Half Way Home
Earthquake Survivors Find Additional Medical Help in Pakistan

At 85 years old, Snaghar Jan is sitting on a bed in a tent hospital with her leg in a plaster cast. She has no idea of where she will go when she is released from the hospital.

Farzana, 11, lies alone on one of the hospital's beds, also with her leg in a cast. Her mother died in the earthquake that struck parts of Pakistan and India last October, and her father has been forced to stay in their home village with her four brothers and sisters.

Zahib, 5, is struggling to recover from the trauma of a broken leg and arm. His mother desperately tries to provide him with a sense of comfort and security.

Snarghar, Farzana and Zhib are just a few of the many patients now living in tents in a medical camp set up in the courtyard of the Manshera District Hospital. Each can accommodate 30-35 patients, but at least two-thirds of the people in the tents are healthy relatives looking after wounded patients. Some of the tents are posted with a small piece of paper marked "infected cases." The tent floors are full of dust. Young children play in front.

The Manshera District Hospital, built just two years ago, is overflowing. Three weeks after the earthquake, seriously injured patients are still showing up at the hospital in need of emergency care. The hospital walls are already beginning to show cracks.

CARE has been working with local partner organizations to ensure better health care for earthquake survivors. One way of dealing with the overflow of recovering patients and their anxious families has been to shift the victims who have already received treatment to a series of halfway houses where they can receive outpatient care, effectively clearing the way for seriously wounded to receive emergency treatment in the main hospital.

One halfway house is a three-storied building three kilometers away from the Manshera District Hospital. The building can handle 200 patients, with sanitary facilities and big courtyards in front and back of the building. Two tents in the courtyard treat outdoor patients. Doctors, nurses and medical technicians are being hired to handle the additional load.

"We have given priority to the children and women in the patient selection process. So far we have identified six patients from the Manshera District Hospital, and the rest of the patients are from the Prime Minister Relief Hospital, which was set up in a government primary school. These patients will get post-health care treatment, food and trauma counseling in the halfway house. A training session and education program will also be organized for the attendance of the patients and children" says Dr. Zia-ur-Rahman, Chief Executive of the Awaz Foundation, one of CARE's local partners.

Navarj Gaywali, CARE's Pakistan country director, views the initiative as an innovative approach to reach to the people who need help and an excellent opportunity to work with hand in hand with the government. The patients from the government hospital will be transferred to the halfway home, allowing more patients to access medical care for the physiological and emotional rehabilitation.

The halfway houses that serve women like Snaghar Jan and children like Zahib and Farzana provide a way of relieving pressure on Pakistan’s overburdened health system, and ensure that everyone has a better chance of getting needed medical care. CARE has established two halfway homes in Manshera District.