"My students loved me"

Impressions from a Research Trip to Post-Earthquake Pakistan

view large Image Gulfam is lying in his bed, his arms rest in a loop above him.
Sr Adelheid Nestele (CBM partner Aid to Leprosy Patients) moving Gulfam’s arms and hands. © CBM / Argum / Einberger
Pakistan, October 8, 2005: When the earth started to shake, Gulfam was in the staffroom of his school in Balakot. The 35 year-old teacher tried to flee the building, but was hit by a rock and trapped under rubble for 3 hours. Finally, his brother rescued him. Some 400 children and one of Gulfam’s colleagues died, when schools in the Balakot area collapsed.

Now, Gulfam is lying in a hospital bed in the Leprosy Hospital in Rawalpindi, 200 km from Balakot. He has a severe spinal shock and body sores, which make him unable to move and to depend on the sisters of Aid to Leprosy Patients, a local NGO providing emergency relief to victims of the Pakistan earthquake of October 8, 2005. Also his family look after him. He stayed untreated for 3 weeks, until his mother asked the sisters, if they could take care of him. Gulfam is the oldest brother of 3 brothers and 3 sisters. He belongs to a family of teachers. The energetic man faces further weeks of staying in bed. To recover, he needs to be mobilised every 2 hours to prevent body sores and to rehabilitate his arms and legs. Also his ribs need rehabilitative measures. Since, patients who stay in bed for a long time do not breathe deeply enough and therefore are in danger of developing pneumonia.
view large Image Gulfam smiles happily: His wife and the 4-year-old daughter Adena sit next to his bed.
His wife and the 4-year-old daughter Adena visit Gulfam at the Rawalpindi Leprosy Hospital. © CBM / Argum / Einberger
With rehabilitation, his spinal nerves grow 1 mm per day. But he needs a strong will and the help of the sisters of Aid to Leprosy Patients, since he cannot move arms or legs by himself. If Gulfam is lucky, he can achieve, what he wishes most: "If I recover, I want to give my life to God, to return to teaching." To be a teacher has been his vocation for 14 years now. "My students loved me. Some of them come to visit me in the hospital. It makes me very happy."


Brendan Bergin, Director CBMI New Zealand and Michael Hansmann (Assistant to the Regional Representative of West-Asia) talked to Gulfam during a research trip to coordinate emergency relief and rehabilitation measures in Pakistan.
Read the full report:

Impressions from destroyed Balakot

view large Image A yellow tent above the Kaghan valley, an old woman with her two granddaughters sitting in its front.
view large Image Two women and three children sitting in a tent around an open fire with a pot in the middle. A girl is begging for food.
view large Image An older girl consoling her younger sister.
Grandmother Anila with her Granddaughter Shabnan (9) and Grandson Mohammed (5) in front of their tent above Balakot. The Home of the family in Kaghan Valley was destroyed during the earthquake.© CBM / Argum / Einberger
This family had gone without any food relief for one month. The family lives in a tent next to their house destroyed in earthquake. Volunteers from CBM's partner Aid to Leprosy Patients visited the family and asked Mohammed to meet the relief convoy in three days time.
He received a food pack for one month and blankets for the cold.
Now he hopes to construct a durable shelter before the snow starts falling, otherwise it will be difficult to survive.© CBM / Argum / Einberger
One daughter of the family, Asia (12), died in the rubble of their house. Another daughter, Aqsa (3), received a head injury and was taken to hospital. She remained in a coma for 15 days. The photo shows an older girl consoling her younger sister.© CBM / Argum / Einberger
english deutsch français español
Font -0+

Further information

About 74,000 people were killed in the 7.6-magnitude quake that hit Pakistan, India and Afghanistan in October 2005. 3.5 million people lost their homes. Over 80% of the buildings in the city of Balakot have been levelled. Three schools in the Balakot area, nearly 90 km (55 miles) from the capital, Islamabad, were hit badly.

CBM's partner Aid to Leprosy Patients, with the director Sr Dr. Chris Schmotzer, runs a prevention of blindness programme in Rawalpindi, with mobile eye services and a training centre for ophthalmic staff. After the earthquake, CBM's partner provides emergency relief items and medical care to the affected population.