Pakistan turns to its people, not aid groups, in disaster relief

The new home of Mohammed Ramzan lies lonely above a cornfield, jerry-rigged from old wooden beams and donated metal sheets. For the time being it is not much, only two rooms with dirt floors. But for Mr. Ramzan and his family of eight, survivors of October's earthquake, it's a new beginning.

Ramzan hopes to keep expanding and even has all the food and materials he needs to build his children a proper home. But here in the mountains of Kashmir, labor is scarce and expensive, and the $1,600 he recently received from the government "is not enough to actually build back," he says. So he'll concentrate on making the most of the two rooms he has, hoping they last the winter.

Nine months after October's earthquake, Ramzan's house is a testament not only to the heartening progress of reconstruction in northern Pakistan, but also to its often mixed results.

Rebuilding has taken off at an admirable pace, thanks to a government strategy that has avoided the mistakes made in the post-tsunami region. There, governments relied on relief agencies and local officials, and the results have proved slow and inefficient. Here, the government has opted to pay survivors themselves and has already compensated more than 290,000 households.

Still, many worry that the money, though a critical start, might not be enough.

Much of Bagh, a valley of nearly 500,000 people, remains a world in transition – its progress and problems typical of other recuperating valleys in the earthquake zone. Where once the landscape was filled with seas of tents, today it is punctuated by shimmering new metal roofs on schools, health clinics, and houses.

Yet schoolchildren are still learning in tents, and most of the local government still operates out of makeshift wooden shacks, just feet from where the remains of large buildings lie broken in the sun.

Perseverance is pushing the process along, but the monsoon and its heavy rains have arrived. Last week, landslides shut down many roads, washed away homes, and left 14 dead in Kashmir and areas of the North West Frontier Province. The International Organization for Migration warns that at least 25,000 temporary shelters are still needed for earthquake survivors, particularly now that the weather is so inclement.

Shelter is the main concern of Bagh's residents, the majority of who have returned from relief camps to rebuild. More than 83,000 homes in this valley were destroyed, and although the government has compensated about 95 percent of the owners – as much as $3,000 in some cases – many say it is not enough to adequately rebuild.

Azwar Ahmed, an engineering student, says his family is still living in a tent in the mountains. "The government has given some money, but it is not enough," he says, adding that his family will have to save more and wait for better weather before rebuilding. "This is a lot of shock for us."

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