Shane in Pakistan

I will be traveling this year with a group of people from Eastern Mennonite Missions to Pakistan. Our aim is to offer ongoing help with the aftermath of the 2005 earthquake. We will be helping with the cleanup and rebuilding effort in a village called Bugna. For more information about Eastern Mennonite Missions, you can have a look at their website: emm.org.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Balakot

On the Sunday that we went to Muzaffarabad, we also went to visit the rest of the EMM workers in what remained of the city of Balakot.

We got there just before sundown, but there was just enough light to see the scale of the devastation of Balakot. Apparently, the city sat right on a fault line, and took a lot of damage. Balakot is about the size of Lancaster, and about 3 houses are left. Really.

Last I heard, the government had decided to move the city rather than clear away all the rubble and build again.

We eventually found our friends camped out with the rest of the city residents on the farming terraces at the edge of the city. Each terrace is about wide enough to put up a good sized tent and still have enough room to walk by , but that's about it.

I mostly talked with Benji, the photographer who had been sent to Balakot. We showed each other our photos, and shot the breeze for a while. He took a few of us to one of the few remaining buildings where there was a shop. I bought a Pepsi (which I had to drink there and return the bottle) and some strawberry candies for the kids in Bugna. By the time we were done there, it was time to start the 2 1/2 hour trip back to Bugna.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home