| PRESS RELEASE
October 20, 2005
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Khalsa Aid team updates from Pakistan and India
South Asia Earthquake Relief Work. Pakistan -
Khalsa Aid (UK) has visited the affected areas of the North West Frontier Province in Pakistan. Their first stop was Abbotabad where the earthquake damage to the buildings was clearly visible. The team has also visited Balakot, where not a single building remains standing, and Muzaffarabad. The immediate requirements are for shelter. There are few tents available in Pakistan. Khalsa Aid has decided to help with other essential needs and to procure as much material as possible. Khalsa Aid has purchased cooking utensils from Gujranwala. The team (Ravinder Singh and Tejinder Singh) also visited a group of Sikh and Hindu families who had just arrived at Panja Sahib Gurdwara from the affected area of Buttagram and their losses have been heavy. After a lengthy discussion it was decided that Khalsa Aid will provide whatever the families may need immediately and also that Khalsa Aid will liaise with the Panja Sahib management. They also met with Bibi Amar Kaur who had a serious leg injury. Her leg is badly broken and her toes are partly crushed. Her wounds on the same leg were also still bleeding. She was in great pain and was unable to speak very much. She has been transferred to the nearest private hospital so that she can receive immediate medical care. Khalsa Aid will pay for her medical expenses and arrange for her family to visit her on daily basis.
Khalsa Aid is also planning to build 8 semi-permanent toilets and 3 wash rooms for the female volunteers who have come from outside countries. These facilities will be similar to the ones Khalsa Aid built on the Andaman and Nicobar islands and will be available in camps at Balakot and Muzafarabad. Khalsa Aid will also donate 3 industrial wheel barrows to store clean drinking water within the camps.
If you would like to help the earthquake victims of Pakistan directly then please consider purchasing the following medical equipment.
PORTABLE ANESTHESIA MACHINE: 125000 PAK RUPEES
PULSE OXAMETER: 55000-60000 PAK RUPEES
CARDIAC MONITOR: 125000 PAK RUPEES
Khalsa Aid will be purchasing one portable anesthesia machine, but more are needed. This machine will make field operations more comfortable and less painful for the victims. Ravinder Singh of Khalsa Aid will personally guarantee that the machines will get delivered to the camps. Pakistan Contacts:
Ravinder Singh: 011 92 301 540 8190 (cell phone – may not work in certain parts of Pakistan due to the earthquake).
Email: ravisingh@aol.com or India The Khalsa Aid (Indian Team) is participating with Gurmat Gian Missionary College, Ludhiana, Nishkam, New Delhi, Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle, Maharashtra and Gurdev Charitable Foundation, Ludhiana in Jammu and Kashmir. A central office has been created in Ludhiana, care of Gurmat Gian Missionary College (Panjabi Bagh, Jawaddi, Ludhiana). After an initial assessment by Jeet Singh (Srinagar), Jatinder Singh (Baramulla) and Amjad Khan (Uri), Adeep Singh left from Jammu for Srinagar on 12th. October 2005 and toured the affected areas extensively along with the above team for four days. He has met the Chief Editor of the local “Greater Kashmir” newspaper at Srinagar to understand the situation from the point of view of a journalist.
Adeep Singh met the Deputy Commissioner of Kupwara. He then visited the worst far-flung areas of Tribuvan and Dilamar village, where all the buildings now stand flattened. These villages are inhabited by Sikh and Muslim families. The temperature in these areas is around 4 degrees Celsius. No relief of any kind had reached these villages.
The team also visited Slamabad village which has been completely destroyed. In the Uri sector, a badly affected village is Bijhama. In this sector, doctors told the team that there is a shortage of medicines, especially for children. In the Slamabad area, the local Gurdwara Sahib and Mosque have been destroyed.
The Khalsa Aid team has earmarked a doctor, who will assist the team, once the medicines reach there. Adeep Singh and his team have also apprised the newly appointed Additional Deputy Commissioner (Relief) S. J. P. Singh. On the basis of this assessment, Khalsa Aid, along with the participating organizations, has adopted the following villages:
Salamabad (Uri)
Bijhama (Uri)
Lagama (Uri)
Tribuwan (Kupwara)
Dilamar (Kupwara)
Provisions for around 200 families will be provided.
The Khalsa Aid Sewa Mission team comprising Jagmohan Singh and Jaswant Singh left for Baramulla on October 18th, 2005 and toured the affected areas extensively along with the above team for four days. He has met the Chief Editor of the local “Greater Kashmir” newspaper at Srinagar to understand the situation from the point of view of a journalist. Three volunteers from Nishkam also left for Baramulla. Gurdev Charitable Foundation, the trust that has set up the hospital in Mukandpur in Ludhiana district has committed an initial donation of Rs. 50,000.
The truck of relief material will provide:
No. Material Quantity
1. Tents 202
2. Blankets 1,200
3. Jackets 331
4. Warm undergarments 167
5. Medicines assortment
India Contacts:
Brahmjeet Singh (Central Office Coordinator)
Khalsa Aid, Panjab
Brahmjeet Singh (Central Office Coordinator): Phone: 1061-5004081, Mobile: 93169-52761)
Email: brahmjeetsingh1985@rediffmail.com
Research Coordinator: Kulbir Singh (Email: kulbirsinghag@rediffmail.com
Volunteer Coordinator: Jaswant Singh (Email: jaswantsingh@rediffmail.com
To donate, please visit our website: www.khalsaaid.org
General Email: khalsaaid@khalsaaid.org
Please also visit the daily blog being kept by Ravinder Singh: http://khalsaaidsevadar.blogspot.com/
Please make a donation to this valuable cause by visiting our website.
Phone:
Contact Us
Phone:
( 0 ) 7966 414 774
( 0 ) 7733 124 520
Fax: To be announced soon
Mailing Address:
Khalsa Aid
Office 16
111 Whitby Road
Slough
Berks
SL1 3DR
UK
Online: www.khalsaaid.org
E-mail: khalsaaid@khalsaaid.org
Registered Charity (UK) 1080374
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