Memories of the Pakistan earthquake
Posted by Ethan Casey on February 9, 2010 · 5 Comments
Some of the impressive children of the Pakistani-American community mentioned in the blog entry below - volunteers at a fundraising dinner for Todd Shea's organization CDRS Pakistan at the Islamic Association of Greater Detroit, Troy, Michigan, January 23, 2010.
The shock waves of the earthquake in Haiti reached as far as Seattle, where my life and plans have been thrown out of whack. Whenever I feel especially depressed or overwhelmed, though, I put my problems in perspective by reminding myself how much more disruptive, to put it mildly, the earthquake has been to Haitians.
Why have I been so affected? Any sensitive person would be, but for me it’s directly personal. Haiti was the first place I ever traveled outside the United States, at age 16 in 1982 with my father. How and why that happened, what it led to in my life, and what it means to me now in the earthquake’s aftermath is a long story – so long that I’m now planning to spend the rest of 2010 writing a book about it.
(You can support my independent reporting and public speaking by pre-purchasing that book and/or my other book Overtaken By Events: A Pakistan Road Trip, which will be published this March. See this site’s Books page. Until further notice I will donate 20% of all proceeds to the relief work Todd Shea of CDRS Pakistan is doing in Pakistan and Haiti.)
The earthquake is affecting the conversations I’m having with both the Pakistani-American community and mainstream America, in powerful and poignant ways. In Michigan, where I went January 20-24 to fill in for Todd Shea (who is still in Haiti as I write this), I found myself thanking a Pakistani audience for contributing not only its talents and material resources, but also its impressive children, to help build the new, improved America we all desperately need and yearn for in the 21st century, and invoking the Haitian Creole phrase Tout moun se moun – “All people are people” – to support my contention that Haiti means a great deal to all of us, that we’re all in this together. In Colorado, where I am now, I’m seeing old friends with whom I visited Haiti many years ago and telling audiences at talks arranged months ago about how, for me, the long and winding road to Pakistan ran through – indeed began in – Haiti.
But what does Haiti really have to do with Pakistan? Well, you tell me. This blog entry is an appeal to all Pakistanis, and others, to share your stories of the October 8, 2005 earthquake in Pakistan. Please post comments, or email me, telling where you were when that earthquake happened, what it meant to you – whether as a Pakistani, as a Muslim, or as a human being – how you felt about Pakistan’s and the world’s response to it, its longer-term significance, and similarities or differences you see between it and the earthquake in Haiti. Your stories will help shape and inform the book I’m writing. We’re all in this together. Tout moun se moun.
Bahut shukriya and Mesi ampil,
Ethan
Pakistanis and Haitians are connected through the common bond of humanity. Pakistanis feel special bond with Haitians, since sufferings and tragedy is something Pakistanis are not alien to. Poverty, illiteracy, lack of basic amenities, inept and corrupt political system – all these attributes are common to both the nations.
Yet, one thing that set Pakistanis apart from everybody else is the unbounded compassion, extreme generosity, and a great sense of charity despite of all the problems they face each day. Pakistanis are the most generous donors, per-capita, in the world, when it comes to charitable causes. Several Pakistanis charities, like Edhi, have done a splendid job during Tsunami in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, etc., earthquake hit areas of Iran, and war torn Lebanon and Palestine.
It is no wonder that Pakistan’s finest hour was in the face of its worst adversity – the Kashmir earthquake. Pakistanis put their heart and soles out to help out their brethren in Kashmir.
The tragedy in Haiti and the plight of its people in the aftermath has touched the hearts of Pakistanis all over the world. Many Pakistanis are volunteering time and money to help the people of Haiti. Pakistanis are grateful people – they have not forgotten how the world extended the hand to help out during Kashmir earthquake. They feel now it is their turn to step up and help our brothers and sisters in need in Haiti.
Ethan,
Earthquake in Haiti has brought back sad memories of the earthquake in Pakistan/Kashmir. Unfortunately the similarities are strikingly similar. Back in Oct when I visited the mountain sides around Muzaffarabad sometimes I could not see the magnitude of the devastation. Looking top down most of the roofs were intact. It was only when I got close I saw the magnitude of the deadly destruction Oct 8th earthquake unleashed.
On Oct 8th I was in the San Franciso Bay Area and saw on TV the news about the earthquake. The destruction caused to the people of NWFP (Pakistan) and Kashmir was so heart wrenching that I got involved with the relief effort. Working with a non profit organization Ehsaas I traveled to the affected areas. We together built a mobile operation theater in Lahore and then drove it to the affected area. With the grace of God this was the first operation theater in the area that provided basic facililties to treat people. Working with Ehsaas we setup a relief camp in Mera Tanolian. This camp provided help to 400 families. Obviously it all started at a very low level. But with the help of local volunteers and supporters it expanded. Ehsaas school was built (this school is still running).
To cut a long story short earthquake related work taought me a lesson – everyone can help and everything counts. Back then $20 could get a pair of crutches to a 9 year old boy who previously was hoping on one leg on the mountain side. A $5 dollar donation provided a family a meal. I am sure things in Haiti would not be very much different. Every dollar collected will make a difference. Every volunteer in Haiti is doing something that he or she will never forget. I believe every person being helped will also not forget the person who helped in this time of desperation and need.
I commend people like Todd and Ethan who are working tirelessly to help people they don’t know. It is the bond of humanity that binds us all together. Last summer I visited Ehsaas school and the adjoining areas. School in Ranjatta (where many girls of kindergarten age got buried alive under the rubble) has been rebuilt and the Ehsaas school is running. I saw people busy rebuilding their lives. I can well imagine that the people of Haiti albeit in dire conditions will pull out of this catastrophic situation. The question is how many of us will help them get back on their feet. May God give them courage and give us the will to help in every possible way we can Ameen.
Peace, Jafar
Wow! I had friends who went to this dinner and they said that it was really amazing what these kids did. T
Wow! I had friends who attended this dinner and they said that it was amazing, what these kids did. They were really great and I wish them, Ethan Casey, and Todd Shea the best.
I hope both Pakistan and Haiti get the proper attention needed to help with their crisis.
Good job kids!