Inspiring work in the mountains of Kashmir
Public
Affairs Officer Trevor Grant gives a personal account of life and work
with the Australian Joint Task Force providing humanitarian assistance
in Kashmir under Operation Pakistan Assist.
Heck, it's cold. The wind howled all night and I didn't get much sleep.
At least I was nice and warm in my sleeping bag. I feel sorry for the
locals, who must have been freezing.
Ah well,
can't lay here dreaming all day. It's 6:30. Time to brave the cold and
get up. It must be about minus 6 this morning.
So it's
get dressed as quick as you can and over to the mess tent to join the
others for a hot cup of tea and a hunt through the ration pack box to
see what goodies there are for breakfast. A tin of diced peaches.
Another
cup of tea and then it's a shave and wash. Nothing is like shaving in
cold water at sub-zero temperatures. Now, over to the Ops tent for the
morning brief.
And so
another day starts at Camp Bradman, a remote medical outpost near a
tiny village called Dhanni in Kashmir. It's here that the devastation
of a massive earthquake can be seen.
The snow-capped
mountain scenery is spectacular, but a closer look shows piles of rubble
where villages used to be. Few solid structures remain now. Most people
are surviving in tents, perched on the side of the mountains, with no
power. They have to trudge miles for food and water, and then carry
it all back to their homes on their backs.
The conditions
here at Camp Bradman are primitive for everyone. There is no running
water apart from the river a hundred metres below us. Electrical power
in our camp comes from generators. Our loo is a half-44 gallon drum
with a seat and a cloth cover inside an 11 by 11 tent. Nice view of
the mountains though.
As with
all the necessary daily chores, everyone here gets the opportunity to
be Loo Monitor. That is, we get to drag the used drums out of the tent
and do the daily burn-off. Not the most enviable task, but one of the
many that has to be done.
The medical
staff has a queue of about 120 locals waiting outside the camp, to be
seen and treated for a myriad of medical problems from cuts and abrasions
through to broken bones, pneumonia and various skin disorders. With
winter coming on, and temperatures plummeting below zero, we can expect
to see more and more cases of extreme cold-related issues.
Throughout
all of this, the Australians get on with their jobs. They don't complain
about the cold, or the conditions or even the lack of fresh food. They
just get on with it because these people need the support we are giving.
We are all inspired by the resilience of the local people, their physical
and mental toughness, and their efforts to rebuild their lives.
We meet
people like a lady who showed up, having walked for two days through
the mountains from her home, complaining of headaches and problems eating.
Through interpreters medical staff learnt that when the earthquake hit,
her house fell on her. A month later she arrived at Camp Bradman and
was diagnosed with a broken jaw and a depressed skull fracture.
We had
a grandmother carry her granddaughter several kilometers on her back
to bring her to Camp Bradman for treatment. Later we learnt that they
were the only survivors of their entire family.
So while
you enjoy your Christmas and New Year break, spare a thought for those
of us away on duty. More importantly, spare a thought for those who
have lost so much, the people really doing it tough. - Trevor Grant
Flight Lieutenant Trevor Grant is a Royal Australian
Air Force public affairs officer with the 1st Joint Public Affairs Unit.
He has been attached since December 2005 to the Australian Joint Task
Force for Operation Pakistan Assist. Trevor Grant shot many of the photographs
of humanitarian relief operations in Pakistan and Kashmir published on
this website.
