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Pakistan quake took wrenching toll on children

Oct. 14, 2005

NOTE: Photographs are available at http://umns.umc.org.

A UMNS Report
By Chris Herlinger*

"This is going to be the one remembered as the earthquake that killed
the children."

That is the viewpoint of Marvin Parvez, a Methodist and the
Pakistan/Afghanistan director for Church World Service.

Parvez has been on the scene in Pakistan helping coordinate the CWS
response to the calamitous earthquake that, as of Oct. 14, had killed
more than 25,000 people.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief is working to assist earthquake
victims through CWS and the International Blue Crescent.

While there are occasional bits of good news about rescued survivors --
as he spoke by phone Oct. 11 to CWS headquarters in New York, Parvez
received "beautiful news" of four children being rescued from a school
-- reports from the scene have otherwise been extremely bleak.

"There are recovered bodies of children being set outside of schools,
ready for burial," he said. "As a parent, this is very difficult to
see."

He added: "It's a horror story that doesn't end. You find yet another
village that has been flattened by this earthquake."

Efforts to rescue survivors or retrieve bodies are being hampered by the
inaccessibility of remote rural villages. "These villages are in
mountainous regions where there no roads," he said.

Parvez urged support for CWS efforts to provide shelter to earthquake
survivors, saying there is "tremendous need right now. People have lost
their homes and need shelter. People are very scared, and they can't
afford to lose any more loved ones."

In addition to support, Parvez, asked for prayer from U.S. Christians
and supporters of CWS efforts in Pakistan. "We need prayers for parents
who lost their children," he said, "and for children who lost their
parents."

Donations to the United Methodist relief effort can be marked for "UMCOR
Advance #232000, Pakistan Earthquake," and placed in church offering
plates or sent to UMCOR, P.O. Box 9068, New York, N.Y. 10087-9068.
Contributions also can be made by phone at (800) 554-8583. If funds are
intended for recovery in a specific region, that should be noted. More
information is available at
http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/emergency/earthquake/index.stm.

*Herlinger is communications officer for the Church World Service
Emergency Response Program.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org

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