‘I came home – and my village was gone’ (From Bucks Free Press)

‘I came home – and my village was gone’

9:13am Thursday 1st December 2005 in

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Wycombe magistrate Arif Hussain, who lives in Wooburn Moor, has shown the Free Press the tented city in Islamabad which shelters hundreds of victims of the Kashmir earthquake.

He travelled to the disaster-struck region with reporter Benedict Moore-Bridger, to try to raise awareness of the problems still facing the disaster victims.

The pair, who arrived in the country on Thursday, travelled to the camp which was funded through Five Pillars, a charity set up by Mr Hussain.

The refugee camp in Islamabad is providing food and shelter for 500 people who lost their homes.

Kausar Iqbal, a Five Pillars partner who lives in Islamabad, said he hopes the camp will shelter 1,000 homeless during the winter months.

He said: "These people have lost everything. The only possessions they have are what they were wearing at the time the earthquake hit.

"We have provided electricity, water pumps and kitchens and are developing proper sanitation and water purifying systems."

Victims had travelled from far and wide to reach the camp from isolated villages in the north west of Kashmir.

Mir Ifthakhair, 27, travelled from Davlian in the Neelum Valley one of the worst-hit areas.

He lost 28 members of his family although his wife and young daughter survived and 98 per cent of his village was destroyed.

He said: "Immediately after the quake I came back from working in the city to my home, but there was no sign of my village.

"Everything was on the floor. So many had died. Bodies were everywhere."

The camp, which has been up and running since October 12, employs four full-time staff.

Five Pillars wants to employ a full-time doctor to provide round-the-clock care, and a primary school teacher to start educating the children.

Mr Iqbal said: "We have calculated that it will cost around £10,000 a month to keep the camp up and running.

"We want to provide good living conditions but also some sort of education for the kids as well.

This will be starting soon but, of course, it costs money."