QM News 63 (pdf 752KB) - Queen Margaret University

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PAGE 12 POSTCARD FROM PAKISTAN Janet Raymond, a graduate from Queen Margaret’s Institute for International Health and Development, has been working in Pakistan for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an international humanitarian aid organisation, following the earthquake in October 2005. Janet contacted us at the end of November to tell us her story. Q: Where are you based? A: Immediately after arriving in Azad Kashmir I was whisked away by helicopter to the small village of Saidpur, north of Muzafarrabad (the epicentre of the earthquake), with instructions to stay four days and I’ve been here ever since! Q: Can you set the scene for us? A: For the first 20 minutes of the helicopter journey I could see nothing but steep-sided mountains dropping down into river valleys, the snowcapped mountains of India on one side and the barren, stark mountains of Afghanistan on the other. Soon the scene changed and I started to see why I was there. The houses started disappearing into piles of rubble with white tents adjacent. As we got closer to the city, huge landslides were evident where massive parts of mountains had fallen, taking houses and even villages with it. Muzaffarabad looked like a bomb site. Wooden or mud houses were completely destroyed; hospitals, schools and universities gone. This was two weeks after the earthquake. Q: What type of injuries have you had to deal with? A: I’ve seen traumatic amputations, spinal injuries, huge scalp lacerations and fractures of every bone. In our mobile clinic, initially, we were performing amputations in a room of a partially destroyed house! The aftershocks were still quite strong and each time this happened we had to run out of the building, so we relocated the ‘operating theatre’ to a tent. After the initial emergency phase it was decided that a team would stay and have a base in this village, and another would walk to the other villages with vaccines. The latter is mainly my role and I spend many hours walking the steep-sided mountains with a vaccination team and a small dressing kit. Q: How have you been affected by the scenes that you have witnessed? A: It brings the reality of the loss closer when you pass by a row of freshly-dug graves, sometimes up to 10 or 11 of the same family. The other day I passed by two women who were sitting at the end of the graves of their small babies. They looked completely bewildered. Q: How long will you stay in the area? A: Once we have finished the vaccination and finished evacuating the ‘stragglers’ from the earthquake, we have to decide whether or not to stay for the winter. Our living facilities at present are not enough to support a cold winter so we would need to invest in wood stoves and better buildings. MSF is going to pilot new ‘flat packed’ iglootype constructions called ‘pods’ in some areas, so that may be an option. It will depend also on the number of consultations at the clinic which, at the moment, is around 70 per day. The problem for the whole area is that all the schools and health facilities have been destroyed, as well as health workers and teachers killed, so people have little access to any type of heathcare. Q: How are people able to rebuild their lives and communities? A: All the villages where I am working have received a donation from the Red Cross of plastic sheeting for shelter, five blankets per family and food for two months. MSF is now in the process of giving out hygiene kits, pots and pans, blankets, more tents and tool kits. The Pakistani Army has done a great job on the roads. The road to our location may be open in a couple of days which will make the situation a whole lot easier for everyone: so far, people are walking six hours to get their shopping. Q: How have the Pakistani people responded to you? A: I cannot describe the hospitality of the Pakistani people, especially in the remote areas. Everyone is so happy about our presence and make us feel truly welcome. Even when walking around the mountains, tea is offered at every home, sometimes on top of their tumbled down house! We are given food, with tables and chairs and best china, in the most remote and beautiful locations, with the most fantastic views! We are often invited to the chief of the village’s home for evening meal - better curry than any restaurant! Photos courtesy of Ton Koene/MSF
PAGE 13 QMUCGA NEWSLETTER by Graduates’ Association President, Pat Denzler President’s Report I attended the Autumn Graduation and in February took part with other GA members in a film about college life, from Atholl Crescent to the new campus. Work has started at the new Craighall site and I enjoyed attending the tree planting ceremony in March, indicative of the site’s environmentally friendly future. On the day, the temperature was hovering around zero degrees and a reviving lunch at Musselburgh was much appreciated! McLauchlan, we visited Mackenzie’s in Colinton in March and Bon Appetit, Dundee, in April. Details of regular social events are sent by e-mail, with a monthly news update. To join the e-mailing list, please contact membership secretary Mary Cursiter. Networking at Howies in 2006 QMUCGA DIARY DATES & CONTACTS Networking lunches Last Saturday of the month September 2006 to April 2007 (not December) Contact: Mary Cursiter E: m.cursiter@btinternet.com To help on the Committee please contact: Pat Denzler, President 10 Abercromby Place Edinburgh EH3 6LB T: 0131 558 1378 E: denzler@fsbdial.co.uk Anne Scagell, Ilona Forsyth and Mary Graham on filming day The film team join the GA members for a break Social Programme A ‘Fragrance Evening’ in November with Alison MacColl of Complement Your Health took us through the history of perfume and advised us on how to select our own unique fragrance. In March we enjoyed a stunning tour of the Surgeons’ Hall and Museum led by Wilma Steedman. Networking lunches continued at Howies (Waterloo Place) and out of town. After a very successful October lunch at Parklands Hotel in Perth, organised by Dorothy Madras Lodge For current availability, and to book short or long breaks at the lodge, contact Margaret Wyatt, Bookings Secretary. A modest release to the terms of Miss White’s will means that, with your generous donations, we can continue up-grading. The Joy of Silk The ‘Joy of Life’ interpretation of the glass artwork, donated to Queen Margaret by the G.A., is available as a hand painted silk scarf, direct from Heather Butlin Silks. The cost is £35 (regular) and £45 (large). Email heather.butlin@btopenworld.com Thank you to Queen Margaret for mailing out this QM News. Please continue to send in your news items. I would also like to appeal for a volunteer for the Committee. We meet every two months - usually on a Monday evening - and enjoy planning forthcoming events. Phone or e-mail for more details. Best wishes for an enjoyable summer. QMUC Graduates' Association (Queen Margaret GA) All graduates, as well as present and former staff of Queen Margaret, are eligible for ‘life’ membership of 40 years. Cost: £25 in graduation year, £30 for others Contact: Membership Secretary Mary Cursiter 14 William Street Edinburgh EH3 7NH T: 0131 226 3534 E: m.cursiter@btinternet.com W: www.qmucga.org.uk Madras Lodge Contact: Bookings Secretary Margaret Wyatt 11 Langton View, East Calder, Livingston, West Lothian EH52 0LE T: 01506 494 483 E: margaret10@blueyonder.co.uk
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Page 19 and 20: PAGE 17 Hussain Nasser (nee Naser),

QM News 63 (pdf 752KB) - Queen Margaret University

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