Brisk recovery in Pakistan's quake zone

The brisk sale of nails and iron sheeting is more of a silver lining than Anwal Faroze could have asked for. His small hardware shop, sitting in one of the most remote valleys in Pakistan's earthquake zone, sells more supplies now than ever before in 16 years of business.

"There is more need now. People are busy reconstructing," says Mr. Faroze, his bushy beard underscoring a bright smile.

His revival is symbolic of the nation's recovery more than a year and nearly two frigid winters after a devastating earthquake killed 73,000 people in one of the worst natural disasters in human history.

But as Faroze's shop attests, progress cannot be measured in the brick and mortar of reconstruction alone. There are other encouraging signs in this destitute valley: Local organizations and relief agencies are picking up where the military and international relief organizations – both now considerably diminished – have left off. Old social and economic mechanisms have sprung back to life, and new, transformative processes brought by the outside world – whether in attitudes toward women or livelihoods – have taken on a life of their own, nurtured by locals intent not only on recuperation, but progress.

The earthquake destroyed more than 200,000 homes – some 10,000 here in Allai Valley alone – in an area twice the size of Connecticut, leaving more than 3 million homeless in Kashmir and the North West Frontier Province. When the Himalayan winter came last year with brutal force, some 600,000 people huddled in hurriedly made tent camps. Now winter has come again, but this time, only 30,000 people are left in camps, according to the International Organization on Migration (IOM).

Not that the challenge is over. Few homes are completely reconstructed, meaning that nearly 2 million will face the second winter in temporary shelters, according to an assessment by OxFam International.

"This is what we wanted – that the communities take charge of their lives," says Lt. Gen. Ahmed Nadeem, Deputy Director of the government's Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA). "I already see signs that they're turning this adversity into an opportunity."

Determination is evident in the cramped office of Zahid Amin, chairman of the Development Authority of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Kashmir. The office lay in ruins after the earthquake, which killed some 30,000 people in the district. But in December, Mr. Amin led a team of international aid group officials and the military to assess shelters in the city, identifying nearly 3,000 families still living in tents. The results were troubling, but the fact that Amin's people could marshal such an assessment at all shows local government is bouncing back, observers say.

"This is a great test. Here you have the development authority going ahead with a survey ..." says John Sampson, head of IOM's office in Muzaffarabad.

Still, identifying homelessness is one matter – providing assistance is another. Most observers agree it will be months before local civil administrations can function on their own. In the meantime, a web of international and local organizations will work together with hobbled administrators and the military. But there will be holes.

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