| Pakistan Field Diary ,
Read reports below from members of the team while filming in Pakistan this year....
May 09, 2006
HDDF WROTE:
We have started on our way home and weaned ourselves away from the Earthquake affected areas and are now in Metro Islamabad, which was only slightly affected by the earthquake. It has been emotional leaving the people that have helped us, became our friends and supported our cause.
I feel a sense of relief for the job we have completed but came to recognize how normal the devastation and tragedy became to me. Which is what I notice when I returned to this city. People are living as usual when less than 50 km away substantial disaster still exists.
May 06 , 2006
HDDF WROTE:
We are still in Muzzafarabad and so far it has been an amazing experience. The country is absolutely beautiful despite all the devastation. The people are also among the friendliest and most welcoming I have ever met.
The devastation here from the earthquake is incomprehensible. There is rubble everywhere people have been living in tents for months. It is hovering around 48 degrees here everyday, the people though are still smiling and offering us their last cold drink or food even when they are waiting for food to be distributed by the United Nations. Incredible really. We don't even want to accept but to refuse is considered rude.
It has been really difficult to hear all the stories. Stories of people trapped and begging for help, rescuers not being able to move the concrete off of them. Some people have lost up to 50-60 people in their family. Many many children died when entire schools collapsed.
The filming is going very well. There is so much content here and tragedy everywhere you turn, as well as smiling welcoming faces. This is really a place of extreme contrasts.
May 03 , 2006
HDDF WROTE:
We traveled to the massive landslide yesterday, which took thousands of homes and tens of thousands of lives. Yet, you see no sign of devastation, just a beautiful clear, shimmering mountain. Too ironic to believe something as magnificent as this was still holding so much tragedy. But for a brief moment I took in the nature, the gecko that was curious about me and the rushing river that surrounded us. However, that was quickly replaced with the reality and we were invited into another tent community to hear painful stories of death and the survival with injuries too horrific to imagine.
We had a lot of fun tonight with children in a tented city playing in the playground. As Michelle put some Canadian tattoos on the children she said, "it may be as simple as this - to explain why I am here." And, it may be a simple as that.
April 27, 2006
HDDF WROTE:
Every day is a roller coaster with experiences of such acceptance and appreciation as we are invited to completely be submersed into the locals lives, chatting with women who speak no English, in one small tent (2 adult women, 3 teenagers and about 8 children) for over 2 hours and yet, we really communicated. Yet the next minute, it is such sorrow, frustration and anger, that you just want to collapse. The physical pain experienced when your emotions are overcome is so intense that I have never experienced a small degree of this before.
April 25, 2006
HDDF WROTE:
As predicted, we spent the first couple of days in Islamabad. We initially thought we would regroup and settle, but filming started right away and hasn't stopped since. Following Islamabad we traveled north to Muzzaffarabad where the destruction was devastating. We are using Muzzaffarabad as a home base and travel from here to communities where the devastation reaches almost 100%. Human Concern International has provided us with a driver and accommodations which has been a great relief. The United Nations has also been incredible. Today we were taken to a remote mountain village where everyone is living in tents. Tomorrow the UN is taking us via helicopter to film the remote communities that they make food drops to. Should be incredible as the scenery of the country is unparalleled to anything I have ever seen.
It is impossible to even begin to describe what major devastation means, the only real way I can explain it will have to be through the film. This experience has been a constant roller coaster ride choking back tears one minute as we look at a crushed school where 700 children perished, to laughing with local women as they henna our hands, and every imaginable twist and turn in between.
April 20, 2006
HDDF WROTE:
We have met with the Canadian High Commission, United Nations World Food Program, received a letter of permission from the Ministry of Information (on a rushed order) to visit and film all earthquake affected areas (because they are presently restricted for obvious reasons). So the interviews have been incredible. There is very obviously a different story from the organizations and the people in the communities. We will find out more tomorrow when we travel to Muzzafrabad.
We will be staying at another NGO compound in Muzzafrabad. We have been advised to wear complete Pakistani dress. I certainly feel very safe in Islamabad and have been briefed on how to avoid problems in the remote communities, so I feel we are well prepared and in a good position to be safe.
If our experiences here mean anything once they read our project summary (which we have many copies translated in their Urdu Language) they are receptive and willing to help. But from what I hear, the stories and situation in the remote communities will certainly be heart wrenching.
I can't imagine being in a community of a few hundred thousand people, with 100 percent destruction and 90 percent loss of life and seeing helicopters hovering over head (assessing the situation) but not landing for days while families died all around. So we are trying to mentally prepare but I am not sure you ever do for a situation like this.
So on that note, we are having fun and acquiring a lot of footage already. It is a good sign for the next few weeks.
We should be able to provide an update during our time in Muzzafrabad, our accomplishments to date steer toward competion of a succesful project.
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