Health promoters in the Merlin aid agency health clinic, at Meratanolian camp for displaced quake survivors, near Muzaffarabad. ALERTNET/Megan Rowling
Promoting health in Muzaffarabad&${esc.hash}39;s camps Megan Rowling is in Muzaffarabad ahead of the anniversary of the Kashmir earthquake. Here she reports on life for some of the 28,000 people still living in the city&${esc.hash}39;s camps for the displaced. MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (AlertNet)- Rabia Haqnawaza wants to be a teacher. The 22-year-old studies at university on Sundays - her day off from her job as a health visitor in Meratanolian camp in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir.
Rabia and her friends have been living in makeshift tents since a 7.6 magnitude earthquake devastated their villages in the hills above Muzaffarabad nearly a year ago. Ambitions aside, what they&${esc.hash}39;d really like is to return home. But without land or a house to go to, their families have no choice but to stay in the camp.
Rabia and Ulfat belong to the 28,000 people who are still living in Muzaffarabad&${esc.hash}39;s 44 official camps. While many of the 250,000 to 300,000 who sought refuge in camps in the quake-affected regions after the disaster have headed back to their villages to start rebuilding their homes, those whose land also crumbled away can&${esc.hash}39;t even think about reconstruction until they have a safe plot.
"We hear the government is promising land, but we don&${esc.hash}39;t know when or how," complains Ulfat Iffee, who works alongside Rabia. Her colleagues - all young women who are either university graduates or students - laugh and nod their heads in frustration.
The earthquake, which killed 73,000 people and left more than 3 million homeless in northern Pakistan, was the country&${esc.hash}39;s worst natural disaster. The government says it expects the reconstruction of homes, public buildings and roads to be finished in five years.
For the families in Meratanolian camp, that may still seem like an empty promise. Yet despite problems with uncollected rubbish, fraying tents and sparse and dirty toilets, the camp&${esc.hash}39;s eight health visitors are enthusiastic about their work and their studies.
Every morning, the team of young women heads out at 8:30 a.m. to visit 20 families each in different sections of the camp. They talk to female family members about the importance of cleanliness, personal hygiene and common diseases. This is something that couldn&${esc.hash}39;t be done by male health visitors.
Although the "home visitors", as they&${esc.hash}39;re also known, have been trained to educate people on around 15 topics, they stick to a few each time, so as not to overwhelm families.
The subjects they talk about include ante- and post-natal care, safe drinking water, latrines, waste management, vaccinations and a range of diseases, including diarrhoea and scabies.
"I think people have become much more educated now. After the quake, they were in a really bad situation, and now they know about a lot of things," Rabia said.
U Aye Maung, project medical co-ordinator for aid agency Merlin in Muzaffarabad, explains that the health visitors are an important way of reaching out to people in camps, who might not otherwise use the free consultations and drugs on offer in its clinics. They also collect data on displaced families and help identify vulnerable people.
This year, Merlin has trained 590 female health visitors in maternal and child health. In addition, it supplies them with kits containing medical equipment and drugs.
"Before the quake, there were hardly any home visitors or health education. There was only one health worker per 1,000 people," explains Maung.
The aid agency, which took over health services in Muzaffarabad&${esc.hash}39;s camps in July from Medecins Sans Frontieres, is trying to boost the government&${esc.hash}39;s health capacity by working with and training government employees in its clinics.
This is part of the agency&${esc.hash}39;s plan for its work to have a long-lasting impact on the local community. As well as helping the health ministry to have access to more and better-skilled staff, its other key aim is to spread basic health education among the local population through "home visitors" like Rabia and Ulfat.
The group in Meratanolian camp are soon to receive training from Merlin. While most have plans for a different career once their lives are back on track, one says she hopes to carry on working in health, perhaps as a mid-wife.
"Our lady doctors and vaccinators for children here have done a very good job. But we still don&${esc.hash}39;t have enough women doctors," says Rabia.
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