We were woken up in the middle of the night to a huge jolt. It was one of the biggest aftershocks and I was literally shaken off the floor. Ashish got very excited - sped out of his tent - and was looking for any signs of damage - being about 2am with no lights I mumbled something, turned over and went back to sleep - snoring again within minutes.
Breakfast was very pleasant, though we did wait till the sun came up as it was freezing before hand. I believe it was ‘bacon and beans’ ready meal with a nice cup of hot chocolate for me, and coffee for Ashish.
Up at the helicopter landing pad Major Tariq had arranged for the mules (whenever I called them donkeys I got told off) to be present to take rations and tents down to a nearby village which had only become accessible by road two days before hand.
We followed the mule train and on the way passed a family who was leaving. They had lost almost everything and were taking their whole life with them - oxen and all. They would walk for about 40km and settle there for the winter - only then thinking about coming back.
In the distance were constant reminders of the devastation, colapsed building, rock fall and snow capped mountains reminding us of the on coming winter.
We reached the village at the end of a valley which was now the local distribution point for aid. Here we saw many people collecting tents brought down by the army. There was bickering about who got what and hadn’t - according to the Major this was the ’scouser’ area of Pakistan!!
When the men had got their tents weighing about 30kg, they whipped them up on to their shoulders and skipped off down / up the hill sides - most times in nothing more than flip-flops. Amazing. All I had was a 12lb camera and that wore me down easily. (Sorry about the metric jump, I use both but find it hard to convert between the two.)
We saw old ladies being helped with their loads as well a an old man with a little girl in tow.
On our exploration through the village, most of which had been flattened, we came across the old man again and his granddaughter - Faiza.
Her parents, brothers, sisters and grand-mother had all been killed in the earthquake. The only two people left to look after her were her grandfather and great grandfather. They were living under a simple canvas tent.
This may sound very selfish but this is what I needed to come back to see and film, to make people outside in their cocoons see how this has affected daily life, especially those who can not look after themselves - the children.
We made sure that before we left Faiza and her grandfather had money to buy essentials they needed.
This area is a place of absolutely stunning beauty - the people have suffered a great loss with tragedy all around, but they remain resolute, warm and friendly.
