The Church World Service has marked the one-month anniversary of the Pakistan earthquake by expanding its aid efforts to respond more to the needs of women survivors.
Hundreds gathered around Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. last week to remember those killed in the October 8 earthquake in a prayer vigil. The gathered crowds, holding lamps, prayed silently and each removed a layer of clothing as a mark of their sympathy for the hundreds of thousands of survivors now facing the brutal Himalayan winter without warm clothing.Similar vigils were held in more than 25 cities around the world as a mark of remembrance to the victims and the survivors of the devastating earthquake.
The Rev. John L. McCullough, CWS Executive Director and CEO, arrived in Pakistan Friday to tour the affected areas and meet with survivors and CWS in a pastoral visit alongside Pakistan Country Director Martin Parvez.
CWS is already holding interviews to find teachers for a much-needed school it will run jointly with UNICEF in the tent village it oversees in Bisyan.
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent have begun transferring the most vulnerable children to this village after finding it to be one of the most organised, with the most facilities and protection for the care of children.
According to UNICEF reports on the situation, at least 50 per cent of the children in the quake-hit district of Battagram are suffering from malnutrition, with only a small portion of the total 368,000 population with access to fresh water.CWS is also responding to the findings of its own assessments which concluded that women are being neglected as the aid organisations continue to focus the bulk of their work on children affected by the earthquake.
A new psychosocial care programme will now be launched by the CWS with a focus on women, “as care and treatment of women will benefit the family as a whole,” a CWS press release read.
A total of 6,580 shelter kits, covering roughly 46,060 individuals, has been distributed by CWS and its partners to date.
