Hakim Khan at the Army Relief Base Camp in Battagram, North West Frontier Province, Pakistan. CWS Pakistan/Afghanistan

Case Study 4: Lost Homes

Name: Hakim Khan
Dist: Battagram, North West Frontier Province, Pakistan
Date: 15 October 2005

Hakim Khan from Pashakal

Hakim Khan is standing in the mud at the Army Relief Base Camp in Battagram, North West Frontier Province. The rain is pouring down and people try to keep warm with whatever things are available. Seven days ago Hakim was getting ready to go to work in his home village of Pashakhal, 100km from Battagram. In seconds his world changed. He arrived at the Base Camp by helicopter two days ago, accompanying his injured sister. His sister is now in one of the simple tents that have been set up by the Army in order to function as temporary health posts.

Hakim hopes that his sister’s condition will improve enough in the next two days so that they can return to their village. He is hoping that they will be able to take back some tents with them to their village. Hakim explains that his home is completely destroyed and it is not only his family that has met this fate.

When he returns to Pashakal, the ruins of his family house will remind him of his wife and his two youngest daughters who did not survive the earthquake.

Hakim explains that such is the intensity of the earthquake--that in the city of 5,000 houses only around 2,500 remain; the other houses are in ruins. With the onset of a relatively earlier winter, people need tents desperately. To speed up the distribution process, CWS Pakistan/Afghanistan is using army helicopters to airdrop shelter kits to remote areas.

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