wfn.org | CWS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SEES PAKISTAN WRECKAGE

["Lesley Crosson" <lcrosson@churchworldservice.org>]

CWS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SEES PAKISTAN WRECKAGE
Tent Village Continues Improvements in Operations, Services

NEW YORK / ISLAMABAD - Nov. 14 - The Rev. John L. McCullough, executive
director of humanitarian agency Church World Service, completed a pastoral
visit to the CWS offices in Islamabad and Mansehra over the weekend, to
meet and console staff who lost family members in the earthquake. He
visited affected areas in the North West Frontier Province.

More than 50,000 people are on their way from about 100 villages above the
snowline to the nearest relief camps. Driven by aftershocks in their
areas, where rains and seven to 10 feet of snow also threaten, the large
number of people seeking safety are threatening to overwhelm the makeshift
arrangements on the slopes of Muzaffarabad, Battagram, Bisham, Batal, Bagh
and other areas.

The Church World Service tent village continues to prosper with 136
families residing there. Two large tents are fully operational: one for a
field hospital and the other for a warehouse. The water system is
established, and daily drinking water is being delivered. Strip lights and
spotlights have been added to the facilities, as well as 32 latrines. CWS
staff report that residents are adjusting well to the village, but the
quake's tragedy remains hard to forget. The CWS psychosocial team in the
village is focusing on women in the first stage of its work, and plans to
soon address children's issues.

[The Institute of Psychiatry & World Health Organization Collaborating
Centre for Mental Health at Rawalpindi General Hospital, in cooperation
with the department of psychiatry at Military Hospital Rawalpindi, along
with some national and international organizations, have registered some
4,000 survivors who have developed mild, moderate or severe psychological
distress as a result of the earthquake.]

The camp management team is tackling several overarching issues of
concern. One is the town's water supply, as the quake destroyed the
25-cubic-foot water tank that supplied water to the town of Balakot. CWS
partner Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) is planning its reconstruction. Arild
Isaksen and Anne Angelteveit from NCA visited the CWS tent village and
observed the work underway on the school and the current situation of the
water and sanitation program.

Church World Service trucks have been transporting supplies such as
military tents, stoves, blankets and woolen sweaters sent by air from
Norwegian Church Aid and FinnChurchAid to Battagram, Balakot and Rawalakot. CWS continues to distribute shelter kits and food packages to the
affected people of Balakot, Battagram, Shangla and Mansehra. So far, CWS
has distributed 3,884 food packages (for 27,188 individuals), 6,580
shelter kits (for 46,060 individuals), 150 hygiene kits, 150 housing kits
and 150 kitchen sets. Five hundred tents were distributed at the camp at
Maira on November 11.

The CWS field team attended the UN protection cluster meeting, where
concern was voiced about the security of unaccompanied and separated
children. CWS is in consultation with various agencies and human rights
organizations to establish what rules and laws are applicable in Pakistan
to unaccompanied and separated children.

At a donors conference later this week (Nov. 19), President Pervez
Musharraf is expected to unveil a plan for reconstruction and rehabilitation of earthquake-ravaged areas. The newly created Earthquake Reconstruction
and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) is in the process of compiling data on
damage at the city, district and tehsil (regional) levels. The prime
minister's adviser on finance and revenue announced that the reconstruction and rehabilitation operations (including relief, early recovery,
livelihood recovery, and short-, medium- and long-term reconstruction)
will cost $5.2 billion, according to census figures from the government of
Pakistan and international donor agencies. The Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock said that around $500 million would be needed over a
five-year period for the recovery of agricultural sector in the earthquake-stricken areas.

To combat the outbreak of infectious diseases, the U.N. children's agency
and Pakistan's Health Ministry have launched a two-week campaign to
immunize 800,000 children among quake survivors in crowded and sometimes
squalid tent camps.

Contributions to support this work may be sent to: Church World Service
Southern Asia Earthquake--#6979
P.O. Box 968
Elkhart, IN 46515

Contributions may also be made online, or by calling 800.297.1516, ext.
222.

Media Contacts:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676; lcrosson@churchworldservice.org
Jan Dragin (24/7), 781-925-1526; jdragin@gis.net