Case Study 10: A Generation Lost…

Date: 22 October 2005
Place: Balakot

"This is going to be the one remembered as the earthquake that killed the children," says Marvin Parvez, Director Church World Service-Pakistan/Afghanistan. Unfortunately, the disaster that struck the region and in particular northern Pakistan on October 8, 2005 has changed the lives of millions of people. The heart-rending aspect of this whole disaster has been the way children have been victimized by it. The earthquake struck at a time when children were in school. Many schools collapsed, burying the children alive under the rubble. In some communities, a whole generation of children has been wiped out in this manner.

One such school is where teachers took part in a disaster preparedness training held by the CWS team in Balakot in October 2005. A number of teachers and about 250-300 children lost their lives in Government High School, Balakot, when it collapsed due to the earthquake.

Back to South Asia Earthquake Response • Back to top