Report on the use of your contributions to the Pakistan earthquake relief effort

Thanks to your generosity, a total of 56 032.50 CHF was collected. On the advice of local physicists from the Qaid-i-Azam University and the National Centre for Physics in Islamabad, the money was given to the Eqbal Ahmad Foundation, where it has been used under their close supervision.

The money has been used almost exclusively for building temporary shelters and, to a lesser extent, for providing emergency rations, blankets and tents. About 814 crude shelters had been constructed by 22 January. As seen in the pictures, they are wooden frames with corrugated iron sheets for the roofs and walls, with wood-board and chip-board for insulation. The wood is provided by the shelter owner, and each shelter costs about $300 for the corrugated iron sheets and the insulation. Crude as these shelters are, they are critical for saving families from freezing to death in the biting cold, rain and snow.

CERN money was used to buy corrugated iron sheets for shelters, and trucks of the sheets were sent to areas in Chikar, Bagh, and Rawalakot. All the materials will be re-used in the spring, when building permanent houses becomes possible.

One of our Islamabad colleagues, who has been personally monitoring the use of the funds, will be making another inspection visit within a few days, as soon as snow conditions permit. A complete audit will be done when the Eqbal Ahmad Foundation runs out of funds and winds up its operations, probably by March or April.