04 November 2009
On 4 October 2005, 8 year old Waqar was on his way to school with his friends in Gouthar in the North West Frontier Province. It was a special day - the new school wall was going to be inaugurated and they were to have visitors and sweets. But they never had the sweets. Two minutes before the ceremony started the ground heaved and shook when the earthquake hit. Everyone ran outside and watched in terror as the school crumbled before them.
“We thought it was judgment day,” recalled Sain, a young teacher. “There was black dust everywhere. We couldn’t see or breathe and the children were terrified.”
As the dust cleared they found that their school and homes had gone. And most of the children had lost relatives. The head teacher of the primary school, Sajjid Ahmed felt helpless. “We didn’t even have a rag to sit on,” he said. Sain remembers the pain of the children who had lost family members. “We had tents,” Sain said. “But they were no use, the children would not enter them. They had no interest in anything. We didn’t know what to do”.
The turning point came with Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA), who with DFID’s support, provided psycho-social training to the teachers, as part of school reconstruction programme. “It was amazing,” said Sain. “We were taught how to help the children share their grief. Then we could help them. Gradually the children began to enter the tents. It was difficult to teach children in the tents, but they kept going despite the heat of the summer.”
Four years on, Sain and his students in class six agree that their bright, new classroom is much better than the dark cramped room at their old school. “It is safer too,” they said pointing to the strong walls. “It was the happiest day of my 27 years service when we opened the new school,” said Sajid, his face beaming.
DFID supported reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in earthquake areas both in the North West Frontier Province and Pakistan controlled Kashmir have made a difference to the children of Gouthar and wider communities. Over 400 schools have been rebuilt to date. DFID’s new support will provide more children with an education and an opportunity to move forward with their lives. “I love my new school,” said Waqar. “It will help me become a teacher one day.”
Facts and stats
The 2005 earthquake left over 70,000 dead and 3.5 million people homeless
DFID’s support
£53 million for emergency efforts for:
- food
- water and sanitation
- shelter
- health
£49 million to the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) to help rebuild:
- 80% of 600,000 homes
- 884 government offices
- 35 bridges
- over 400 schools
New £35 million funding to ERRA and other frontline agencies will build
- homes for 200,000 people
- 750 schools for 90,000 children