When the Earthquake struck Pakistan I was talking to 50 middle girls at a school a hundred kilometers North of Lahore. In the middle of a question and answer round, Kabul suddenly began rapidly pawing the ground and pacing the compound, neighing shrilly into the air. Then, at 0730 am on Saturday 08 October 2005 , the ground began to heave. Stability disappeared and it felt like riding on an ocean, currently 1000kms away. All the girls gripped their benches, knuckles white, crying to Allah to save them. They were terrified. Not one person has since recovered from that horrific event. Pakistan is a nation in shock and only now the Government is reacting to the tragedy. They are still pulling bodies out of the rubble. The smell of death still lingers.

After Lahore , the journey to the school was uneventful save for the relishment of being on the open road again. It actually felt like I’d never left it. The GT road still continued and only a political boundary interrupted it. It was the time of the elections in Pakistan and there were lots of political rallies being held along the roadside. The whole highway was a picture gallery of the rich and the filthy rich, i.e. the richer you are the more you can have your face plastered across the district.

The first week was a manic one as I rushed to get everything ready for departure. One question that kept running through my mind was maybe we could left earlier. But experience is always the best teacher and no matter how much I planned for this marathon ride there’s always been something unexpected to account for including Ramzan and the devastating effects of natures wrath. Riding along the GT road in Pakistan has seen the same amount of waves and questions that I received in India . The difference this time is that I have had the posters and leaflets to give people to tell them about this ride and the goals it is trying to achieve. Settling into a routine hasn’t been easy. There are mornings when I wake up and wish I was in a hotel rather than on a rope charpoy next to two smelly horses. Each morning I am up at 6am to feed Kabul and Sparks and usually don’t get to bed until 11pm plus. But you really do experience the life of the places you are passing through by living as the people do, receiving advice from the people on subjects everyone can relate to and all during the holy month of Ramadan.

Ramadan - a quick rundown

The first week was the hardest. Ramadan celebrates the revelation of the Koran by the archangel Gabriel to the Mohammad. It is a month of fasting (one of the five pillars of Islam) whereby Muslims reaffirm their commitment to Islam by demonstrating discipline of the mind, body and soul. It is the last part that I really admire. Keeping ‘Rosa’ (urdu for fast) and giving to the poor (Zakat) are two of the most important aspects of this month. During Ramadan Muslims normally rise at 4am , eat a meal of leven bread and curd (called Seri) and fall asleep until sunrise. From approximately 0530 till 1730 (sunrise till sunset) you are not permitted to take food or water. After 1730, Iftar is celebrated as breaking the fast. The latter was my favourite time of day.

Riding on horseback and keeping fast is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Under a hot baking sun, traveling 30+kms per day and with most shops closed. But there’s a certain sense of accomplishment when ‘Iftar’ comes and the Mauzin’s calls echo across the land. During Ramadan everyone young and old, rich and poor is equal in this. Everywhere in Pakistan , streets and shops become packed at sunset as the Mauzin’s call literally fills the air from every mosque. It’s a profound experience especially in the cities where locals literally pack street vendors in a rush to buy dates and snacks. I’d like to place you in the middle of a city at this time just to feel the vibe. People eat dates, fried snacks and fruit to replace the day’s energy and then literally feast afterwards. It’s like a party every night!

A sense of need

From Gujranwala I couldn’t shake the sense of the need to do something.

This was one time I unfortunately really regretted having two horses. I’d visited three schools; one for Brick Kiln child labourers, a purpose built school for Middle Girls and a Government Girls School near Wazirabad. I’d also wrestled with giant Punjabis in a mud wrestling pit in Gujranwala and visited a shrine to a local saint in Gujrat. Yet, the recent Earthquake has overshadowed everything and I can’t get it off my mind. On Thursday night (13-10), five days after the event, I stabled up both mares with a local construction merchant, paid him their upkeep and left for Islamabad . All of R4Es partners are involved in the relief effort. In fact my route passes directly though the heart of the affected area. But what they need are volunteers NOW (please see Earthquake Appeal on how to get involved). Towns have been flattened. Completely destroyed. Perhaps 100,000 people killed. This is not a Tsunami. Every Foreign aid worker has told me that this is far worse because it’s far more complicated.

The experience is best summarized by the two field reports I wrote during my time in Muzaffarabad, which is at the heart of the relief operations in Pakistan . This is what I experienced and has information on how you can help

Connect to the Earthquake Section

Facts about the Earthquake

» One of the partners of the R4E campaign is Sungi Foundation who work to develop communities so that they can have sustainable livelihoods. You will have to check out their website to truly understand this great organization. Sungi strongly promote equal rights amongst the sexes with activists in many villages across Northern Pakistan. They are now central to the relief effort and their responsibilities are growing daily.

» The Islamabad office of Sungi was full of staff and volunteers alike working around the clock to save lives. Local students waded through bags of clothes on the front fawn sifting out the good from the not so. In every capacity help is needed but the overwhelming need is to get relief out to where demand can be immediately verified. Pakistan was not ready for a disaster of this magnitude. Co-ordination is still very weak.

» Sungi has already sent ten of the 150 trucks to the most affected areas in the Earthquake zone. Many reports are already coming in of looting in some areas so security is being increased with each transport. The need at the moment is shelter, warmth and food, in that order. One of the most exciting developments was the immediate formation of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) a grouping of 85 of Pakistan ’s biggest Non Government Organizations (NGOs) in Pakistan on a scale never seen before in the country’s history.

» Through the JAC and Sungi there is a network of offices across the Earthquake areas with activists in each village. That’s the best thing because demand can be verified and co-ordinated to each village who need it. There is a real need at present for volunteers, especially professionals in medicine and psychiatry. After three days in Islamabad I traveled to Sungi’s head office in Abbotabad on the periphery of the Earthquake ‘zone’. Day by day co-ordination has improved and Sungi is currently setting up ‘family packs’ of rice, biscuits, flour, milk etc. from the donated materials to make sure that those who need it receive the essential items. This would be slightly more useful that the ten tonnes of dates recently sent by the Government of Qatar.

» Finally, after four days I reached Muzaffarabad. For full information please see downloadable reports in the Earthquake section.

» At the time of writing I am sat in a small Hi-ace wagon zipping back to Islamabad. Both mares are still where I left them in Gujrat city, 200kms from the capital and it will take at least another two weeks to return to Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

» The Earthquake has changed many things but not the purpose of my ride. Parents are actually crying out in some areas to get their kids back in school and return life to normal. In fact I even met local teachers who were starting to take matters into their own hands. All agencies agree that shelter and warmth are the immediate priorities, but education is first on the future agenda. I was part of the first meeting between the Muzaffarabad Government and Unicef , Sungi and Save the Children UK. At last machinery is moving. I am still riding for education because the need has never been greater. There are no schools left in many parts of Northern Pakistan. This Winter tens of thousands more people will die in the remote areas hit by the quake, which is where 75% actually live. People are sat now in shock, having lost families and friends and waiting for Allah to save them and I am sure that their belief is commendable. Life has to return to normal and fast and setting up schools can accelerate that process.

Please stay tuned for more updates