Situation Abstract
A 7.6 earthquake hit South Asia at 08:50 (03:50GMT) on October 8th. Main countries affected were Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. It's the most devastating quake these countries have seen in the last century.

• Official death toll in Pakistan as of October 11th, 2005, stands at 40,000 and continues to rise
  
• Currently there is no water, no electricity, no fuel and no phone lines.
  
• There is a great risk of widespread hunger and disease
  
• 3 million people are in need of shelter
  
• As winter approaches the risks of hypothermia and related problems set in
  
• Muzaffarabad and surrounding areas estimate 70-80% infrastructure devastation
  
• Child mortality is expected to rise tremendously in Muzaffarabad as 50% of the total population were under the age of 16 prior to the earthquake and in school at the time
  
• Landslides, torrential rain and repeated aftershocks have hindered rescue efforts, have made transportation and communication nearly impossible and have caused widespread panic
  
• Many isolated areas in the Himalayas are waiting on the help of helicopters which are inundated with demand.
  
• These figures continue to increase daily.
  

Immediate Plan of Action
To raise funds to send 5 young adults with experience in disaster zones to Pakistan. Once on location, they will dedicate their time volunteering in which ever areas mostly needed, from body search to basic clean up and restoration. At the same time, they will be researching in the poorest and rural areas for families and communities that have been missed in the helping process. Having learned from their post-tsunami relief work, there are always gaps in the system of aid. Once communities and families have been identified, this team will notify local NGO's and once again fundraise to help get these people back onto their feet.

The People Taking Action

Name: Sarah Dion

Home Town: Saskatoon, Sk, Canada

Disaster relief: 5 months in PhangNga region of Thailand

Languages spoken and written: French, English and Spanish

Skills: Team leader, carpenter’s assistant, laying foundation, bricklaying, rendering, painting, physically strong and a quick learner.

Name: Paddy Durrant

Home town: Oxford, England

Disaster relief: 10 months in PhangNga region of Thailand

Languages: English, basic German, Spanish and French

Skills: Team leader, construction, bricklaying, rendering, cement work, painting, operating heavy machinery and basic carpentry.

Name: Roxanne Duigou

Home town: Calgary, AB, Canada

Disaster relief: 3 months in PhangNga region of Thailand

Languages: English and French

Skills: bricklaying, rendering, cement work, painting, grief counseling



Name: Sally McIntosh

Home town: Lismore, Australia

Disaster relief: 4 months in PhangNga region of Thailand

Languages: English

Skills: bricklaying, rendering, carpentry, cement work




"Throughout the year 2005, we have been working doing relief work in the PhangNga province of Thailand, the worst hit area by the tsunami in this country. Arriving during the initial crisis, we worked side by side with Thai nationals and foreigners in different aspects of this country's restoration."

• 
  Body recovery
  
• Developing a database of personal information for all affected people
  
• Developing an infrastructure in the information office and administration
  
• Managing an environmental and land restoration project
  
• Re-inauguration of businesses
  
• Carpentry for schools and homes
  
• Working on various construction sites
  

"After seeing and experiencing the devastation caused by the tsunami in Southeast Asia, we decided to dedicate our time to assisting affected people in any way possible. Our decision to go a disaster hit area to volunteer and support has been extremely rewarding, especially knowing that we have made such a difference. After seeing the turmoil in which Pakistan is in, we wish to move on and help the next immediate crisis, especially now as our current projects have come to completion"

Proposal for Sponsorship
We are five humanitarians who came together in the wake of the Southeast Asia Tsunami. We all met up through the Tsunami Volunteer Centre (http://www.tsunamivolunteer.net/) in the PhangNga province of Thailand, now a very important Non Government Organization in this area.
We will be travelling straight from post-tsunami Thailand to the heart of Islamabad, Pakistan. We plan to meet with several professional contacts to assist us with logistics in advance and on arrival (e.g.: Sungi Development Foundation & CO. I HELP UK). We need funding for transportation and basic support (e.g.: food, accommodation, health care etc). We will leave as soon as we raise the funds indicated in the budget. All donations received after the budget total will be put straight to necessity needs for affected people such as food, clothing, tents etc

Budget Needed
Our goal is to fundraise U.S. $2,000 per person which covers all transportation and living costs for two months. Please see here for budget detail. Donations of any size are very helpful and greatly appreciated.

Donations
For those interested in donating, you can donate by Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express online at: http://www.paypal.com/ This is the same web site that Ebay uses, (quick and efficient money transactions) If you have not used Paypal before, first you must sign up as a member and create an account. This is a free process taking a total of 10 min., in which Paypal will take you step by step. So will we.

1. 
   First option is to choose an account, we suggest premium for quick set up.
   
2. Enter personal information for account, making sure to enter an email you have quick access to (confirmation email will be sent there) keep all information somewhere safe.
   
3. Retrieve confirmation email and click on account activation tab.
   
4. Then you click on the send money tab, and fill out the form.
5. If you are paying by credit card, do not select Quasi-Cash for your bank might recognise this transaction as a cash advance, (and charge you an extra fee) Instead select goods(other)
6. Then you write in the recipient’s e-mail address: :pakistanearthquake@hotmail.comthe amount, the currency, the payment type, and an optional subject and note.
   
7. Click Continue.
   
8. Review the information on the confirmation page and click Send Money to complete your transaction
   

If you wish to donate personally to one member of the team below please get in contact via the email addresses provided.If you have any questions, please contact us as soon as possible. We will reply within 24 hours. Bi weekly updates will be supplied with the amount of donations received as well as the projects in which we’ll be partaking in Pakistan.

Contact Information:Group email pakistanearthquake@hotmail.com

Paddy: tel : 0066-99-70-50-48 or email : skunkyjak@hotmail.com

Sally: email: salmc4@hotmail.com

Roxanne: email: mailto:devilish_duigou@hotmail.com

# posted by pakistan ground team @ 12:15 AM