REPORTS

Quarterly Report of IPTP Activities.
January to April, 2006

Report of IPTP Visits
Sehar Hasan, Clinical Psychologist

Report of  Visit to Earthquake Hit Areas

3rd International Congress of Association of International Womens Mental Health

ARTICLES

USE of Media-Radio and Cable TV in Earthquake Areas of NWFP.
Haider Husain: Post-graduate in Psychiatry

Experience with children. Z. Meher Hasan, Senior Clinical Psychologist

Impressions of 4th Visit to Earthquake Hit Areas

Impressions of 4th Visit to Earthquake Hit Areas

Our base was at Abbotabad, Best Western Hotel, with clean livable rooms and fairly good courteous service. In cities lives seem to come back to normal after 8 months of the disaster, fallen building are being rebuild, and whatever trauma people experienced they are recovering from it. Schools and colleges are getting on with their normal routine academic activities. While traveling outside the city occasional camps, medical aid facilities and tent schools still present as reminders. Majority of the camp housing initially provided to the affectees has been dismantled. Whether the survivors have been rehabilitated back to their original villages or not, not sure about it as we were not in a position to get this answer.

We revisited Jinnah Collages, Mansehraand had the forms filled by the students, who had not done so in earlier visit. General impression is that in spite of the apartment normality and going back to the normal activities and routines, post traumatic fears, anxiety and depression continues in a large number of students. These students were either living with their families or staying at hostels, in a secure, settled and healthy environment supportive to both their physical and mental health.

Women Medical Collage had even better environment with beautiful and well laid gardens, surrounding the hostels and educational blocks, well-organized and well staffed facilities with vry gentle genial communicative but disciplined environment.A total contrast to this soothing visit was a visit to Al-Rasheed camp for destitute women and children. It is one of the few camps that are still continuing in the vicinity of Mansehra with the organization office midway between the main road and the camp.

Camp itself consists of igloo shaped tin housing, we were told that they are insulated from inside but they were very hot when we visited as the temperature can rise to mid 30s in this area. There were some large canvas tents apparently for meeting larger gatherings and there are about more than 70 women and over 200 children in this shelter.There is no electricity in the camp and consequently no fan, no means of communication from outside world like TV, Radio etc.

All the women who were gathered in hall looked miserable and depressed. Some cried constantly through out the interview totally inconsolable. The disastrous earthquake had left them extremely anxious, fearful with totally devastated lives, grieving the irreparable loss of their husbands, children and grandchildren with severe depression, sleeplessness, flashbacks, extreme fears and anxieties.

Widows with daughter and grand children in shelter home.

The women, with total lack control over their present situation or the future and one or two with suicidal thoughts, majority with wishes and prayers for their own death. Their depressive inactivity, loss of energy is reinforced by lack of activity, there is nothing to do around the camp, and they only cook and possibly clean the camp.

There was no activity for young girls and boys after a few hours of schooling. Girls in their earlier teens looked fairly cheerful, active and interested in whatever activity was going on in the camps. Younger children looked ill, miserable with very proud and controlled behavior when invited to eat the food was prepared for us, they all refused.All the women wanted to go back to their villages but they were too poor and incapable, with invariable 5-6 children to feed, one or two adults to earn, it is impossible to imagine that they will ever be able to undertake this task on their own even if they are given Rs.25.000 each.

• There is need of someone to evaluate the needs of each family.
• Find out the present situation, in the area where they belong – presence of infrastructure, schools, shops and means of earning.
• They all are poor and they expressed they had small plot of land which is still covered with the debris of – where are they going to construct their new house? Some said – people had gone back, how can we.
• Presently they need medication for depression and anxiety.
• Need relief from present miserable conditions, heat, inappropriate clothing etc. Some activity and empowerment to control their lives.
• Possibility for future and return to their lives.