MARCH
Mission to Pakistan
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Hi guys!
 We
were allowed rest day, today being Sunday. We are
in a town called Abbottabad, a British cantonment.
It is 60 kms away from our home base in Balakot
in the Kaghan valley. The scenery is breathtaking.
We drove thru the Karakoram Highway onto the Silk
Route. Unfortunately, this is the nearest town to
Balakot that has internet access, restaurants, or
shops.
Two-third
of the population of Balakot died in the earthquake
of Oct 8. The remaining one-third is encamped in
different relief sites in the Karakoram Range.
We
are working with the Sahara for Life trust. A private
foundation run by an affluent Muslim family. The
founder is a popular Pakistani pop singer.
There
are four other doctors in the camp. The other volunteers
help cook food, run errands, etc. We Filipino volunteers
are assigned to minister to the refugees in the
mountain relief camps.
Each
morning after breakfast, we take an ambulance with
four Pakistanis and drive up thru steep, winding
roads up the mountain range. We treat anyone who
stops us along the way as many of the survivors
set up their tents near their destroyed homes. The
other day we were in a military camp in the Pakistani
Kashmir. Yesterday we tried to go up another mountain
but had to go back down because of a landslide earlier
that morning. The Pakistani army was clearing the
roads and nobody was allowed to drive thru. Right
then and there we treated at least fifty patients.
On our way down, we stopped at a mountain village
and treated at least thirty more.
We
were originally asked to have one female doctor
at our home base. Evie volunteered so I asked to
stay with her. Bro Asghar staye d with us too to
act as our interpreter. There were not too many
patients there. Mostly children with upper respiratory
infection. Very few Pakistani women want to be examined
by any doctor - female or male.
Late
last night Josie and Evie thought there was a patient
who was going to deliver a baby. It turned out she
had an IUD, an antiquated birthcontrol gadget, stuck
inside her. Josie was able to extract it off her.
Our
Muslim hosts are unbelievably kind to us. They feed
us and watch over us. However, we find the Pakistani
doctors a bit rude and arrogant.
Today
the executive director of their foundation is coming
to meet us. He phoned the other day to thank us
for coming over. He said he was so impressed that
we came from the Philippines to help their people
at their time of need. He got all our names. He
would have a local newspaper run a story about this
team of volunteers from the PHils.
I
am not sure when my next email will be. It is so
difficult to find an internet cafe here. My mobile
phone has no signal here.
Thank
you for praying with us. The temperature continues
to drop each day. It must be 1C again this morning
at Balakot.
Bro
Asghar and her daugher Dilnawaz left us yesterday
to return to Lahore. They left another Pakistani
volunteer with us, Ashfaq, a retired airforce pilot.
He is very helpful to us in translating. Very fatherly.
A real gentleman.
Please
keep praying...
All
glory to God!!!
Your
fellow servant,
Gigie
Helen
Gigie M. Carranza
Home# +63 2 7132662
Mobile# +63 916 5573107
March
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