(Islamabad, Pakistan) January 19, 2006 –

Father and daughter on their way down the mountain to field hospital.

Despite heavy winter snows across the earthquake-devastated areas of northern Pakistan, Save the Children continues to provide thousands of children and their families with life- saving assistance - including food, shelter materials, health care and support to recover livelihoods.

In the Allai Valley of Batagram District, Save the Children staff worked alongside Pakistan Army personnel to help rescue 100 families whose shelter could not withstand the heavy snows that began in earnest on New Year’s Day.

More than 2 feet of snow in the higher elevations and drenching rain in the foothills have cut off access to villages and forced the suspension of helicopter flights. Heavy snowfall damaged the field hospital in Bana set up by Save the Children but heroic efforts by staff and local volunteers kept the hospital functioning.

“Save the Children has made great strides to address the immediate emergency situation, but huge challenges remain,” said Bruce Rasmussen, Save the Children’s Pakistan Field Office Director. “We are continuing our urgent efforts to meet the winter-survival needs of earthquake-affected children and their families.”

Working against the clock across the vast disaster zone, Save the Children aims to ensure that children and families have a warm place to spend the extreme winter—and that the short- and long-term survival needs of the region’s vulnerable children are met.

In the nine Union Councils of Allai Tehsil, Save the Children has distributed shelter and household materials to nearly 11,000 families, including heaving plastic sheets, tools, blankets, warm clothes and cooking utensils. During the past three weeks more than 32,000 sheets of corrugated galvanized iron (CGI) sheeting have been distributed to over 2,700 families throughout the Allai Valley area. Save the Children’s community mobilization staff work with local communities to ensure that the most needy families receive assistance.

“It was unbelievable that we all survived the earthquake, because it was so terrible,” said Jee Mohammed, who lives in the small village of Dara Biari an hour’s walk from Bana, Allai. “But we could have died in the aftershocks, which were coming all the time.”

With a shelter kit and CGI sheets from Save the Children, Jee Mohammed and his brother have added two large rooms onto their home where their wives and children can sleep and cook safely. Food and a household kit, including blankets, further supported this family’s survival. “These things have helped us a lot and spared our children from the cold and fear.” Now, Jee Mohammed is actively involved with Save the Children’s interventions in his valley, spreading the word about community meetings and helping other men understand the concepts behind safe building.

Training is also provided on how to most effectively use the iron sheets along with salvaged materials to construct a warm, safe, earthquake resistant room to help children and their families survive the harsh winter.

Save the Children is partnering with the Department of Health, NWFP, to operate a 20-bed field hospital in Bana, Allai Tehsil. Serving the needs of a population of 120,000 from 50 local villages, the field hospital has treated nearly 300 patients a day since early December. Many women coming to the hospital indicate that this is the first time they have ever had access to a female medical provider. In addition to routine outpatient care and basic emergency services, the facility provides obstetrical care—with 15 babies delivered in the past six weeks to mothers who had never imagined the possibility of a hospital birth.

Save the Children—which has been working in Pakistan for almost three decades—responded within hours of the disaster on October 8. Today the agency is providing food, shelter, medical services, psychosocial support and education services to children and families in some of the worst-hit and remote areas of the North West Frontier Province and Azzad Jammu and Kashmir. This includes basic shelter and household kits to nearly 27,000 families; food rations for several months to more than 120,000 people; and 80 safe play areas for children as well as 28 temporary schools.

Save the Children is calling on donor countries not only to make good on their November pledges for reconstruction, but to provide additional urgent emergency support for lifesaving and life-sustaining shelter, food, healthcare and education. Children and their families still face enormous challenges to survive and thrive, and international relief organizations working in the region require ongoing support to help curtail the massive suffering that is occurring.

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