Wednesday, October 29, 2008, a powerful earthquake hit south-western Balochistan province of Pakistan... leaving scores of humans dead, many injured and thousands displaced and homeless leading to unimaginable losses and damages. The aftermath most challenging for the traumatized survivors to survive this difficult situation... and the additional winter weather further intensifying the urgency facing the sufferers...

People and communities have been severely affected and it will take a long time until their needs are met...though, the globe has once again come together to help those innocent victims struck by the natural disasters...There only hope is our support and the only way to help is to give generously, with their gratitude as our biggest reward... As every second of our help can have an impact on the life of a Human in Balochistan...

It is only " You " who can make a big difference in their existence now, if you keep aside a few moments and take a look at those fellow humans, whose survival has become their biggest pressure...

UPFBH on an emergency footing has contributed to help the thousands of displaced people in Balochistan and welcomes " You in joining hands forwarded for a noble mission…by providing Food, Clothing and Shelter to the needy... giving that human the "Gift of Life...

DONATIONS REQUIRED TO PROVIDE:

1. Emergency Nutritional Energy Packs consists the following : Rice, Beans, Vegetable Oil, Iodised Salt and Sugar for 1 Person
2. Emergency Relief Winterized Tents with Sleeping Mats and Blankets providing Basic Shelter
3. Water and Water Purification Tablets
4. Kitchen Utensils and Hygiene Kits

1- Area Background
Ziarat District was formed in 1986; it has two tehsils (Ziarat and Sinjawi). Ziarat is the smallest district of Balochistan in terms of population and Geography. Total number of UCs of Tehsil Sinjawi and Tehsil Ziarat are 10. Total population of the District is 100,000 estimated, whereas according to the senses of 1998 it was 48,000.

Language
Pashto is the main language spoken in the district Ziarat. However, Urdu is also becoming a second language commonly spoken in the literate community.
Tribes
The main tribes are as follow:
• Dotani ( Majpority at Kawas) m
• Kakar
• Panezai
• Lango ( In Minority)
• Saranzai
• Sadezai

2- Situation Analysis
Ziarat is the Uc and Tehsils are Ziarat, Zandra , Kawas, Kach, Ghoski, Sanjawai, Saddar Samalan, Choutair, Baghow, Poi, Regorah
The livelihood of the major community in Ziarat depends on agriculture (Orchards of Cherry, Apple, apricots etc). Majority of the people work on the land of others
as a tenant.
The current earthquake affected more then 10,000 population. Only tehsil Ziarat has been affected and in this tehsil 3 UC’s have been affected. UC Kawas and Kach
have been declared worst affected, major dead has occurred in UC Kawas. No death has been reported at UC Zandra but the houses are badly affected there. People are living under the open sky in the chill weather condition with out having enough warm clothes and blankets. Due to extreme weather condition people are suffering from pneumonia, fever, cold cough and flue.

3. Methodology for the Rapid Assessment
• Meetings with Civil Society Organizations conducted to discuss more on the current situation and their responses towards this.

• Meetings with DCO Zairat as well as relevant departs i.e. EDO heath conducted to analyze the situation and devise an effective response. The Health Department is working in 3 UC’s of district Ziarat. The EDO (Health) briefed that from the day one they treated 1000 patients, several injured people were shifted to district hospital Quetta. Army lifted most injured people through helicopters and admitted them in CMH Quetta. The health department of Balochistan is active and they are providing health services to the injured people. Balochsitan Govt. has enough medicines and staff to respond to the emergency. Some commonly reported diseases are: Respiratory Track Infection, Diarrhea, Multiple infections, Chronic diseases, Anxiety, Flu, headache, fever and pneumonia

• Field visits conducted of the UC’s and villages affected severely by the recent earthquake. According to the preliminary reports, Kach and Kawas are the worst affected UC’s while Zindra is partially damaged. Government is also taking initiatives in providing relief to the EQ affected community. It was revealed that government is providing food item to the affectees through air drop as well as by road. During field visits, the team also tried to collect information by engaging in one-to-one correspondence with the community.

• Government response is good. They are providing food and health services to the community but accountability mechanism is bit weak. Government is delivering food and other stuff to the people who are living on the road sides.

• The people who lost their beloved are in extreme trauma.

• In few areas access is difficult because of the debris lying on the road. There is strong feeling that more damages as well as death might report time to time.

• Still a Lack of government and Ngo coordination. Lot of coordination has been activated after the emergency but, coordination is still lacking that might create duplication in the
work

• Every organization is rushing to Ziarat. Only one Tehsil of Ziarat has been affected and in one Tehsil only Three UC ‘s have been affected. The whole population of district Ziarat is 47,000

• Early marriages (9-12 yrs) are very common. This causes relatively high family size in district Ziarat.

• Bride price (Walver) system exists in the area. Rich people go for two to three marriages.

4. Specific Findings:
Water
EQ damaged the water sources of hand pump, water schemes and streams. Due to aquifer destruction the water has been contaminated. People are using that water for drinking which is causing Diarrhea among the people especially in children. The dams have been destroyed due to earthquake, the water is leaking from the dam, and coming on the road. The road condition is already very bad and if the water continuous to come and if there rain in the area that may affect the road infrastructure. It is also the fear of the community that if another major shock strikes that might completely damage the dam and if it is completely damaged that will cause a high level of flood in the area.

Sanitation and Hygiene
Balochistan has enough land. People ( male and children) use fields for defection but they have some separate place within the houses for females because in Ziarat, people are Pashtoons and their females strickly observe Purdha. EQ destroyed people’s houses and if some people have the houses they are not living inside due to EQ fear. Females are facing problem, in the extreme cold weather as they go for toilet early in the morning or late night. This all is resulting into females having lot of stomach disease specially constipation and gastric problem. The females are not sensitive about the personal cleanliness during the menopause cycle. They are not using any sanitary napkin during the cycle;therefore gynecology infections are very common in the area.

Shelter
In tehsil Ziarat people used to live in mud houses. Mainly houses comprise of minimum four to five rooms and maximum 8-12 rooms with Veranda and with a big courtyard ( Dalan). People usually keep their livestock in the court yard during the night time in a separate place and in the day time they take them out in the fields. The current EQ affected more than 2,500 houses in the district Ziarat. People do not have shelters (tents) and they are sitting under the open sky specially in UC Zandra.

Agriculture:
Ziarat is famous for cherry, apple and other fruits. People have big fruit orchards. The 7 years long drought period (1997-2003) badly affected the orchards of Ziarat. Due to the drought people economically suffered badly. The area received good rains in 2003 whereby the ground water aquifer was charged. Following that, the tube wells and streams recharged and people’s economy sustained. People have the fear that if the dam is destroyed and flood strikes that will damage their orchard. Apple crops were ready and being packed but the EQ has also damaged the packed apple fruit boxes.

Health
The health situation of the area is not very bad, because government, army and other private organizations are providing services to them. There is one rural health center present at Tehsil Ziarat along with the 4 BHUs at every UC. Due to EQ as well as extreme cold weather situation, the community is suffering from different diseases like:
• Reciprocity Track Infection ( RTI)
• High Fever/ pneumonia
• Flue/Cough and fever
• Diarrhea
• Different Infections
• Anxiety
Un-skilled mid wives are dealing the delivery cases, resultantly causing high mortality rate among mothers and infants.

Education:
The literacy rate is very low through out Balochistan but the literacy rate is high in district Ziarat as compared to other districts of Balochitsan. The education ratio at district Ziarat is 51% Urban and 43% rural. The detail of the UC wise schools is as follow:
• Kawas: 15 ( Boy high -01, %5 primary boys, 01 middle girls school, 3 girls primary school)
• Kach: 18 (Boy high 01, 6 boys primary, 4 girls primary school)
All the buildings of the above mentioned schools have collapsed.

Psycho Social
According to EDO Health and other medical staff of Rural Health Center in UC Kawas post earth quake trauma Cases among children, youth and women are increasing and they are dealing with the cases. Further according to SPO assessment team post earth quake trauma cases among the women and children are very common in various effected villages.

Infrastructural and Livestock Loss
Roads and dams have been damaged. The water scheme has been damaged. The livelihood of the people depends on agriculture and the livestock. In the current EQ many animals died and the animals who were saved are suffering from different diseases. Government has not provided any veterinary service in the area. The EQ damaged all the houses of the community along with their kitchen items and utensils as well as the bed and the quilts. At the moment, most of the affected community is short on utensils, blankets and quilts.

Immediate Needs
Immediate need of the area is as follow:
• Shelter (Tents).
• Blankets
• Warm clothes and shoes
• Energy stoves plus wood and coal or gas cylinders
• Kitchen items
• Food ( High dietary food for children and pregnant mothers)
• Safe drinking water through water trucking
• Water purification tablets
• Hygiene kits

Recommendations
People’s houses and water are completely and practically damaged and they need to be rehabilitated. They don’t have sufficient food for their family and children. Community is at risk of food insecurity. It would be good if we can provide them food packages to meet the average calories requirement i.e. 2,100 cal per person per day, and make sure that diet is enriched with vitamins and proteins.

Winterized tents should be provided to the flood affected people. Humanitarian organizations can provide tents with 4X4 meters dimension to the affected community. As per Sphere standards, they have enough space (3 meters) for the installation of one tent. Although six hundred acres of land is under water but still there is enough dry space for the tent installation.

The hygiene condition of the area is poor. People are not used to hand washing after the toilet use as well as before eating. Therefore, diarrhea disease is very common in the area, especially in children. It would be good if the hygiene kits are provided to the affected community along with hygiene awareness sessions. The key messages on hygiene practices should be communicated in the local language to make them more understandable and thus helping the community in changing their behavior pattern towards hygiene.

We need to ensure that females and males sit separately, and also female community is dealt with by the female staff due to the cultural sensitivity of the area. Hygiene material should be designed to even propagate the messages to the illiterate segment of community.

Recommendations for the Rehabilitation Phase
EQ damaged majority of the mud houses. It would be better if we can provide them some infrastructure material along with the hygienic and sanitary requirements. It would be good if we provide them permanent houses as per ERRA polices. The hygiene condition of the area is very pathetic. People are not sensitive about their personal cleanliness. Hygiene promotion should be provided in the emergency response but it should also be continues in the rehabilitation phase. Where people are at risk of food insecurity, program decisions are based on a demonstrated understanding of how they normally access food, the impact of the disaster on current and future food security, and hence the most appropriate response.
Hygiene promotion messages and activities address key behaviors and misconceptions and are targeted for all user groups.