Following October 8 earthquake in Pakistan, through the tireless efforts of ERFO trustee, Dr. Reza Naghavi, Earthquake Relief Fund for Orphans (ERFO) started mobilizing aids to earthquake victims in an unprecedented and major way. Within the first couple of weeks ERFO sent 500 tents and 10,000 blankets to the Earthquake Relief Authorities (ERA) in Pakistan. This was followed by sending several tons of medications, medical equipment, packaged foods, blankets, and winter clothing, valued close to $10,000,000 to the ERA in Islamabad. Pakistan International Airline (PIA) in New York agreed to deliver donated materials free of charge. You may see the details of ERFO assistance by visiting www.ERFO.org.

Concurrently, at the request of ERA authorities, a delegate of ERFO trustees and advisors including: Dr. Reza Naghavi, Dr. Sabeeh Khan, Dr. Azita Naghavi Khan, Mrs. Masumeh Farivar and I, met with Mr. Haroon Shoukat Counsel General of Pakistan in New York, followed by traveling to Washington, DC to meet Maj. General Jahangir Karamat the Pakistan Ambassador to U.S., and Mr. Javid Shahid Burki of the World Bank, to discuss the possibility of assisting the Government of Pakistan (GoP) in applying the successful ERFO program in managing the children orphaned by the earthquake in Pakistan.

Following a favorable response by the Pakistani officials, on December 11, 2005, Mrs. Masumeh Farivar, Dr. Reza Naghavi, Dr. Sabeeh Ur Rehman Khan and I, traveled to Islamabad to meet governmental ministries trusted with the responsibility of caring for orphans. During our 4 day stay in Pakistan, we met with the Federal Relief Commissioner Maj. General Farooq Ahmad Khan, Surgeon General Maj. General Usmani, Minister of Finance Dr. Salman Shah, Minister of Economic Affairs Mrs. Hena Rabani Khar, Minister of Social Welfare Mrs. Zubaida Jalal, Director of National Commission for Child Welfare and Development from Ministry of Social Welfare and Special Education Mr. Mohammad Hassan Mangi, Secretary Naeem Khan and additional Secretary of Social Welfare Ministry Mr. Noor Saghir Khan. Multiple other officials attended all meetings.

At the UNICEF office we participated in the weekly gathering of the Protection Cluster Meeting and were delighted to see that multiple international and national NGOs are hard at work trying to protect orphans, children, women, disabled, and destitute.

Arrangements were made through the Social Welfare Ministry to visit the newly organized ASHYANAH Camp in Hattia where several hundred orphans, homeless, destitute women and children are kept. General Farooq Khan in the Prime Minister Secretariat Office arranged our visit by a UN helicopter to the regions damaged by the earthquake. We traveled to the epicenter of the earthquake, Mozaffarabad and Bagh. In Mozaffarabad we visited PIMS field clinic and its famous patient; the lady who had miraculously survived 64 days under the ruble. We also toured Al Islam camp, Dewan relief camp, Al-Mustafa welfare camp and the Khubaib Foundation camp and visited couple of schools in tent cities and met several orphan children attending these outdoor schools.

At the conclusion of our visit ERFO offered a preliminary Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to the GoP Ministries of Social Welfare and Finance. ERFO agreed to provide the format and initial training of personnel to implement its orphan program. ERFO and GoP will jointly design, maintain and operate the program as suited for the areas. GoP will provide the seed money for each orphan and ERFO will raise fund as needed to maintain the program and will make sure that:

• Orphans are adopted by their suitable surviving family members when and if possible
• Educated to the extent that is locally available
• Are well cared for when it comes to nutrition and health
• Are not put to work inside home or outside till they reach adult age of 18

The guardians will receive the interest of the seed money monthly, but the original sum will be available only to orphans when they become eighteen.

Mr. Jamal Farivar, ERFO representative in Iran will travel to Pakistan’s affected area, as soon as MoU is signed by both sides, to start the arduous task of completing paper work for financial and legal guardianship of orphans.

As it has been ERFO’s customary practice in Iran, ERFO and any one involved with ERFO will not derive any financial benefit from this humanitarian act.

Mohammad Farivar, MD
President
Earthquake Relief Fund for Orphans