Quake Survivors Replant Lives on Broken Land
By Joe LappBaseerat is a busy woman. On a clear October morning she takes her livestock into the hills above her village to graze and get water. Later she buzzes about, all smiles in an immaculate orange suit as she hosts visitors and prepares sweet, Pakistani-style chai. Proudly, she shows off her model vegetable garden, tall okra plants now producing next year's seeds after a productive harvest.
Baseerat's neighbors gather in her kitchen garden, used as a model by Catholic Relief Services to teach gardening techniques that have brought the village extra food, nutrition and income. Photo by Joe Lapp for CRS
Three years ago, life was not so good for Baseerat. On October 8, 2005, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake caused thousands of deaths and massive destruction in her hillside village of Niali and in many other towns like it. According to official estimates, more than 78,000 people died and more than 3 million were left homeless in the mountains of Pakistan and the neighboring region.
Immediately after the earthquake, Catholic Relief Services carried out one of the largest relief responses in the agency's history. Over the last three years, we have shifted our focus from emergency aid to long-term recovery projects, touching thousands of lives in earthquake-affected villages with shelter, clean water, jobs and education.
A CRS "kitchen garden" project has proved particularly effective in helping women feed themselves and their families.
A New Pride and Self-Sufficiency
In years past, the women of Niali would simply scatter seeds in the soil and wait to see what came up. This year, using tool kits, seeds and planting know-how provided by CRS, they cultivated carefully planned gardens, dramatically increasing yields.
This summer, Baseerat's neighbor Akbar Jan was able to grow more tomatoes than ever before. "Besides using them myself," she says, "I sold tomatoes in the market and made [about $8]." Akbar used the money to buy herself a more comfortable bed and to pay her son's school fees.
Zareena Bibi, left, and her neighbor Reshma Bibi hold dried vegetables Zareena preserved with CRS-taught techniques. She will use them during the long, cold winter ahead. Photo by Joe Lapp for CRS
Zareena Bibi has taken a different approach to her sudden wealth of vegetables, using CRS postharvest ideas to make sun-dried tomatoes. She also dried okra, eggplant and chilies to save for the cold, snowy winter.
The extra money, and extra food, brought women like Akbar and Zareena a new pride and self-sufficiency.
But CRS didn't stop at tasks like gardening, which are traditional for women here. We also taught women how to start and manage small businesses.
"I had no business before the CRS training," says Malka Shaffi, "but then afterward I bought five hens and started selling eggs." Malka uses her extra money to pay for her children's school expenses.
Opening the Doors to Opportunity
Malka's neighbor Zareena is a shopkeeper. CRS taught Zareena business skills like record keeping, marketing and making a business plan.
But perhaps the greatest benefit to her business is the drinking water system CRS installed. She once spent nearly two hours to make just one trip to the nearest good water source. Now, clean water is available at a faucet outside her front door.
And the time Zareena saves means money. "I can keep my shop open for a longer period of time and make more money," Zareena says. "Otherwise, if the door is shut, no one will come to buy."
Three years after the earthquake, CRS is making sure Zareena and her neighbors are open for business.
Joe Lapp is a photojournalist working with CRS Pakistan.
