reach people who have walked down from their villages to seek medical care and food. The rice, pulses, milk, flour, sugar, and salt packed into plastic sacks are essential items for people in the camps.
Waqas is joining a team of doctors and nurses who are providing emergency care for wounds and dispensing antibiotics.
"This was a prosperous area," he says. "They had schools and computers, and now not a house is standing. Everything has been destroyed. People have to walk for more than an hour to get to the camp which has been there since the earthquake struck."
As the pilot begins to grow impatient, Blackburn discovers that the load is now over its weight limit. What should be left behind? Blankets? Food?
"We must prioritize the blankets," shouts Dr. Waqas.
Blackburn speaks for a moment with the pilot and announces, "We can take no more than 440 pounds of food—that’s 30 bags."
Finally, the loading is finished, with the blankets packed on top of the food items to prevent them from rolling around and to keep the helicopter stable. Speed is critical. It's cold in the high villages, and hundreds of thousands of people are in significant danger of hypothermia.
The Russian MI8 starts its rotor. A few minutes later, the wind generated by the takeoff nearly blows us over. The Oxfam helicopter follows three others, all heavily laden, into the hills.
"They're amazing here," says Blackburn. "Everyone is working so hard to make this operation happen. "
