| "The earthquake measured 7.6 on the Richter scale,
killed 80,000 people and left 3 million homeless. As winter snows
approached, the fear was that more would die, isolated and beyond help in
this mountainous region. Many had been given tents, but these would
provide little protection from the sub-zero temperatures, nor withstand
heavy snowfall. Our brief was to trek to the mountain slopes beyond
Balakot and erect tin shelters
The degree of destruction in Balakot defies description - we passed
through, aware that thousands of bodies still lay unrecovered from the
rubble. We trekked up through wooded slopes of breathtaking beauty, but
never far from ruined homes and the graves of adults and children. We
erected 59 shelters on the terraced hillsides, each one a winter home for
a family. We were overwhelmed by the extent of the tragedy as we saw its
impact, family by family, hearing accounts of their loss. Yet we saw the
resilience and strength of these people as they welcomed us, worked beside
us and shared their food with us. We left them with embraces and tears,
praying that God would intervene in their circumstances and do what we
could not."
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