Rebuilding a new generation

Tehmina, a survivor of the October 2005’s earthquake, along with four of her brothers and sisters, is currently in Kashmir Orphans Relief Trust’s (KORT) care. Abandoned by her relatives and neighbours, Tehmina didn’t know what was in store for her and her siblings after the tragic incident that gave them a sudden jolt. “On 8th October, 2005, the day of the tragic earthquake, my younger sister fell down and broke her arm. Our mother and father decided to take her to the district hospital in Muzaffarabad. They were travelling by road in a bus beside the river Neelum when the devastating earthquake struck. The minibus lost control and crashed in to the river. The bus or any of the 40 passengers were never found. We were abandoned by relatives and neighbours during this tragic time. Without our parents we kept looking towards the sky for God to help us. A few days later, a couple of representatives from KORT came to our village looking for orphan children who were in need of help and identified us. We are now at this trust with all of our sorrows behind us. With the help of its founder Chaudhry Muhammad Akhtar and his team, we now have a bright future to look forward to and we are all smiling once again,” shares Tehmina.

The heart-wrenching memories of the fateful day of 8th October, 2005, are still fresh in the minds of the people, especially those living in the territorial limits of Azad Kashmir. This devastating earthquake (recorded with the intensity of 7.6 at the Ritcher’s Scale) hit the region and changed the lives of millions of people altogether. The mass media of the country was bombarded with news pouring in from the affected areas but it took considerable time to calculate the scale of loss of the human lives and properties and the damage to the infrastructure. One can recall a headline carried out by a national daily which could make even those with strongest of the nerves burst into tears. It was about the havoc caused by this earthquake in Balakot and read ‘a whole generation lost’. The tragedy had claimed the lives of over 100,000 people and caused injuries to a huge portion of the affected populations. The impact was far bigger as those who had survived were in a trauma as many of them had lost their dear ones and bread-earners of their respective families.

Apart from the loss of human lives, the economic devastation caused by the earthquake was a massive setback for the region. Countless pictures of the disaster were circulated around the globe within a few hours and thousands of people responded with compassion. They either contributed in the form of cash or relief activities. Some immediately travelled to Azad Kashmir with essential supplies and services without the fear of being at risk due to a destroyed road infrastructure or their vulnerability to strong aftershocks that continued to hit for many days.

The founder of KORT, Chaudhry Muhammad Akhtar, travelled to Azad Kashmir with his friends from the United Kingdom (UK) on 14th October, 2005, with over £118,000 worth of aid for those affected. After distributing aid in the worst affected cities of Muzaffarabad, Bagh, Rawalakot and Mansehra, he realised there was a greater need for the long-term support of the children orphaned by the earthquake. There were children who had lost one parent as well as those who had lost both the parents and even those who saw the members of their extended families simply leave. There were a reasonable number of children who survived because they were at their schools at that time and studying in the open. But these poor souls, many of who had lost their parents, had no idea how to survive.

It was at this time when Akhtar appeared to help these children. Orphans in Mirpur were traced first. He formed the trust and along with his team met with the local authorities of Bagh, Muzaffarabad and Rawalakot districts to search out for and hand over orphans and homeless children to them. After a very hard struggle, he succeeded to collect 35 orphans who the trust would look after. He was clear that there is no substitute to parents but he was determined to offer an environment where these children could live a life that children of upscale schools enjoy. According to him, “The first group of children we received following the Kashmir earthquake in 2005 was traumatised. It took some time for children who were affected by the deadly earthquake to emotionally recover. Many children came from remote mountain villages and therefore were below the national education standard for their age. This is when we aimed for emphasis on education to make sure we give them the best possible chance to become self-sufficient and succeed in the future. After facing many challenges and many years of hard work, our children have now developed into confident individuals who can enjoy life. They have the reassurance that we are there to support them all the way to become successful and for them to contribute positively to their communities and the wider society.”

Iqra, one of the survivors of the 2005 earthquake narrates, “My father was a very hard working man and he died in the earthquake. I was having breakfast with my mother when suddenly the earth and the mountains started to shake. Luckily we were safe but nobody knew where or how my father was. It was later on that my uncle informed us about my father’s death. After my father’s death we became helpless. My mother became very worried because she could not arrange any expenses for our education or even our basic necessities. Fortunately, my mother heard about KORT and how it looks after orphan children. She took us to KORT and now we are living here happily. KORT provides us all the basic facilities,” describes Iqra.

Another survivor Hafeez from Muzaffarabad tells his side of the story, “I am a student in KORT. My life went upside down when my father died at work due to an accident. I was too young then. My mother got married again and left me and my sister on our own. My uncle adopted us but he was so poor he could not afford our school fees. My uncle came to know about KORT and applied for us to be looked after. I was extremely sad initially away from home but then I got used to a different environment. Now I am quite comfortable at KORT as everyone is very caring.”

Due to the increasing demand to take on more orphan children, the trust is currently building one of the largest educational complexes in South Asia, which will be home to 1000 orphan children and provide high class education to 1500 students. As far as the basic facility is concerned, the orphans will be provided free messing, accommodation, extra care, health cover, education and all other facilities which are necessary to make them good, honourable and successful citizens. Extreme care will be taken to ensure that the self-respect of these children remains intact and that they are the responsibility of their countrymen.

KORT is a non-profit organisation working for orphans and the under-privileged children which is funded by families, friends and individual donors from Pakistan as well as abroad. A major chunk comes from Pakistani diaspora in the UK of which those having roots in Mirpur have a significant presence. At present, the trust is home to around 400 orphan children who are provided food, shelter, clothing, medical care and education at its purpose-built home for orphans in Akhtarabad, Mirpur and Azad Kashmir. The area was renamed Akhtarabad by Azad Kashmir in recognition of the services rendered by Chaudhry Muhammad Akhtar. This year, he has also been awarded with Tamgha-e-Imtiaz by the President of Pakistan for the same reason.

Muhammad Asif Nadeem, a volunteer working with KORT, explains, “It is the aim of the trust to provide a safe and secure home as well as an excellent education for 1000 orphans and 500 under privileged children in its new educational complex in Akhtarabad, Mirpur and Azad Kashmir. Plans are also there to provide technical training and scholarships to the children along with the quality mainstream education.

As per the details available on the website (https://www.kort.org.uk), one can sponsor towards an orphan at £35 per month to contribute towards these costs. The management will send profile of the child to the sponsor and also an annual report for the child once a year. These contributions will not only help fund the general care of the orphans, but it will also help fund their education and costs of premises, personnel and security to provide the children with the highest professional standards in both care and education. Once enrolled on the sponsorship programme, the sponsors will receive letters confirming their sponsorships along with profile of the sponsored children and receipts as proof of donor ship.

This programme that started for orphans of 8th October, 2005, has expanded its coverage. Now orphans from all over Pakistan can avail this offer provided they meet the prescribed criteria. Besides, children and especially the new-borns abandoned by their families are welcome.

The author is a staffer and can be contacted at shahzada.irfan@gmail.com