(extract)
Inauguration of the Banaw Langla School in Muzaffarabad District of Pakistan Administered Kashmir
On 5 October 2005, a catastrophic earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale struck the northern areas of Pakistan, killing 73,000 and leaving 3 million homeless. Nearly 6,000 schools were destroyed affecting approximately 450,000 primary school-age children. The region's educational infrastructure was destroyed.
In order to bring these children back to school temporary tent schools were setup along with transitional shelters to train teachers. School material was also provided and it was also pledged that some of the destroyed schools will be replaced with earthquake resistant permanent buildings. Banaw Langla is a village located in the picturesque Jhelum Valley.
The only girls primary school in this village, with about 35 pupils and one teacher, was destroyed in the earthquake.
Children from this school have since been attending a tent school in an open area of the village.
Recently, the permanent school building of the Government Girls Primary School, Banaw Langla supported by EU and other donors was inaugurated.
The beautiful school building has been constructed at a cost of US $72,000 with funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Australian Aid for International Development (AusAid), the EU and the Kingdom of Netherlands.