• We continue to shuttle between Kupwara and Srinagar checking up on the KER ground teams and participating in the survey efforts. Daily meetings are held with all KER volunteers to share ideas and thoughts – our team-building efforts are making good strides.

• The four KER survey teams are conducting a house to house survey of more than 20 villages in quake-hit Kupwara District, identifying the most at-risk households for distribution of shelter support and other relief materials. Simultaneously, the survey teams are gathering data concerning the overall socio-economic situation and humanitarian needs in these villages which could prove useful for future KER relief and development work.

• Procurement is nearing completion. We have purchased or received local donations of various relief materials such as 600 tin bukhari heaters, thermocol insulation material, 600 waterproof tarpaulin sheets, blankets, bedding, pherans (wool cloaks) for ladies and children, and shoes.

• KER volunteers continue to unpack hundreds of boxes and sort the tons of relief materials from the North Face Gear Drop airlifted from the USA. Sorted bags of jackets, sleeping bags, tents, and winter gear are then loaded on to the KER relief trucks that we are regularly dispatching from Srinagar.

• A depot has been setup to store the relief materials at the newly-established KER base camp at Dudwan, Kupwara.

• Regularly, trucks are loaded with relief materials and sent from Srinagar to our base camp in Kupwara.

While the KER Phase I efforts are in full swing, I continue to explore potential KER programs and their details with KER volunteers and various experts in Kashmir. - Usmaan Ahmad