Through the camera lens: Life after the floods (Part 1)

I looked out from the cockpit of the ATR-42 twin turboprop as we cruised to the point where the Hindu Kush, Karakoram and Himalaya mountain ranges meet. The sight was breathtaking – white snow blanketing the highest peaks, a clear blue sky and the hot sun watching over.

Captain Aurangzeb challenged us to find the runway of Gilgit Airport, as he piloted the plane towards the foot of a mountain. When we couldn't, he joked that the mountain would open up to reveal it.

He was almost right. You have to fly straight towards the mountain and bank sharply to the left to land. I would not want to be a pilot flying this route in bad weather.

I was travelling to Gilgit with Salimah Shiraj of the Ismaili Council for Pakistan, cameraman Muhammed Usman and assistant editor Husnain ‘Toto' Ali. The four of us were on assignment to visually document the work of the Aga Khan Development Network's Early Relief and Recovery Programme in the wake of the devastating floods of July 2010. Nine months later it was difficult to imagine how different Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral must have looked last summer, and it would be almost impossible to depict it on film.

First on the scene

Not far from Gilgit is Nomal, a village where Focus Humanitarian Assistance was teaching villagers how to respond when disaster strikes. People who live in disaster-prone areas at risk of earthquake, flooding and landslides, are usually the first on the scene. Fatalities can be avoided if the communities at risk are trained in how to respond to casualties quickly and effectively, with basic first aid and evacuation skills. So far, FOCUS has trained 34 000 people in Pakistan in disaster response. More than 120 teams of 40 volunteers have received advanced disaster risk management training to support these communities.

FOCUS runs several other programmes, including one that specialises in search and rescue. Search and Rescue Teams (SARTs) based in Karachi, Gilgit and Chitral have received international training, and they regularly update and upgrade their skills. We watched men and women dressed in professional uniforms and equipped with the latest search and rescue gear rappel down mountain slopes, practice first aid on ‘casualties', and evacuate them on stretchers across deep gorges by rope. Their impressive array of equipment included drills, saws, and ropes, as well as probes that can detect carbon dioxide from victims trapped under destroyed buildings.

Earlier, in the village of Uchust in Chitral, we had been told how a SART team had been the first on the scene. Within two hours of flood waters devastating the village of 60 households, FOCUS volunteers had recovered the bodies of 13 dead in the 20 houses that were either partially or totally destroyed.

Rehmat Ghafoor Baig is seen with Faizan Arfeen along with other village children, some of whom were traumatised by the floods. Courtesy of the Ismaili Council for Pakistan

Also impressive was the fact that there are many women in this team. Search and rescue work requires strength, endurance, and stamina. Gul Noori, one of the volunteers in training, said nothing is impossible if one has the will.

“There are no barriers for us – the men treat us equally, and we work hard to achieve whatever is needed to do this work,” she said. “It is important work, and an honour.”

There are advantages to having women in the team in a conservative society, explained Gul Noori: “Last year, there were some buildings that collapsed in Karachi. FOCUS was called in specifically because our female members could go in and rescue female casualties under the collapsed buildings, so we play a very important role in this work.”

Bravery, resilience and determination

Bone-rattling journeys of up to five hours each way along the rivers through the valleys and mountains taught us the meaning of “bad roads”. Under better conditions, these trips would have taken no more than two hours, but last year's floods and landslides blocked the Karokaram Highway – the lifeline of the Hunza-Gilgit-Baltistan region. Smaller roads were totally destroyed, ending up under water and cutting off many communities from access to phones, transportation, food, shelter, and outside medical help.

There are many stories of bravery, resilience and determination.

A healthy and smiling Dilshad Wali is seen with her husband and their 10-month old son Naeem. Courtesy of the Ismaili Council for Pakistan

Gul Anaar is with the Aga Khan Health Service, Pakistan (AKHS,P). Despite protests from her family, she walked 45 kilometres through submerged and non-existent roads to access remote areas, and assist in delivering a baby. The young mother – 18-year-old Dilshad Wali – encountered complications while in labour, and Gul Anaar convinced Dilshad's family to send her to the AKHS Health Centre on a motorbike. We met Dilshad's 10-month-old son Naeem Wali, who was smiling and healthy.

In Uchust village, we met nine-year-old Faizan Arfeen who was washed two kilometres away and miraculously survived. Sultan Bibi from the same village also survived the floods but lost her 25-year-old son and 19-year-old daughter to the raging waters. Still, she offered us a smile and thanked us for taking the time to speak with her about the tragedy.

Elsewhere, a team of 30 FOCUS volunteers tried to take food supplies to the village of Darkut, in the Ghizer district of Baltistan. With roads under water and bridges washed away, the volunteers carried 1 500 kilograms of emergency supplies on their backs, and walked 25 kilometres from the village of Hundur. When asked what motivated them to embark on such an extraordinary task, one of the volunteers responded: “We knew that the people were in difficulty and needed our help.”

In Darkut village, I was awestruck by the contrast between the half of the village that was utterly destroyed and buried under rocks, and the other half that was green and fertile. One Jamatkhana was reduced to a pile of rubble with only the roof visible.

Families established here for 400 years had suddenly become homeless, and rebuilding was not necessarily viable in areas that remained vulnerable. Other options, including moving whole communities or strengthening and stabilising the terrain, require careful consideration and long term planning. While the search for a permanent solution remains elusive, temporary measures had to be taken.

Local volunteers are seen crossing the raging river to make relief goods available to the flood affected communities in Darkut. Courtesy of the Ismaili Council for Pakistan

In Darkut, Hussainabad and Hunza, we found many internally displaced people. While tents had initially been provided, stronger structures had to be built to protect them from the bitter cold of winter.

Thirty-year-old Gauher Numa still lives in the temporary shelter provided by the Aga Khan Planning and Building Service, Pakistan in the village of Hussainabad at the foot of Rakaposhi mountain. She had been tending to her fields when she witnessed the rocks and boulders tumble down the mountainside and crash into her house below. Thankfully, her children were safe at school. The family's new shelter is comfortable, insulated with an environmentally friendly stove and a water warming facility. But, says Gauher Numa, “we are still worried about the future.”

“This shelter has saved our lives, as living in tents in the winter was terrible,” she says. “But we cannot live here forever in temporary shelters. We need to secure our future.”

Author Faridoun Hemani is a broadcast journalist who has worked with international broadcasters such as CNN, ABC News and Worldwide Television News, covering wars and conflicts for 30 years in areas such as Baghdad, Yugoslavia and Somalia. He has been producing films on the AKDN worldwide for the last 16 years with his independent production company Linx Productions.

This article was adapted from the July 2011 edition of The Ismaili Pakistan.