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Dispatch 8
The Valley of Snow
January 1, 2006
It’s hard to believe that the New Year has already begun. For the KER team in Kashmir, we ended 2005 in good stride. The last load of the slow in coming TNF Gear finally reached Srinagar by air cargo from Mumbai yesterday! With the gear in hand, we can finally put our distribution plans into action.
Talal and Dr. Zameer returned from Karnah Valley last night and have reported that they successfully complete the tasks delegated to them.
Over the next few days, we will be discussing our respective experiences in Karnah and will mull over various ideas for long-term programming. We see many prospects for fulfilling this goal in Kashmir: building schools, pursuing micro-development projects, introducing new technologies and methods for reconstruction, establishing village libraries, providing better access to health care, and so many other avenues. We are truly excited about the possibilities here and we look forward to the brainstorming, planning, needs and feasibility assessments that we will be doing in the next few weeks. We also look forward to recruiting and developing a full-fledged KER team on the ground to help implement our long-term plans in Kashmir. Most importantly, we look forward to establishing a sound foundation of communication, coordination and mutual commitment between the dedicated KER members in the USA and the local team we hope to form in Kashmir. We feel truly blessed to play a founding role for KER while in Kashmir and we are grateful to our KER colleagues in the USA for reposing such faith in our abilities.
The New Year has already presented its first challenge. It has been snowing heavily for the last few hours and the weather forecast predicts heavy snows for the next few days. We have already received reports that the Sadhna Pass has closed and that Karnah and Uri are expected to receive more than 3 feet of snow. Our concern is that the snow and bitter cold will pose new difficulties to the thousands of people who lost their homes in the earthquake. Our relief expedition will now have to speed up the pace of achieving our already urgent mission. But for now, we have no choice but to ride out the snow in Srinagar until the roads are cleared. It is clear that from now on we are going to be working in the snow.
Speaking of the New Year, Talal and I have both made a resolution to advance the vision and motto of KER in Kashmir: “Rebuilding Communities, Empowering People.” Before the devastating earthquake hit, Kashmir was already suffering a “man-made” disaster that has left thousands of people in a dire situation. There is so much need here and so little being done to address them. We hope that our present relief efforts will expand into long-term and sustained work here and that we will have a capacity to contribute to the welfare and empowerment of Kashmiris.
KER began just a three months ago when many of us living in the USA were stirred to collectively respond to the post-quake crisis. Now here we are in 2006 working on the ground in Kashmir, with the backing of hundreds of generous contributors and the support of The North Face, Global Giving, UPS, and Nestle. So many people have helped us in this endeavor and we are truly grateful . I think the lesson of 2005 for all of us at KER is that real teamwork, determination, and hard work makes a difference. I pray that we see much more of the very same in 2006.
For now, we wish all Kashmiris, the KER family in the USA, all of the generous KER supporters, our families and our loved ones a very happy, healthy, and blessed New Year.
- Usmaan Ahmad
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