From Verenia Keet, Caritas Pakistan
October 20, 2005: Bishop Joseph
Coutts, the national director of Caritas Pakistan and bishop of the Faisalabad
diocese has been overwhelmed with offers of donations in kind from parish
groups, as well as requests for aid from individual initiatives undertaken
by nuns and priests who responded to the earthquake in Pakistan of Saturday
October 08 2005.
On a field visit to Mansehra and Abbottabad (about 70 kilometers north of Islamabad) on Tuesday, October 18 Bishop Coutts went to see for himself how the field operations were progressing. "I have been to the Caritas field office in Mansehra," Bishop Coutts said, "and although some finishing touches are going on there, I believe the space would be sufficient and comfortable for office administration and staff accommodation purposes."
As for Caritas staff operations, Bishop Coutts informed that the emergency field coordinator Tariq Raza, assistant Titus Neroze Gill and four volunteers were active around the clock. "They are traveling to remoter villages on the outskirts of Mansehra and Balakot where aid has not reached yet." In addition to the Caritas staff, partner members from abroad who possess specific sectoral skills form part of the assessment team.
Upon his return to Islamabad from Mansehra, Bishop Coutts detoured in Abbottabad to meet with the parish priest Father Inayat, who has set up an informal shelter for displaced families.
Father Miguel from the Lahore Archdiocese is also in Abbottabad. He traveled to Muzaffarabad immediately after the earthquake to be of service to the distressed communities there.
For background on Father Miguel, Bishop Coutts said: "Fr. Miguel returned from Muzaffarabad to Abbottabad three days after the earthquake with fifteen Christian families who had lost everything and did not want to remain in Muzaffarabad."
Father Miguel requested Bishop Coutts for Caritas to provide tents for those and other families who had flocked to Abbottabad, where he secured accommodation space on the premises of the Ayub Medical Complex, a government facility.
In the meanwhile, the Dominican Sisters at St. Mary's Convent in Sahiwal (in the Faisalabad diocese, located about 400 kilometres southwest of Islamabad) had collected a truckload of donations in kind comprising various items and requested Bishop Coutts to direct its distribution. Bishop Coutts networked these items to be sent to Father Miguel in Abbottabad. "In addition," said Bishop Coutts, "Father Yusuf in Peshawar was also flooded with donations in kind from the parish group there, and I have asked him also to send these items to Father Miguel Abbottabad."
Bishop Coutts also informed that the Mother Theresa Sisters, or Missionaries of Charity have pooled their human resources to respond to the earthquake emergency. "The sisters are caring for the injured at the Holy Family Hospital in Rawalpindi, and by the past weekend another three sisters from the Faisalabad diocese joined their work at the hospital." In addition, two young women from the Faisalabad diocese who are associated with the Human Development Centre there are volunteers with ActionAid Pakistan among the quake-affected populations in the northern areas of Pakistan.
The Islamabad / Rawalpindi diocesan bishop, Anthony Lobo provided a statement to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), which he shared with Bishop Coutts. The statement clarified damages to church structures in the diocese as a direct result of the 7.6 magnitude earthquake 12 days ago.
Specifically, two school buildings have severe cracks. An entire block of classrooms at St. Mary's School in Rawalpindi where Sister Eileen Daffy -- Caritas Pakistan board member -- is the principal has to be demolished.
Sister Eileen said one block of the school was so badly damaged that it was unsafe for students to study there. For the moment, Sister Eileen has networked shifting the students to the premises of Boys' Town, located next to St. Mary's, where teachers now teach their classes.
Another example is that of St. Michael's church in Peshawar. Said Bishop Coutts: "While nothing has fallen apart at St. Michael's, the dome of the church has shifted and is now disproportionate to its original design."
One more example is of the nun's convent building in Rawalpindi. "There," said Bishop Coutts, "the upper floor and one wing of the convent is also reported to have severe cracks."
Bishop Coutts has also been actively involved in the planning meetings of the Caritas emergency response.