Photo Essay: Clinging to the Edge of Survival in Pakistan’s Quake Zone

Kala Dhaka, PAKISTAN - 17 Feb 2006 -   Living in isolation among the Himalayan foothills, the five tribes of Pakistan’s Kala Dhaka, or “Black Mountain,” region are proud of their autonomy and traditionally wary of outsiders. It took nothing less than the devastation caused by the October 8 earthquake for their council of tribal elders, or jirga, to call on the outside world for help.

The International Rescue Committee, in a partnership with the International Organization for Migration, recently became one of the first outside organizations to work in the region.

In January, a three-person IRC assessment team hiked over landslides, jumped rivers and trekked four days up to remote communities that have rarely if ever seen an outside face. John Mason, shelter and distribution advisor; Laila Khan, assistant emergency coordinator; and an information officer visited six villages virtually untouched by aid in order to assess the earthquake damage and needs.

As they traveled through the region, the IRC team met many determined residents who, assuming they were on their own in the quake’s aftermath, had begun to dig out from the rubble and rebuild their lives.

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