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Report Back from Pakistan

In the aftermath of the Pakistan earthquake, MADRE is partnering with our long-time friends, Shirkat Gah, a women's community-based organization. Farida Shaheed, president of Shirkat Gah, reports from Pakistan that stories of hope, fueled by the generosity of people like you, are now accumulating amongst the heart wrenching tales of devastation that are so widespread after the earthquake. So far, the support of MADRE members has made it possible for Shirkat Gah to:

• Provide shelter for hundreds of families in remote, difficult to access communities, including Paniola Tehsil, Rawalakot, and the Sanghar area.
• Give warm clothes, including heavy sweaters, ponchos, hats, scarves, and boots; and bedding, including blankets and mattresses; to hundreds of women and families in Battagram, Muzzafarabad, Mansera, and other areas.
• Deliver baby bottles and warm baby clothing, including buntings and blankets, to infants in camps that were set up as temporary shelters.

Shirkat Gah's current focus is on providing shelter for as many people as possible as quickly as possible, concentrating on the Rawalakot area, where temperatures have already dropped below freezing. Community members have reported that tents that were initially supplied by some relief agencies are not able to withstand the winter weather, and that people have suffered burns from trying to light stoves to cook inside the tents. In response, Shirkat Gah consulted with local architects and community members to create a design for safe, winter-worthy, semi-permanent structures that can be erected quickly for under $450. With your support, they are now racing to erect the structures.

None of Shirkat Gah's work—delivering baby bottles to infants, providing mothers with blankets for their families, and erecting reliable shelters for people facing a long, hard winter—would be possible without the support of people like you.

To make an online contribution for earthquake relief, please click here.

Donations can also be mailed to MADRE at the address below. Please make checks payable to MADRE and indicate "Pakistan earthquake relief" in the memo line of the check.

MADRE
121 West 27th Street, #301
New York, NY 10001